Burma's Struggle For Freedom

Posted by Campbell at Friday, September 28, 2007

About two months ago N helped me put a map I'd just bought onto my bedroom wall. Once it was up, we both looked around at different places in the world. For some reason I'm always fascinated by what could be going on, if anything, in the seemingly quiet parts of the world. I find myself transfixed on the Northern parts of Russia or Canada. After a minute, Noreen's eyes landed on a country that was unfamiliar to me. She quietly uttered, "I can't believe it says Myanmar". I had little clue what she was talking about, so I inquired. See, I knew that N was born in Burma, but what was Myanmar? She went on to tell me that the present "government" or juntas changed the name to Myanmar once they took control. N only knew this country as Burma. It's where she was born. She was not born in Myanmar.

Amazingly, in the last week or so the Burmese people have joined in the tens of thousands to march for democracy and freedom. Evidently nine protesters were killed today (though many claim that the numbers are much higher) and peaceful monks are being seized by the government. This story gets basically ZERO coverage on the major US news organizations and this shouldn't come as a surprise. But this is a major world event taking hold. This is a country banding together to peacefully speak out. For me, it's remniscent of MLK's SCLC or even the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee of the Civil Rights Movement. This is about justice.

I am pulling for these people to get their country back. I hope that the international community, and especially China, will step up and show their unwavering support.

I want the next map that I purchase to have a country that reads Burma.