Noack, Rick. “Photos: The Colorful World of Hong Kong’s Protest Art.” The Washington Post, 7
Oct. 2014, www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/10/07/photos-the-
colorful-world-of-hong-kongs-protest-art/?utm_term=.37fa71efe9f5
Noack talks about the many different points of a protest movement, particularly the Hong Kong “Umbrella Revolution” which protests the need for a democratic government in Hong Kong. Noack gives examples of characteristics of the protest in Hong Kong by stating how small actions can lead to drastic movements, how planned protests are the most effective protests, and how using social media can spread a message like a wildfire. By giving example of important characteristics of the Hong Kong “Umbrella Revolution” Noack persuades the readers to help make a change.
Noack first describes how small steps may lead to large impacts by making the reader think of the Ripple Effect. The Ripple Effect is based on the idea that one pebble thrown into a body of water can make many ripples that will continue to move along the surface of the water. The Ripple Effect explains to the reader that even if you only make small changes you are still helping to make a huge difference. Noack next explains the significance of planning the protest movements in order to make them most successful, which relates back to the document “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by the famous Martin Luther King, Jr.. Martin Luther King, Jr., along with Rick Noack, both describe the importance of the planning of a protest by explaining the actions you need to make in order to achieve the goals you created. Lastly, Noack states how spreading the message on social media is huge to advancing to the goals of a protest. Noack describes how hashtags and the posting of pictures and videos can be available for millions of people across the world to see, which may lead to more supporters wanting to help make a change.
Noack shows the important aspects of a protest along with the actions needed to receive the results you want by naming off characteristics used during the “Umbrella revolution”. The aspects of the protest ,listed by Noack, explained how those actions helped the people in Hong Kong, China to get the democratic government they desperately wanted.
Pomfret, James. “Hong Kong Protesters Clash with Police after New Clampdown.”
Reuters, 28 Nov. 2014, 8:29 pm,https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hongkong-china/hong- kong-protesters-clash-with-police-after-new-clampdown-idUKKCN0JC1V320141129
Pomfret’s article describes what happened in Hong Kong during the “Umbrella Revolution” and how certain events of a protest can have a chain reaction. Pomfret explains how some protesters stopped protesting when they didn’t get what they wanted immediately and how other protesters became so tired of asking for change, that they had to force the change which led to civil disobedience rather than peaceful protest. Pomfret’s reasoning to his examples helps the reader understand how harmless protests can change into harmful civil disobedience very quickly.
Pomfret first explains how at the peak of the revolution there were over 100,000 protesters on the streets but as the protest became longer and longer, people started to give up and end helping to make Hong Kong’s government a democracy. The decline in strikers had a negative impact of the protesting, which ultimately caused the people who continued striking upset that there wasn’t any change happening. Since change wasn’t happening, the people of Hong Kong participating in the “Umbrella Revolution” were even more anxious to having a democratic government, causing protesters to retaliate. Pomfret lastly explains that strikers were so angry by the fact that no change was occurring, that they started attacking the police by throwing eggs, plastic water bottles, and even wooden boards thinking it would make a positive impact on the revolution by trying to force the change.
Pomfret uses different events that happened during the “Umbrella Revolution” in Hong Kong to portray that the ideas of the strikers are not always the best options for achieving the goals they want. Pomfret’s article relates back to Noack’s article by explaining how the planning, along with the action, of a strike or a protest movement is crucial to how and when you get the results you have been wanting.
Tharoor , Ishaan, and William Wan. “Hong Kong’s Battle Lines Harden after Mob Attacks
Protesters.” The Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2014, www.washingtonpost.com/news/
worldviews/wp/2014/10/03/hong-kongs-battle-lines-harden-after-mob-attacks-pro
testers/?utm_term=.8000c4dbede4
Tharoor and Wan include the aspects that not many people realize may happened
during a strike to show how powerful the “Umbrella Revolution” really was. Tharoor and Wan explain how Hong Kong’s police started to back off of the protesting and how non-protesters were more impactful than the police in the revolution. Tharoor and Wan not only describe to the readers the parts of the protests they might not have thought of, but they also use examples to show the importance of knowing the possible results of a protest and how it might affect others.
Tharoor and Wan state how the protesters opponents, the people who did not support the
democratic government in Hong Kong, were more impactful at fighting the crowds of strikers than the police because they would remove the protesters supplies and destruct their tents. The main reason why the opponents started taking action, was because the Hong Kong police stopped monitoring the protests. Instead of monitoring the protests, the police actually needed to protect the strikers from the other crowds of opponents that wanted to attack them for their beliefs, rather than stop the protest of the “Umbrella Revolution” as a whole.
Tharoor and Wan describe the role of the strikers rivals and their impact on the
revolution in Hong Kong, China by explaining what they did to the protesters to hurt their chances of making a change. These examples show how important it is to know the possible results or even the possible consequences of protesting against something because peaceful protesting can easily turn into to civil disobedience and put people in danger.
Tharoor , Ishaan. “Hong Kong’s Tense Protests Echo around the World.” The Washington Post, 2
Oct. 2014, www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/10/02/hong-kongs-
tense-protests-echo-around-the-world/?utm_term=.bced0988f93f
Tharoor helps readers by showing how the messages of a protest can be sent to all
over the world which helps gain more supporters for the cause and how everyone should support each other with their decisions even if they don’t necessarily agree with it. Tharoor explains how we should all support Hong Kong for wanting a democratic system of government since that is what most countries also support and how a small protest in Asia can lead to a monumental global Protest.
Tharoor explains why everyone should support the protesters in Hong Kong's
want for a democratic aspect in their government because in the end, we might have different political opinions and viewpoints, but we all should support each other because hate will not solve any problems but love and support might. Tharoor states that during the “Umbrella Revolution” we should all be Hong Kongers and support their protests by spreading the word and making a change in the world. Tharoor next discusses how the small protest that started in Hong Kong, China left a huge impact on plenty of people and cities by spreading the word to other countries like New York City, United States of America, Singapore, and Dublin, Ireland.
Tharoor’s explanations of why we should support the protest in Hong Kong and how we should help spread the word to make a change persuades the reader by giving them reasons to make a difference one step at a time. By making positive changes to support other places around the world, we will be able to contribute to impacting our individual communities and the globe.
Wee, Sui-Lee. “HK Protests' ‘Umbrella Revolution’ Tag Escapes China's Censors – so
Far.”Reuters, 30 Sept. 2014, 2:31am, www.reuters.com/article/hongkong-china-censorshi
p/hk-protests-umbrella-revolution-tag-escapes-chinas-censors-so-far-idUSL3N0RV1QN20140930
Wee’s article encourages what Noack had to say about how social media can spread news like a wildfire, but also includes how even when government officials try to put a damper on the protests, people can find ways to go around the obstacles given to them. Wee includes the power of social media and how the “Umbrella Movement” was important enough for protesters to find loopholes when the government tried to censor and block ways of spreading the message to support Hong Kong’s decision of a democracy by the people.
Wee describes how important it is to have social media and how it helps protest while sharing your ideas to millions of people at the same time. Wee talks about the use of “#UmbrellaRevolution” and how it lets people all around the world support the movement without having to fly to Hong Kong, China and walk down the streets with the other strikers. On the other hand, when the officials in China tried to censor all images and information about the “#Umbrella Revolution” in order to end the protests, the supporters luckily found ways to go around the blockings. Strikers and protesters used “#H*ngK*ng” on various social media platforms which the government of China never noticed that it actually meant “#HongKong”. This use of tricking China helps to provide evidence for how important it is to stand up for what you believe in by spreading the word by using different social media platforms.
Wee ultimately helps by letting the readers know that there is hope for making a change but also gives reasoning to how social media is extremely powerful and can spread news like wildfire compared to other ways of telling people about the protesting in Hong Kong.