A partial transcript of Episode 16 of THE ART MOVEMENT. To listen to the full radio show, CLICK HERE.

tend to forget.

So, like I said, I had a whole bunch of notes ready to talk about it but just before recording the show, I threw them away. I realize that I sometimes get carried away talking about politics and I don’t want to come across as an expert on these topics because a big part of me often thinks that when people who acquire their knowledge from secondary sources about these topics talk fervently and extensively about them, they just use it as an excuse to talk about their own selves.

And I have done that in the past and I struggle with not doing that. I guess a lot of the reason why I do it is because I want people to know what side I am on and what my beliefs are about things. And a lot of it is also because I want to raise awareness.

But rather than using the time on my own radio show to pretend like I am an expert, I just want to encourage you to consider what is happening in Hong Kong also because it doesn’t seem to be a popular topic among the celebrities and pop culture influencers of our time, who are often eager to share their opinions on just about any uprising.

And whether we like it or not, they do raise awareness even when they are misguided and end up looking awkward and we make fun of them sometimes like that Gal Gadot Imagine video from the early days of the pandemic of that viral video of white people saying they take responsibility in support of Black Lives Matter.

The fact of the matter is, Hong Kong is close to becoming just another city in Mainland China. Hong Kong has never been totally independent and since 1997 have been ruled by a “one country, two systems” arrangement.

Over the past months, a pro-democracy movement gained huge support in Hong Kong but the Chinese government responded last week by passing a highly controversial security law that essentially treats any form of protest against the central Chinese government as an act of terrorism. Which of course is yet another show of disregard for human rights from the only country that sees the Dalai Lama as a terrorist.

People in Hong Kong can now be imprisoned, for example, for things they have said or written in the past on social media against the Chinese government and hundreds of arrests have already happened, with more to come. In addition, trials take place behind closed doors and the government does not go lightly, handing out life imprisonments for ludicrous reasons.

So, I’m going to stop here. I love China because it is one of the birthplaces of human civilization but we all know that something has not been right about them for decades. Instead of saying more than what I have said, I encourage you to support democracy if you care about freedom of expression, the right to protest and human rights and raise awareness via the #StandWithHongKong.