Right for Human Rights

“It's time to fight back, but it is unfair. I still cannot believe that I have to fight this battle in 2021! I always thought that the only revolution I was going to take part in was gender equality, since our country has a very traditional culture. Now, I am now fighting back about basic human rights and justice. I feel angry just thinking that!”

There are some lines that I hear from podcast guests that go beyond impacting me in the mere moment I hear it, and stay embedded in my mind for weeks and even months after. And then there are lines that are so powerful they actually reframe my entire perspective and understanding. This thought by Ni Ni, a young female student who found herself caught up in the early protests, was certainly one of those. I don't know how many times I've repeated this comment to so many other people to try to convey just how dramatic-- and traumatic-- life has become for people who never expected to find themselves in such a situation. Ni Ni went from being an aspiring social justice warrior to simply trying to cling to the basic shred and dignity of human rights, in a country where the military respects no law or protection. It is a situation that few have lived through before, and for those who are outside the country, the only way to truly understand is to check in with those voices now living through this nightmare.