YouTube - Viva Tibet - Bassnectar FreQ Nasty & Digital Dharma Films.

“Viva-TIbet” is a 5 minute music video that dramatically shows the intense human rights abuses perpetrated by China in Tibet and calls upon the world to step up in a peaceful, non-violent way for justice and truth.

The Music for this 5 minute video was produced in April 2008 as a collaboration between Lorin Bassnectar and FreQ Nasty - two preeminent Bay Area DJs who’s tracks have slammed the bass bins around the world, and who consistently bring a conscious beat to the dance of the movement.

Please copy and forward the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fRa2Jery6k

Digital Dharma Films formed in April 2008 by Andrea Vecchione and Tom Sepe in response to the Chinese crackdown on the massive March 10th protests in Tibet. We have produced a 7 minute mini-documentary http://digitaldharmafilms.org/2008/08/china-time-to-know-the-truth/ as well as numerous 1 minute shorts in collaboration with the “Tibet in 49 Seconds” project. We are currently seeking funding to finish our feature length documentary about Tibet, Non-violence and Activism.

Wen was now convinced that the Chinese intelligence was reading her email. Back in Dharamsala, India, she had helped to start an organization called Raise Tibetan Flags Campaign. “We’re trying to promote awareness and dialogue about what’s going on in Tibet by raising Tibetan flags worldwide. I’d been in contact with people in Dharamsala about the campaign. It’s just become a part of the dialogue. After I received this email from Google, I seriously considered going back for the first time. I seriously feared for my safety.

It was such a foreign feeling because I grew up in Minnesota, where I could say whatever I want, read whatever I want, and write whatever I want without thinking anything of it. And all of a sudden this freedom was taken away and I was always looking over my shoulder. If it’s something you grew up with, you don’t think, ‘Oh, I’m so lucky because I can write whatever I want today’, or, ‘I’m so lucky because I can log onto whatever website I want today’. This isn’t just about Tibet. This is about a sixth of the world that don’t even know what they’re missing because state propaganda is just that good.”

At 11:40 that same night the police raided Wen’s hotel. “They pounded and yelled at every single door until they got to mine. They looked around the room and warned me, ‘If you do anything suspicious, there’ll be consequences’. After they left, I was shaking.”

Wen decided to return to Chengdu, and the next morning she bought a bus ticket bound to leave the next day. “I was chain-smoking by this point. The combination of the email, the hotel raid, and the tense atmosphere was emotionally draining. I honestly don’t know how people live in that kind of fear.”

What Wen didn’t know at the time was that her Tibetan colleagues in India had just received a very strange email from her that she had never sent. She was also the only one who had the password to her account.

—————————————————–
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 1:29 AM

Subject: We got some foreigners in the mainland of PRC that was interested in the plan of RTFC.

the list contains details of 6 foreigners and 2 chinese.
—————————————————–

Wen decided to walk up to the local monastery to calm her mind. “It’s quite a steep climb and I went all the way to the rooftop. From there you get a panoramic view of Kardze. These regions are really beautiful. You can see the valley, the distant grasslands, and the snow-capped mountains in the background that surround the town. So I took pictures, but I couldn’t help myself–I took a few zoomed-in shots of the military base. I didn’t know that I was playing with fire.”

A plain-clothed Chinese man was holding up his cell phone unusually high in her direction. Wen didn’t think anything of it, but as she was walking down, the police officer who had come to her room and threatened her the night before, stopped her and told her to follow him to the police station. “I thought, this is it. I can’t believe I took those pictures.”

One of Wen’s less sensitive photos from the roof of Kardze Monastery

At the station, two plain-clothed police filmed her with hand-held camcorders, getting close in to her face. “It was very intimidating. I kept asking them ‘What’s wrong. What’s going on?’ All they would say was ‘Wait and see.’ I kept thinking, wait and see for what?” After a while, they drove Wen to her hotel where they confiscated her phone and her passports, including her American passport. I found myself saying, ‘I’m an American citizen. I have a right to call the US Embassy.’ I knew they weren’t going to let me call, but I said it anyway.”

Ten plain clothed Public Security Bureau officers were now in Wen’s hotel room. “The first thing they did was look through the photos on my camera. Of course, they found the shots of the military camp. They started whispering to each other. I said, ‘I’m sorry. I take pictures of everything. Look at the photos of the mountains and the valleys and the houses.’ But I knew I was in a lot of trouble.”

read the full story here:

Rebecca Novick: Arrested in Tibet: A Young American’s Journey of Fear.

Beijing – Five pro-Tibet activists unfurled a banner spelling out “Free Tibet” in English and Chinese in bright blue LED “throwie” lights in Beijing’s Olympic Park tonight. The five were detained by security personnel after displaying the banner for about 20 seconds at 11:48 pm August 19th. Their whereabouts are currently unknown. Read the press release.

Brief video clip of the banner unfurled:
NTSC format MPEG-4 video: watch or download
PAL format MPEG-4 video: watch or download

Photos of the banner available for download as a Flickr photoset

The detained activists are Americans Amy Johnson, 33, Sam Corbin, 24, Liza Smith, 31, Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21. (bios of activists are below)

“The Chinese government is desperate to turn the world’s attention away from its abuses in Tibet as the Olympics take place, but the creativity and determination of Tibetans and their supporters has once again ensured that Tibetan voices are heard and seen in Beijing despite the massive security clampdown,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “The Chinese leadership must realize that the only way it can make the issue of Tibet disappear is to acknowledge the demands of the Tibetan people and work with them to bring an end to China’s occupation of Tibet.”

Read the Whole article here:

Beijing: Night Light ‘Free Tibet’ Banner - Aug. 19, 2008 : Free Tibet 2008.

March 10th 2008 marked the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising. In the largest Pan-Tibetan protests in history, tens of thousands of Tibetans rose up against China’s illegal invasion and occupation of their country. Despite China’s best attempts to destroy the Tibetan spirit, Tibetan resistance has continued for nearly half a century inside Tibet and in exile communities worldwide. With all eyes focused on the Olympics in China, Tibetans and supporters worldwide are protesting the Chinese government’s use of the Olympics as a political tool to legitimize its illegal occupation of Tibet.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1) Please forward this video to as many people as possible to raise awareness about the issue. Post it to you blogs and use it as a video response on YouTube and other video websites.

copy this URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U1zXO-O_ng

2) Donate to Digital Dharma Films. We are producing full-length documentary film about Tibet, Non-Violence, and Activism. In addition to seeking grants, private donations will make up over half of our budget. Your donation will help us to produce and distribute this upcoming, inspiring film so important in these tumultuous times we face.

3) Write to the United Nations Office of Human Rights demanding a third party mandate to become involved in Tibet and investigate the Human Rights abuses. email: InfoDesk@ohchr.org

4) Do the Research! Don’t take our word for it. Find out for yourself if China has fulfilled its promises to the I.O.C. China’s Olympic Pledge -Amnesty International

5) Take Action! Visit Students for a Free Tibet’s Olympic Games Campaign site where you can learn more about Tibet and get involved in direct action and strategic non-violence.

6) Talk about it!Make friends with Chinese citizens online, and have dialogs about Tibet, and cross borders. Listen, Learn Challenge.

Digital Dharma Films is:
Andrea Veccione
Tom Sepe

Archival Footage, and Recent Photographs from:

Tibetan Center For Human Rights & Democracy
Students For a Free Tibet
Library of Tibetan Works & Archives
Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts
Yongling Kindergarten
Rebecca & Ronny Novick
CBS5 News, S.F.

Additional Music:
“One World One Dream” by Troy Lush
“Drums” Mark Growden

Special Thanks to:

All of our friends in McLeod Ganj, India
All our donors and supporters in the States and Abroad
Tibetan Youth Congress
Tibetan Women’s Association
Kyizom
Renee Bergan
Tibetan Parilment and Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche
thetibetconnection.org

• Interview: Laurel Sutherlin (1 of the 3 activists from Golden Gate Bridge Banner Action) - 4/3/08
• “March To Tibet” Fundraiser at 1015 Folsom - 4/6/08
• Interview: Kunsang Kelden (Students for Free Tibet International Board of Directors) studentsforafreetibet.org - 4/6/08
• Golden Gate Bridge Banner Action/Protest - 4/7/08
• Interview: Karsh Kale karshkale.com - 4/7/08
• Interview: Robin Goodfellow (CYPHERTOWN) facebook.com/pages/Cyphertown - 4/7/08
• “Tibet Freedom Torch” Ceremony @ United Nations Plaza, SF - tibetanfreedomtorch.org - 4/8/08
• “Tibet Candlelight Vigil” with Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others at U.N. Plaza, SF - 4/8/08
• Interview: Karen Garfinkle solutionsinaction.com - 4/8/08
• S.F. Olympic Torch Protest - 4/9/08
• Interview: Duane Martinez (1 of the 3 activists from Golden Gate Bridge Banner Action) - 4/9/08
• Interview: Tenzin Tsundue friendsoftibet.org/tenzin - McLeodgnaj, India
• Children & Students Candlelight Vigil & Procession- McLeodganj, India
• Ongoing Hunger Strike - McLeodganj, India - 4/14/08
• Interview: Mary Gendler (ANEC - Active Non-Violence Education Center) McLeodganj, India 4/15/08
• Interview: John Powers (Author - “History as Propaganda-Tibetan Exiles Vs the People’s Republic of China“) McLeodganj, India 4/16/08
• Tibetan Freedom Torch - Delhi, India tibetanfreedomtorch.org - 4/17/08
• March To Tibet - Press Conference and March Delhi, India tibetanuprising.org - 4/18/08
• Gandhi Memorial and Museum, Delhi, India - 4/18/08
• Interview: Pema Richardson (Tibetan-American) (Media Team of March to Tibet) Delhi, India tibetanuprising.org - 4/18/08
• Interview: 6 ex-political prisoners (Tibetan Monks) - 4/20/08
• Sherbling Tibetan Buddhist Monastary Palampur, India - 4/22/08
• Interview: Wangdu (Tibetan Exile) - 4/23/08
• Interview: Urgen Tenzin (Director, Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy) www.tchrd.org/ 4/24/08
• Students at T.I.P.A - (Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts) tibetanarts.org - 4/25/08
• Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche - (Prime Minister of Tibetan Government-in-Exile) www.tibet.com - 4/25/08
• Interview: Kyizom Tsam (Tibetan) (ANEC - Active Non-Violence Education Center) - 4/27/08
• Dali Lama’s arrival - McLeodganj, India - 4/28/08
• Tibetan Women singing freedom songs - Sewing Cooperative McCleodganj, India
• Buddhist Monks Debating at McLeodganj Monastery - 4/28/08
• Interview: Dhardon Sharling (Research and Media - Tibetan Woman’s Association) tibetanwomen.org - 4/28/08
• Buddhist Nuns Debating at Geden Choeling Nunnery, McLeodganj http://gedenchoelingnunnery.org/ - 4/28/08
• Interview: Tibetan Youth Congress tibetanyouthcongress.org Mcleodganj, India
• Tibetan Children Kindergarten Mcleodganj, India

The Brain Labor Report is live every morning M thru F for 1/2 hour at 7:00 a.m. through the awesome community services of KSKQ, lpfm radio in Southern Oregon. They can be listened to each morning on the internet, via streaming radio is.

The Olympic torch has come and gone from North America, but the plight of the people of Tibet continues. To help further the peaceful cause of Tibetans and Tibet, we ask that you consider taking the following actions in support of the people of Tibet:

1. Write to Speaker of the House the Honorable Nancy Pelosi and thank her for her unwavering support of the people of Tibet and for human rights in Tibet and China. Write to President Bush and to your representatives and senators in Congress and insist that the U.S. Government:

– Demand that China halt its crackdown, withdraw military and security forces, release those detained and allow peaceful protest. China must also halt house-to-house searches; and authorities must refrain from any further arrests and intimidation of Tibetan protesters.

– Support the Dalai Lama’s and international calls for a team of investigators to go to Tibet as soon as possible.

– Demand that China fulfill its prior promise to allow foreign journalists unrestricted reporting throughout the country from January through September 2008, including permitting journalists to return to all Tibetan areas (TAR and Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan) immediately.

– Agree that members of the government, including President Bush, shall not attend the Olympic Games, and in particular refuse to appear at the Opening Ceremonies.

2. Demand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdraw all Tibetan areas (TAR and Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan) from the planned Olympic torch relay route, including the planned torch ascent of Mount Everest. You can go to http://actionnetwork.org in order to send this message to the IOC President. You can also find the contact information for your National Olympic Committee at
http://www.olympic.org The U.S. Olympic Committee information is at
http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/noc/noc_uk.asp?noc_initials=USA