General Studies Lounge - ARCHIVE 2006-2011

In December 1978, the Cultural Revolution was over and it appeared to Beijing residents that China would naturally move toward democracy. No Mao, meant no People’s Republic thought many. Utilizing the political teaching of the rising Deng Xiaoping, Beijing urbanites began to emphasize the concept of “seeking truth through facts”. On a wall was a long brick wall on Chang'an Street in the Xidan District of Beijing, political dissidents and the politically aware began to document publicly problems in China and call for change in the politics of China . The most famous statement, the statement which truly began the Democracy Wall Movement, was a poster entitled the Fifth Modernization by Wei Jingsheng who signed it and placed it on the wall on December 5, 1978. After Agriculture, Industry, Science and Technology, and National Defense (Promoted by Deng Xiaoping in 1978), Wei Jingsheng added Democracy! Chinese citizens wrote feely in prose and poetry (poetry being the traditional way to inform the government of prolems). Beijing citizens now had a catharsis to assuage the anger and fear they felt. They were a community in pain, a community without a way to publicly portray their frustrations, a community kept in silence, a community finally allowed to open up. While ultimately unsuccessful, its effects still linger. Even today Chinese and Westerners talk nostalgically to the Democracy Wall Movement.

We are a community in pain, a community without a way to publicly portray their frustrations, and a community kept in silence. We just may need a Democracy Wall of ourselves

I share my thoughts on doing good, letting go, moving on or being part of the solution ...

I have never lived with such intensity and concentration on the race
issue as I have done in the past two years of my college experience. I
have barely passed the stage of feeling self-conscious about sitting
with my “white” friends in John Jay or sitting with my “black” friends
in front of Lerner. Either way I feel funny because limiting myself to
any particular group defeats part of my educational quest and limits
the growth-potential of my learning curve...

Read More at: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/27504

This evening I had the honor of attending a Law School Senate meeting, the student governance body of Columbia Law School. It was an amazing experience to see how another student council operates. Due to its large size (some 40 members), the meeting was more strictly organized than GSSC meeting. Its no surprise that rules-of-procedure play a strong role in the meeting. However, I was relieved to see that even the monolithic Law School Senate was open to the kind of thoughtful discussion and constructive brainstorming I often see in our GSSC meetings. I also has the honor of attending the yearly Q&A with Law School Dean David Schizer. Here is a report of information learned that's of significance to the GS community: