Category Archives: Freedom

AMHERST, Mass. Amir Houmansadr, professor of information and computer sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was recently awarded a $1,000,000 Young Faculty Award (YFA) by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for his work on the problem of internet freedom.

Not only is internet freedom a priority of the U.S. Department of State, it has also been declared a human right by the United Nations. And yet, the internet is also under constant threat from oppressive governments and authoritarian organizations, both of which seek to restrict access or modify the integrity of the information we receive, says Houmansadr.

Typically, champions of internet freedom are involved in a cat-and-mouse game with those who seek to control the information superhighway. An army of brilliant engineers is constantly on the lookout for new forms of digital censorship and responds with workarounds when they find one. But, says Houmansadr, this game is always in favor of the censors, who have far better funding and access to all the latest tools.

It's a bit like the game whack-a-mole: every time internet freedom-advocates defeat a particular tool of censorship, a new one pops up somewhere unexpected and the advocates have to quickly react in order to salvage some measure of privacy.

But what if there were a way to proactively outthink the censors? What if we could shift the game from whack-a-mole to chess?

This is where Houmansadr believes that scientists trained in game theory can help play a decisive role, and why DARPA has chosen him for the Young Faculty Award, which identifies and engages rising stars in junior research positions in order to support career-long work on Department of Defense and National Security issues.

In a nutshell, game-theoreticians try to think many moves ahead, like the grandmasters of chess. Its about trying to determine what your opponents best future moves might be, and then acting to circumvent those best moves. Even if you dont know exactly what choices your opponent will makewill they move their knight or their bishop?game theorists chart out which scenarios best achieve their opponents interests, and then adapt their own strategy accordingly.

Securing internet freedom is a challenging problem, says Houmansadr, who will spend the next three years developing his game-theoretic approach, but if we can look into the future to anticipate the censors moves, we can get an edge on our opponents and see a freer future for theinternet.

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The Scientist Finding Internet Freedom in Games - UMass News and Media Relations

A rare production proof accidentally released by the U.S. Mint fifteen years ago was recently discovered by GreatCollections and will be auctioned on Sunday, November 13th.

The 2007 $100 One-Ounce Platinum Eagle Frosted "FREEDOM" is one of just 12 coins minted by the U.S. Mint, before they changed the design to have the word appear in a mirror finish so it is easier to read.

Only one other $100 One-Ounce coin is known. It was discovered in 2011, prompting the U.S. Mint to confirm up to 12 of the $100 One-Ounce denomination were minted, along with 21 each of the $50 Half-Ounce and $25 Quarter-Ounce denominations in 2007.

During a routine inventory at the U.S. Mint, the "Frosted Freedom" coins were counted with all of the revised versions. After the inventory was complete, staff neglected to remove them from the stock that was eventually shipped to customers.

Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections said, "This is one of the most important modern patterns or trial pieces from the U.S. Mint, and we are excited to bring to auction."

In 2014, GreatCollections auctioned the first Quarter-Ounce $25 with Frosted "FREEDOM" to be graded by PCGS, which set a world record price of $69,300. Only one other of each denomination was discovered in 2011.

Photos of the error were inadvertently distributed in 2007 to news agencies and was even published as the regular issue in The Guide Book of U.S. Coins, also widely known as the "Red Book".

The 2007 $100 One-Ounce Platinum Frosted "FREEDOM" will be on view at the Baltimore Winter Expo (Table 345, October 27-29, 2022) and at the Irvine, California headquarters of GreatCollections by appointment. To view high-quality images and register to bid, visit http://www.greatcollections.com or call 800-442-6467.

2007 Frosted Freedom Census (As at 10/20/2022)

About GreatCollections

GreatCollections, the official auction house of the American Numismatic Association, specializes in auctioning certified coins and banknotes, handling transactions from start to finish. Since its founding in 2010, GreatCollections has successfully auctioned over 1 million certified coins, making it one of the leading certified coin companies in the United States with annual sales in 2021 exceeding $235 million. Ian Russell, owner/president of GreatCollections, is a member of the prestigious Professional Numismatists Guild and member of the National Auctioneers Association. For more information about GreatCollections, visit http://www.greatcollections.com or call 800-442-6467.

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GreatCollections to Offer Frosted FREEDOM $100 Platinum Eagle | CoinNews - CoinNews.net

Arizona came closer to the important goal of separating education and state with the defeat of a ballot challenge to a recently adopted school-choice law. In June, the state legislature voted to allow education funding to be used for whatever learning path best suits individual children, not just to support government-run institutions that fail to meet the needs of many students. Opponents pushed an initiative to block expanded education options, but ultimately fell short in their effort to gather signatures. That leaves the instantly popular program free to proceed.

Arizona first introduced Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) in 2011, originally only for children with special needs, and later expanded to encompass students in failing schools, children of military families, and those who are adopted. The new law makes the ESA program available to essentially all students in the state of Arizona, providing funding for the education of their choice, subject to broad requirements.

"An ESA consists of 90% of the state funding that would have otherwise been allocated to the school district or charter school for the qualified student (does not include federal or local funding)," notes the Arizona Department of Education. "By accepting an ESA, the student's parent or guardian is signing a contract agreeing to provide an education that includes at least the following subjects: reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies and science."

At current spending levels, "families would receive over $6,500 per year per child for private school, homeschooling, 'learning pods,' tutoring, or any other kinds of educational service that would best fit their students' needs," adds the Goldwater Institute, which has long championed ESAs.

Once made available, the expanded ESA program won immediate support. In August, the online application form warned visitors: "Due to high volume, you may receive an error message.Please try again later."

The tidal wave of applications should be no surprise. Gallup finds that 54 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of K-12 education, and only 28 percent express a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in public schools (33 percent say they have "very little" or "none").

These miserable numbers come after years of general decline, but also after growing controversy over the performance of government-controlled educational institutions. Many public schools spectacularly face-planted in response to COVID-19, resulting in serious reading and math losses among students. Disagreement over pandemic policy as well as over interpretations of history and current events have also turned classrooms into political battlegrounds. What families want is often irreconcilable, whether involving public health or curricula, resulting in a sharp partisan split over public schools.

"The percentage of Republicans having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in public schools fell from 34% in 2020 to 20% in 2021 and 14% today," Gallup's Lydia Saad observed in July. "Since 2020, independents' confidence has declined nine percentage points to 29% and Democrats' has remained fairly high currently 43%, versus 48% in 2020."

The obvious solution would be to stop forcing people into shared institutions where opposing preferences invariably come into conflict. Instead, parents should be able to educate their kids by their own values, and according to the particular needs of their children. People were nominally able to do that in the past, but only if they paid twice once through taxation for government institutions they rejected and then, again, for private schools, homeschooling, or other options they actually used. Something has to give to end classroom disputes and encourage some degree of happiness with children's schooling.

National polls tracked by the American Federation for Children finds anywhere from 63 percent to 74 percent support for giving "parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child's education to send their child to the public or private school which best serves their needs." A poll from February of this year specifically about education savings accounts of the sort adopted by Arizona found 77 percent of respondents supported the idea.

But even though nobody is compelled to make use of ESAs, and everybody who is satisfied with public schools is free to leave their children in the government-controlled institutions, not everybody is happy with the expanded program. Save Our Schools Arizona, a union-backed group, tried to put a challenge to school choice on the ballot in a replay of a successful tactic from 2018. Voters that year overturned ESA expansion, approving a confusingly worded measure that may have led many of them to vote the opposite of what they intended.

To get on the ballot, the group needed to gather over 118,000 signatures. But this time, a pro-ESA Decline to Sign effort worked to persuade voters to spurn petitioners. They succeeded; on September 30, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs rejected the anti-choice ballot effort, noting "our office has inspected enough petitions & signatures to confirm that the 118,823 signature minimum will not be met."

Arizona families are again free to apply for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, with the deadline extended to October 15 because of the ballot battle.

The fight for education freedom isn't over. Hobbs may have rejected the challenge to ESA expansion out of necessity, but she's the Democratic candidate for governor on a platform including opposition to school choice. Hobbs, who attended private school herself, puts forward an education plan that would restrict charter schools and that also boasts she "continues to oppose the universal expansion of school vouchers. As governor, she will work to roll back universal vouchers."

But if she wins election to office (she and Republican Kari Lake are running neck-and-neck), any attempt to roll back ESAs will result in stripping them from thousands of families already enjoying education options. As of September 30, according to the state Department of Education, Arizona families submitted over 12,100 ESA applications for the expanded program. Any reversal will elicit outrage.

Meanwhile, West Virginia's Supreme Court just cleared the way for the similar Hope Scholarship program. "The Hope Scholarship Program is an education savings account (ESA) program that will allow parents and families to utilize the state portion of their education funding to tailor an individualized learning experience that works best for them," according to the office of State Treasurer Riley Moore.

The fight for separation of education and state isn't yet won. But advocates scored an important victory in Arizona, another in West Virginia, and have momentum on their side.

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Education Freedom Wins Big in Arizona - Reason

A coalition of international journalism, press freedom and human rights groups will carry out a three-day mission to Turkey this week to investigate serious, continued threats to independent journalism in the country.

The mission is organised as a new disinformation bill that will further enhance the governments powers to censor news and information goes before parliament.

The bill, with its vaguely formulated definition of disinformation and equally unclear reference to intent, and with its implementation overseen by Turkeys highly politicised judiciary, will put millions of internet users at risk of criminal sanctions and could lead to blanket censorship and self-censorship in the run up to the 2023 elections.

From October 12 to 14, mission delegates will meet in Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir, as well as online, with editors, journalists, local civil society groups, Turkish MPs from various political parties, members of government regulatory bodies, foreign diplomats, European Union officials, representatives of leading global tech companies, and the Turkish Constitutional Court.

In addition to the disinformation legislation, other issues the coalition intends to raise are continued prosecution and legal harassment of journalists; journalist safety, particularly in the runup to next years elections; press accreditation; surveillance of journalists; and (lack of) judicial independence and its effects on press freedom.

Led by the International Press Institute (IPI) and IPIs Turkey National Committee, the mission includes representatives from Amnesty International Turkey, ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT), PEN International, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO).

The mission will hold a press conference at 10.30 (9.30 CEST) in Istanbul and at 11:30 (10:30 CEST) in Diyarbakr on Friday, October 14 to share the results of the meetings and the partner organisations analysis of the state of press freedom in Turkey.

The press conferences will be held at Postane (Beyolu, Istanbul) and Dicle Frat Gazeteciler Dernei (Diyarbakr) and will be conducted in both Turkish and English.

To register in advance for the press conference or for interview requests please contact:

The mission is organised by the International Press Institute as part of the #FreeTurkeyJournalists campaign, in cooperation with the Media Freedom Rapid Response.

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Turkey: Nine press freedom and journalism groups to examine media freedom crisis in build up to 2023 elections - European Centre for Press and Media...

Iranian and Kurdish women living in the UK believe the prospect of freedom for millions of women in their home country has never been greater following protests after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested in Tehran for not wearing her headscarf correctly.

Many of those who fled the Iranian regime because of its attacks on human and womens rights are working hard behind the scenes to support women in their home country to expose the abuses in the hope of encouraging the international community to act to bring about regime change.

They say the demonstrations inside Iran and around the world, in which at least 185 people are reported to have been killed, are different from previous protests and this time there is a real possibility change will come. After Aminis death, Nika Shakarami and Sarina Esmailzadeh, both 16, have also lost their lives in anti-regime protests.

The international chess judge Shohreh Bayat, 35, who lives in London, urged the international community to act after Aminis death on 16 September. This is not a protest any more. Its a revolution. It is very important for the world to stand on the right side of history. We are fighting for freedom and for womens and human rights, she said.

Bayat fled to the UK and claimed asylum in 2020 after being accused by an Iranian official of not wearing her headscarf correctly at a chess tournament in Shanghai. This is about the pain of all Iranian women. We think that all of us are Mahsa. Thats why we are all her voice.

An Iranian feminist blogger in the UK who has to conceal her identity in order to protect her family who are still in Iran, is doing all she can with her blog, which is read covertly by many Iranian women, to promote their fight for freedom. She blogs as RM on Telegram and is constantly having to resurrect her blog when the Iranian authorities intercept it and close it down.

One spark can create a big fire, she said. Young people in Iran are saying: We must rise up now or we will be the next Mahsa. Im optimistic that if the regime does not go today it will go one day. They cannot keep harassing women like this and get away with it. Women are standing up for the right to lead the normal life that women in other parts of the world can lead.

A third of Iranian woman who fled to the UK said they had tried to promote ideas of womens rights in their workplace in Iran but their life was threatened for doing so and so they escaped to the UK. Women in Iran have no rights over their bodies and no rights over what they wear. If a robbery happens in Iran and you call the police they take a long time to come. If someone calls the police because they have seen a woman not wearing a hijab, they come very quickly.

Chiman Rahimi, a Kurdish Iranian woman who works in the UK for Iran International TV which is critical of the Iranian regime, said Aminis death had particular resonance for Kurdish women who are doubly oppressed in Iran.

She said that while there have been underground womens activities in Iran for some time book clubs, mountain hikes, dance and music activities and a few years ago White Wednesday where women posted photos of themselves on social media wearing white and without their hair covered what is happening now is different.

Rahimi said: Mahsas death has been a catalyst for people to demand radical change. Right now almost every woman in every city, town and village is in some way aware of how they are being abused and dehumanised. They are united in overturning the old and establishing a new.

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Its a revolution: Iranian women in UK believe protests will bring freedom - The Guardian

Posted By: Dan ROctober 12, 2022

BV Hope is inviting all area residents to take part in the annual Walk for Freedom on Saturday, October 15th.

The Walk for Freedom is a day of awareness of local action in the fight against human trafficking.

The Walk for Freedom in Buena Vista begins with registration at 10 at Forest Square Park at 343 Highway 24 North. The Walk for Freedom in Salida begins at 1 with registration at the First Presbyterian Church at 7 Poncha Parkway.

Snacks and drawings for free merchandise will follow each walk.

The vision of BV HOPE is to eliminate Human Trafficking within Central Colorado. Their Mission is to prevent human trafficking through education, and to support survivors.

Dan attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas from 1978-82 (where he picked up the name Dan R after his fraternity brothers couldnt pronounce his last name), majoring in Radio/Television. Dan lived in Jonesboro for 10 years working in radio and then was a TV weatherman for ABC affiliate KAIT Channel 8.

Television was a little boring when compared to radio, so Dan returned to hosting radio morning shows in Nashville, Memphis, Oklahoma, and then eventually, Colorado.

Dan enjoys being involved in the community, having been an member of the Upper Arkansas Service Club and is currently on the board of directors for the Salida Community Center and is a member of the Chaffee County Fair Committee.

Dan and his wife Carrie spend their days doing everything the mountains have to offer: hiking, camping, fishing and skiing. They raised 3 children together and have 2 grandchildren.

Excerpt from:

Annual Walk for Freedom is October 15th - Heart of the Rockies Radio

The fatal shooting of Filipino radio broadcaster Percival Mabasa in Manila earlier this month has heightened concerns that the media will remain under attack during the new administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

The 63-year-old host of the Lapid Fire show was known for his sharp critiques of both Marcos Jr., the son of a dictator ousted in a pro-democracy uprising in 1986, and the previous president, Rodrigo Duterte, who oversaw a deadly crackdown on illegal drugs.

The Philippine police and a presidential task force on media security are still investigating the case but presume that the killing was work-related.

Mabasa, who used the broadcast name Percy Lapid, was the second journalist killed since Marcos Jr. took office at the end of June. According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, nearly 200 journalists have been killed since the late Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown and went into exile in Hawaii in 1986.

Mabasas killing stood out because it took place in the capital of Manila, while most other attacks against journalists have been outside of the capital. Another Filipino radio journalist, Renato Rey Blanco, was killed last month in the Negros Oriental province in the central Philippines.

Mabasa was killed when two men on a motorcycle approached the vehicle he was driving and shot him twice in the head on Oct. 3 in suburban Las Pinas City, The Associated Press reported, adding that the attackers escaped.

He was on his way to work, his brother, Roy Mabasa saidon social media.

Local and international advocacy organizations condemned the killing and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called on Philippine authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. The organization also said it had emailed Marcos Jr.s office and the presidential task force for comment.

Decades of killings, institutional corruption, legal persecution, false labeling as communists or terrorists and disinformation campaigns have rendered the Philippines one of the most hazardous places for media workers. The Southeast Asian nation also is plagued by private armies controlled by powerful clans and weak law enforcement.

One of the worst journalist massacres occurred in 2009 when 32 reporters were killed in Maguindanao province. A decade passed before any of the killers faced justice.

Threats to the Philippine media received global attention when Maria Ressa, CEO of the online Filipino news platform Rappler, won the Nobel Peace Prize last year alongside Russian journalistDmitry Andreyevich Muratov. She has since been fighting a cyber libel conviction in the Philippines.

Carlos Conde, head Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch, said that over half of the journalists killed had worked in radio, a medium in which reporting and commentary blur together in efforts to stand out in an industry of competing voices. He said that demonization of the media was just one of the human rights challenges aggravated under Dutertes term.

The killing of journalists is not something that occurs in a vacuum, he said in a phone interview from his hotel room in Geneva, where he attended the 51st session of the U.N. Human Rights Council on Oct. 5.

Attacks against journalists reflect the poor quality of law enforcement institutions in the country as well as widespread corruption, Conde said.

Its been so commonplace and nobodys shocked anymore theyve been inured to the violence, Conde said.

Meanwhile, social media has facilitated the faster and easier spread of false narratives by government officials, journalists and citizens alike. And so-called red-tagging the practice of harassing, threatening or blacklisting somebody by accusing them of being a communist or a terrorist has bled over from the Duterte era.

Troll armies in the service of politicians make powerful accusations that become magnified among people who can no longer discern between real and fake news, Conde said. The problem is exacerbated in radio and broadcast journalism because of the selling of air time to the highest bidders, who can say whatever they want.

This distinction really needs to be highlighted, especially for people outside of the Philippines: the fact is that a lot of this disinformation is put out by those with money to do that. Its not some organic thing that happens, Conde said.

He said such disinformation campaigns contributed to Marcos Jr.s victory over former Vice President Leni Robredo in the presidential election.

The escalation of international attention on the human rights struggle in the Philippines started when Duterte took office in 2016 and began his war on drugs that drew international condemnation for widespread human rights abuses.

It could be many years before the attitude towards the media changes. Journalists Union Chair Jonathan de Santos

The new president has vowed that journalists would be protected under his administration, and he reiterated that commitment in a speech after Mabasas killing.

Under my lead, we will support and protect the rights of the media as they efficiently perform their duty. Whatever difficulties we may encounter from this point on, the government will always be ready to lend an ear and to listen to your concerns and to answer all that you may want to know, he was quoted as saying in the Manila Times.

The signing of thefirst national U.N.-Philippines Joint Program for human rights on July 22 also gave activists hope that there would be more accountability to commitments institutionalized in the international arena.

The last episode of Mabasas radio show, which aired Sept. 27 on DWBL 1242 AM railed against the institutional red-tagging that had flared up during the outgoing Duterte administration and, according to the host, was continuing with impunity under Marcos Jr.

The night following Mabasas death, the national journalists union organized a candlelit rally in Quezon City to pay tribute to the radio journalist and call for government action against his killers.

The biggest thing (journalists) can do now is watch out for each other, track the progress and lack of progress of cases, and keep them in the public attention. Another way is to look at the issues that the journalist was talking about and amplify them, journalists union chair Jonathan de Santos said.

Early in the new administration, journalists and local civic organizations welcome Marcos Jr.s words but express skepticism that change will happen fast.

It could be many years before the attitude towards the media changes, but theres so much more to gain from solidarity within the communities of the public. We have to reach out more to the community be more relatable, I suppose, to make people feel that theyre heard, that theyre seen, De Santos said.

The national journalists union has programsthat support the digital and physical safety of journalists, ranging from a media safety office that tracks harm toward media workers to a fund for orphans of slain voices. The organization is expanding its outreach efforts to provide media ethics training and media literacy events showing why journalism is crucial for the public good and to help promote accountability.

Being critical doesnt mean you want the government to fail, De Santos said.

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Freedom Of The Press Is An Old Issue In The Philippines. What Will Marcos Jr. Do Now? - Honolulu Civil Beat

The event featured presentations by high-level speakers, leading specialists and scholars, addressing the issues topical for Francophone Africa and Latin America, thus providing for a live platform that enabled the two regional groups to establish channels for the exchanges of experiences.

The sessions analysed current trends and emerging challenges of freedom of expression, safety and protection of journalists, the role and independence of the judiciary, ways to improve cooperation between CSO actors, judiciary and media, as well as the regional jurisprudence from Africa and Latin America on issues related to freedom of expression and safety of journalists.

In this context, landmark decisions given by the main regional courts of human rights such as Nobert Zongo v. Burkina Faso, Loh Issa Konat v. Burkina Faso, Dink v. Turkey and Palacio Urrutia v. Ecuador were also illustrated and discussed. These cases underlined the important role of the courts in preventing, promoting and protecting freedom of expression and the safety of journalists.

The forum provided an occasion to present UNESCOs initiative, Training security forces and the judiciary on freedom of expression. Within this flagship project, since 2013, more than 24,000 judicial actors and 11,500 law enforcement agents in over 160 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Arab region, have been trained on freedom of expression and the safety of journalists. These trainings have been done through a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), on-the-ground workshops, and the publication of a number of toolkits and guidelines.

The movie screening of the short documentary Killing the truth showing cases of killed journalists that are still unresolved, raised very strong and emotional reactions by all the participants on the issue of impunity.

According to UNESCOs observatory of killed journalists, over 1,200 journalists have been killed between 2006 and 2021, with close to 9 out of 10 of these cases remaining judicially unresolved.

As general recommendation, the participants expressed the need to tackle the issue of impunity with a holistic approach through involving all key players and raising awareness and protecting the judiciary.

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Second Forum of Legal Actors on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists gathered judiciary and civil society - UNESCO

Since the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, Hongkongers have scattered worldwide to build a new safe home.

They continue their fight for freedom and justice in Hong Kong.

Due to political views, the Beijing government has banished many artists from the Chinese market, forcing them to depart from their homes.

Like many Hongkongers, Fiona Yellow, a migrant in Canada, decided to give up her business, so she could continue speaking for justice and democracy for Hongkongers.

Co-founders of the pro-democracy online radio station Hongkonger Station, Fiona and Joseph Tay, a Hong Kong singer, amplify their messages through the airwaves.

The democratic duo was a happy coincidence. It all began with a story about a local Chinese restaurant.

At the beginning of December 2020, Fiona found out that the owner of a Chinese restaurant in the north of Toronto, a Hongkonger, was attacked verbally due to his democratic support; his restaurant was vandalized. Unfortunately, local media did not pick up on the incident. They did not seem to care much about what happened.

Fiona decided to interview the restaurant owner and see for herself. After Fiona exposed the incident, it got more attention as the local citizens pressured the mainstream media channels. Eventually, more reporters reported the incident before the police got involved.

The incident made her wonder, Many Hong Kong organizations knew about the incident. Yet, everyone stayed silent. It made me feel helpless.

The incident also made Fiona realize there arent any real authentic media that talk about Hong Kong events in Canada.

Therefore, Fiona founded the Hongkonger Station in Canada along with Joseph Tay. Fiona considered Tay and herself as two peas in a pod. She became a radio host at the station and an unofficial spokesperson for Hongkongers. Fiona proactively contacted different community members in the hope of supporting overseas Hongkongers to move forward together.

Between trying to gain business clients and being politically pressed, Fiona chose to stay true to herself and help any fellow Hongkonger who might come her way. She believes that helping others is helping oneself.

In the free society of Canada, Fiona felt more determined than ever to remember her roots. She felt that as long as she had a voice, she would continue to fight for justice.

Fiona has been a media person since she was 22. At the time, she was working at a Chinese media company in Canada. That was Fionas first partnership with Joseph Tay on a talk show.

Six years flew by.

Fiona returned to Hong Kong and started a public relations business.

Unexpectedly, she crossed paths with Tay many years later, and the two made history by starting the Hongkonger Station in Canada.

The industry she left many years ago found its way back to Fionas heart again.

In 2021, Fiona made a drastic decision. She closed down her PR business in Hong Kong and returned to Canada. Perhaps seeing many democrats, political figures, and activists jailed, Fiona felt called to speak for those who cant speak for themselves. She moved her life to continue her preaching for Hong Kong in Canada.

Once Fiona grounded her feet on Canadian soil, she proactively promoted a series of Hong Kong-focused events in Canada.

For instance, Fiona organized the World Hong Kong Forum, theHongkongers Book Fair, and the lantern festival during the Mid-autumn celebration.

The purpose of continually promoting Hong Kong is to encourage migrant Hongkongers to blend into the local community.Only then can Hongkongers bring their culture to wherever they are.

As a multi-role person, Fiona has always carried a fire in every role she plays. She affirmed that using her strength to speak for justice is a calling, and she isnt shy about giving speeches in public.

Fiona has been accustomed to being in the public eye as a media professional since 2004. But she was not born this way.

She said her public relations skills did not come naturally. Opening her own business was a great challenge. I have not always been a rounded person. I had to learn to meet clients from all walks of life, listen to others opinions, and do things differently to suit their needs instead of mine. I was full of pride and often complained.

Getting bumps on the road, Fiona started to reflect on what went wrong and discovered that something was missing: empathy.

Once she started to learn to view from the perspectives of others, everything became smooth sailing. And her clients grew with her.

During the trying time of the 2019 Hong Kong Protests, everyone had to pick a side. Either you are for or against democracy.

Fionas company was one of the few that supported the democracy movement openly. Most companies would stay silent to keep their bank accounts safe or clients happy.

She and her company took a stand to support the protesters and responded to the social movement and events. That was when the line of customers began to fade. Who knew defending freedom would kill a business?

Fiona said that her company was selective of clients. Since we are only a small business, I had more freedom and could choose my clients. I fully stood on the ground of refusing mainland companies or CCP capitalized companies as clients.

Fiona recalled losing two long-term clients after taking on the PR campaign project for Chickeeducks owner Chow Siu-lung when he decided to run in the LegCo election in 2020. To any business, supporting a democrat was a high-risk project.

When the clients left, you know why without being told why, Fiona said. Fiona had to choose freedom or money.

In the past two years, Fiona might have lost many clients. However, supporting democracy is a conscious choice for the PR expert.

I will never regret standing up for my beliefs, Fiona affirmed when asked if she regretted being crystal clear on her political preference.

While PR and illustration might seem unrelated, it was a surprising discovery during the time Fiona had trouble sleeping. So whenever she couldnt sleep, she would try and craft some illustrations to express her emotions.

Drawing was a way to soothe her feelings.

To be honest, initially, illustration was just a hobby. I never imagined it could become part of my career. It was unexpected. Fiona shared.

Not long after she shared her work on social media, a cosmetic brand reached out to her for a project. The validation from her clients gave her more motivation to become better at her hobby.

The shaken society kept Fiona twisting and turning at night. Her work became the antidote to her feeling of emotional trauma, the pain she couldnt express otherwise. Reflecting on what was happening in Hong Kong, Fiona began to illustrate the social events.

At first, Fiona didnt want her artwork to see the light. Her other pea in the pod, co-host Joseph Tay encouraged her to share her work with the public. Many people started to take an interest in Fionas art, which is how being an illustrator became a part of her many roles.

Witnessing many creative people being pushed out of Hong Kong due to the National Scrutiny Law, Fionas heart ached. But the twisting pain made her cherish her freedom in Canada even more, and she hoped she could continue to speak for Hongkongers through her art.

Many people cant understand why Fionas favorite hobby is work. I enjoy working because I hate wasting time on unconstructive matters, Fiona explained. Having many successful talents, Fiona wants to turn one of her silent strengths into a vocal strategy for standing with Hongkongers.

Fiona has big plans for the future. I would like to share my entrepreneurial experience with others. I would love to start a platform where we can discuss time management, enneagram personality, or how to start a business.

Entrepreneurship has become dynamic. I hope my experience can help someone out there.

Looking back, Fiona and her curiosity might have galloped through life for many years, but her conscience is the last thing she would ever lose.

Jenny Zang Contributed to this article.

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Freedom Is Not Free: How a Hongkonger in Canada Found Her Voice to Stand With Hong Kong - The Epoch Times

My first published poem as an undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico was formed from anguish. It was not yet a poem, even as it appeared to be a poem. Like starts for tomato plants or zucchini, I had been writing poem-starts on bar napkins to open conversation, like looking around the room and wondering where everyone came from and how they wound up here on this corner of desperation. Natives are always asking: Where you from? Id write lyrical notes to decipher the messages that emerged through the mess of colonized wilderness, sometimes even a startled S.O.S. signal.

I was a university student, arriving on campus after a year of major antiwar demonstrations that had galvanized the student community. The National Guard had been called out. Native rights movements were beginning to emerge, especially in the Plains and upper Midwest. At the University of New Mexico, we were mostly southwestern Native peoples, from the pueblos perched along the edges of the Rio Grande, or the Athabascan Navajo and Apache peoples to the south and west. There were a few of us Oklahoma Indians, including a handful of other Mvskoke, and others from tribal nations all over the country.

Many of us were within a generation of coming up in traditions of orality, of knowledge systems that managed to survive nearly intact if not in shards. What held it all together appeared to be grease and humor, and always a deep sense of awe and respect for life, for this thing called living.

There was the Indian bar across town where I was often being eyed for a fight by other women. Another bar for dancing was farther up on Central, which was across the street from the gay bar with the best music and a dance floor of color-lit plexiglass. The preferred hangout was Okies. It was close to the university, and it was the Indian, biker, and poet bar, a direct line to higher education. We all met there to vision together or apart on beer, wine, and whatever else we found and brought through the doors, swinging through the nights at the corner of Yale and Central. Mainly it was just to get together, tell stories, laugh, and hang out. In the beginning, I wasnt old enough to enter those doors legally. And even then, some places still wouldnt serve American Indians alcohol. Thats a different story.

Most of our Native student community never set foot in any of these places. I grew up in a family in which bars were the community social gathering places, though it never worked out well in the end. Ive come to believe that they are so attractive because they hold stories, jukeboxes, or bands that share songs. We need stories, music, and companionship to feed our spirits. Add the loosening up elements of alcohol and pool games and a bar can be a refuge. Yet it can also be a tricky island of forgetfulness. Its dangerous. You can easily go too far or get trapped into returning night after night, to repeat a high that will never be the same again. After a few hours in this atmosphere, I would feel I belonged. I could be myself on the dance floor. This kind of high has a wide-open trapdoor if there is no one or nothing there to catch you.

Catching the Light (Why I Write)

Catching the Light (Why I Write)

My first poem came from navigating the party after the party, the one for the hardcore who had no place else to go but despair. Those parties could happen in someones home or on the street. I wont name the poem. It was an attempt to salvage the embers of living. The poem was not strong enough to hold it.

Like everyone else there, I was looking for a vision, for freedom from the ugliness of shame and loathing. I was looking for a language to speak my way out of there, hence the scribbling on bar napkins, my face covered by my long hair. I made a cave of silence in the mess and found poetry there.

Excerpted from Catching the Light, Yale University Press; Reprint edition (October 4, 2022).

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd poet laureate of the United States, from 2019 to 2022.

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Finding Freedom from the Ugliness of Shame and Loathing - Oprah Mag