Here's an email they had sent me...
Hey Ruckus -
Our beloved Satya (Nupur Modi in the press materials) joined 5 other Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) activists in a brilliant action to unfurl a massive banner on the Great Wall in China – “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008!” – in English and Chinese. We are SO proud of him and the entire courageous team. Tibetan Independence activist and SFT Executive Director Lhadon Tethong and colleague Paul Golding were detained as well, but all 8 were released together and are in Hong Kong on their way home now. This is what it looks like to conquer fear and take a message of freedom directly into the heart of your opponent.
Here’s a few excerpts from the press materials, which are available at www.studentsforafreetibet.org
“Around 10 p.m. NYC time (10 a.m. Beijng time) six courageous Tibetan independence activists from the UK, US, and Canada were detained by Chinese authorities after rappelling (abseiling) off the top of the Great Wall of China with a 450-square foot banner reading “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008” in English and Chinese.
The activists from the UK, the US and Canada are Sam Price, Melanie Raoul, Leslie Kaup, Duane Martinez, Pete Speller and Nupur Modi. Their current whereabouts are unknown but we are monitoring the situation closely.
The action took place on the eve of the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics as China was preparing for what they thought would be a glorious celebration. As Ben Blanchard from The Guardian has already reported: "Free Tibet activists on the Great Wall, a barrage of critical rights reports, a shroud of smog hanging over Beijing -- China's government must surely have imagined a more auspicious one-year countdown for the Olympics."
To see the footage of these amazing Tibetan freedom activists in action, click on the links below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp5mAMrfvI8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Qp2-pJUio
You can also see still photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/greatwallaction
To read the press release, go to: www.studentsforafreetibet.orgTo see some media postings, interviews and blog commentaries go to:
http://blog.studentsforafreetibet.org/
ALSO, DON'T FORGET to check www.BeijingWideOpen.org for Lhadon Tethong's latest posts. Watch footage of her recent encounter with IOC President Jacques Rogge at his Beijing hotel. Lhadon and Paul continue reporting from Beijing, exposing the reality of China's propaganda campaign.”
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In other Ruckus news:
Though many of you already got to interact with Janine Carmona and Sabba Syal, new members of the Ruckus team, we wanted to formally introduce them! Janine has joined our Ruckus family for 6 months, primarily working on Not Your Soldier and bringing her talents to a wide array of real needs throughout the organization. Sabba comes to us from Chicago as our new Associate Development Director. She is already taking our development program to the next level in a myriad of ways, building off of the amazing work of J.C. (who had the coolest Rock ‘n’ Roll wedding ever last weekend - Congratulations J.C. and Amanda!!) and Nisha and past Ruckus Development Divas.
We were also the Feature Organization on Future5000.com this past month when it got lauded in The Nation and on Yahoo! – go check it out.
Upcoming, Ruckus is joining Whole Communities, stone circles and Common Fire Foundation to co-sponsor the Next Generation Leadership Retreat in the Mad River Valley of Vermont, August 12-19. The facilitation team (Kavitha Rao, Matt Kolan, Adrienne Maree Brown and Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey) will guide selected up and coming leaders in a retreat focused on mediation, transformative action and leading from a place of purpose and values.
P.S. Thanks for helping us match the Ben and Jerry’s grant and get all of our folks to the US Social Forum!
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