Voice from My Soul

VOICE FROM MY SOUL

Speech for the 2008 “Olympic Freedom T Shirt” movement

July 1, 2007 by Kai Chen

As the 2008 Beijing Olympics fast approaches, we as freedom-loving people, realize as that time comes, we are standing at the threshold between human freedom in our future and human despotism from our past.

As a former Chinese National Basketball Team player, I feel compelled by my conscience to speak out, not just to speak out against oppression, slavery and human degradation, but speak out for human freedom, for hope, for a better tomorrow. I am speaking out not just for those who still suffer under the oppressive regime of the Chinese communist government, but also for those who are suffering under all kinds of despotism, old and new, in the world.

1936 Berlin Olympics should be our lesson we ought to heed. As the world indulged itself in the illusion of Olympic grandeur under the Nazi propaganda, millions had suffered the unspeakable cruelty under the murderous Nazi regime. History should not repeat itself, and we as free people will make sure that Olympic spirit is nothing but the spirit of human freedom, not opium to induce illusions for despotism and evil. Any government that wants to use the Olympics for its own oppressive and reactionary policies against human freedom should be put into the spotlight and be exposed of its evil. 2008 Beijing Olympics should be an example of how the cause of human freedom is pushed forward by the Olympic movement, not the opposite.

Here I as an athlete with a conscience, call upon all the athletes, all the coaches, all the people in the athletic establishment in the world, all the sports fans, all the tourists who will participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics awaken your conscience, pluck your courage and listen to the call from the deepest recess of your soul to join our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt” global movement:

When you participate in the competition, wear our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt”.

When you interact with the Chinese people, wear our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt”.

When you peruse the artifacts in the Forbidden City, wear our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt”.

When you walk in the gardens of the Summer Palace, wear our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt”.

When you climb the Great Wall, wear our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt”

When you stroll on the Tiananmen Square, under the stare of the giant portrait of Mao – the biggest mass murder in human history, when you remember those who died in the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, wear our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt”.

We do not advocate boycotting the Beijing Summer Olympics. We do not want you to use your absence to protest an inhuman regime in their attempt to manipulate the Olympic movement to perpetuate their oppressive policies in China and around the world. We want to see that you use your presence in the 2008 Beijing Olympics to spread the message of Truth, Justice, Liberty and Dignity for all human beings on the planet earth. We want to see you use your excellence, your enthusiasm, your expression and appreciation of the human yearning for the eternal values of mankind to spread the message of hope and human freedom.

I as a Chinese athlete with a conscience call upon the voice in your conscience, call upon your courage, your action and your prayer for freedom of the Chinese people, for freedom of all the people in the world. In wearing our “Olympic Freedom T Shirt”, you are expressing your support for the freedom-loving people in China and in the world. You are indeed building a better tomorrow for yourself and those you love.

Let Freedom Ring!