The Hong Kong Protests Day 2 - The Aftermath

"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness." ~Seneca, Roman philosopher

Sunday - September 28, 2014

Last night the police, in an uncharacteristic display of heavy-handed proletariat violence, donned riot gear and gas masks and hurled canisters of tear gas into the unsuspecting crowds of peaceful protesters, most of which were university students quietly claiming their space on the sidewalks and along the main arteries of Hong Kong’s Central district.

It was a sudden and dramatic shift in the climate of what had been up to this point peaceful demonstrations, a swift turn toward violence that was perhaps as unexpected on the side of the police as it was by the students. Whatever the case, it served to affect one very clear end result: the commitment of the entrenched became twice as strong.

In addition, it brought out the sympathizers – those who never expected to see such violence in the streets of their city suddenly were faced with the stark realization that the authorities would take whatever brutal and uncompromising actions they felt necessary to enforce civil rule. Seemingly overnight the sympathizers turned out in droves and are now standing in defiant solidarity with the students.

So it is, that with one night of decisive violent action on the part of law enforcement, the peaceful student demonstrations have quickly transformed into a full-out protest by Hong Kong citizens, many of whom are at the very core of society - financial, political and otherwise. This morning the city is recovering in quiet reflection of what occurred last night. Those arrested are being sent home, the gas masks and riot gear have been put away, and the streets of Central are quiet.

But the protestors have started putting up tents and rigging shelters. They're collecting food and water, digging in, and quietly accepting donations from silent supports who are prepared to stand behind them for as long as it takes. These protests are far from over - and if the violence of last night served no other purpose, it ensured the world is, indeed, watching.