Excerpted from The Plain Dealer:
Not everyone is tuning out. Outspoken wrestler Patricia Miranda, a Yale Law School graduate and 2004 bronze medalist, indicated she would consider, but is "leaning against," a gesture such as displaying a Tibetan flag in protest of China's crackdown against freedom demonstrators there.
She said she admires the famous gesture by American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the awards stand in 1968 when each bowed his head and raised a fist in support of Civil Rights.
"That was an effective use of their time in the limelight," said Miranda, who belongs to a group called Human Rights in China. She does not believe athletes' protests will move China to make change, but she plans to go "above and beyond" to inform as many people possible about human rights abuses in China.
"It's my responsibility to get people informed because I know something about it," she said.
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For more information on this issue:
- HRIC Campaign:
Incorporating Responsibility 2008 Take Action Campaign - HRIC Press Statement:
Five-Year Sentence of Olympics Critic Not Human Rights Progress - China Rights Forum No. 1, 2008:
One Slogan, Many Meanings: Bring Tibet to the 2008 Games - HRIC Press Advisory:
Petitioners Face Ongoing Abuse - HRIC Trends Bulletin:
Olympics and The Rule of Law: Lawyers in China - HRIC Press Advisory:
With Six-Month Olympic Countdown Looming, HRIC Calls on China to Release Chen Guangcheng - HRIC Press Advisory:
HRIC Launches 2008 Take Action Website and Calls on China to Release Shi Tao - China Rights Forum No. 4, 2007:
The Real Situation in Pre-Olympics China - Teng Biao and Hu Jia give their views about the situation on the ground in the countdown to the Olympics. - China Rights Forum No. 3, 2007:
2008 and Beyond - Articles, interviews, resource list, and campaign information focusing on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. - China Rights Forum No. 3, 2007:
Olympics Advocacy Campaigns - China Rights Forum No. 2, 2007:
Incorporating Responsibility 2008 - FAQ: Foreign Journalists Operating in China During the 2008 Beijing Olympics - China Rights Forum No. 1, 2007:
The Sino-African Cooperation Against Human Rights - He Qinglian describes how the Chinese government curries favor with African tyrants at the expense of its own poor, and in hopes of having its own human rights abuses overlooked in the international arena.