Some of the beautiful Uyghur people I met. I think often of how they are now.
“Where are you?” is an animated film I created to raise awareness on the plight of Uyghur people.
Sketches based on powerful Uyghur poetry
Uyghur Organizations to Support
Donate here:
Links:
Boycott Brands and Products that use Uyghur slave labor
A list of other helpful actions you can take.
Other useful sites:
Uyghur Tribunal By documenting abuses against Uyghurs under the Chinese Government, the tribunal, based in the UK hopes to support politicians around the world to push for legislation that will cause the Chinese Government to stop it’s genocide against the Uyghur people.
Uyghur American Association Creating awareness and supporting Uyghurs.
Uyghur Projects Foundation Creating projects to preserve culture.
Xinjiang Victims Database Collecting crucial information on disappeared and interred Uyghurs.
This is a call to action
Flood social media with drawings, photos, music, dance and stories of Uyghurs. Do a web search for Uyghur art, music culture, or dance. You will be touched by the beauty of what you see and hear. Artists can create something inspired by what you see and spread it with the hashtags below. If you are not someone who can create pieces, don’t worry, just pick images or music that you like and spread the word with these hashtags on all social media platforms, so people may know of the beauty and plight of these wonderful people. Put up a post every few days at least, if you can and we can get one portion of this effort boosted.
Hashtags
#uyghurart #Genocide #StandWithUyghurs #UyghurCulture #FreeUyghurs #CloseTheCamps #WorldforUyghurs
Celebrate Uyghur Culture and Stop Genocide.
Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group living in what is called the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. It is a beautiful, resource rich land with a deep cultural heritage of poetry, dance, music and wonderful people, including Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Kazak, Uzbeks and other groups facing genocide. While the People’s Republic of China has systematically dismantled the rights of these people for over half a century, in recent years the government has created concentration camps to torture, brainwash, and murder the population. A Uyghur genocide wikipedia link can be found here.
Many Uyghurs, even living outside China, can not speak out for fear of reprisals against family and friends in Xinjiang. Those who do, are doing so at great personal sacrifice. We must amplify these voices and take up this cause. Good relations with China are too lucrative for governments and corporations to take real action without the overwhelming pressure of the general public.
My connection
Though I am not Uyghur, I had the pleasure to meet Uyghurs when I backpacked with friends through Xinjiang. These photos are from my travels. We met kind, wonderful people, with whom we shared songs and smiles. Even at that time, we could see the dehumanization of Uyghurs and other groups in Xinjiang by the authorities. The same negative qualities ascribed to other communities, African American, Jewish, Roma, Bosnian, Palestinian, Armenian, Kashmiri, Dalit etc were used on them. At a museum celebrating the cultural diversity of Xinjiang, I was advised by a museum worker to keep away from Uyghurs as I spoke to some in the lobby. My friends and I of course head over to a Uyghur neighborhood immediately after and were met with warmth and kindness as we had experienced with other communities throughout our travels which can be seen on my blog. There are many causes to support. I’m sharing one simple way to push back on the erasure of a culture and people that emboldens bigots and opportunists around the world to do the same if we don’t shut this down now.
