1989

48″ x 48″ x 1.5″ acrylic on canvas.

In September 2002, one year after the 9/11 terror attacks on the US, author Arundhati Roy spoke to a large audience in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her speech, “Come September,” powerfully condemned the emerging US-led War on Terror, mindless nationalism, capitalist greed, and corporate globalization.

Calling for empathy and the sharing of pain, however, Roy looks to the many other struggles in recent history that share the September 11 anniversary. When we focus only the narratives in front of us, we can lose sight of others’ struggles and, consequently, of our shared humanity.

In world history textbooks, 1989 was a pivotal year. That’s when the Berlin Wall fell and when Chinese citizens gathered for weeks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, risking (and in some cases giving) their lives for democracy.

The year 1989 sticks with me. Perhaps because I was old enough to clearly remember these big events unfolding—my aunt was travelling in Beijing at the time of the protest, and then I remember watching the news from Berlin a few months later. Roy’s speech, however, reminds me to reach beyond the big narratives. If I look past the most famous events, what other struggles and courageous acts of resistance from 1989 will I find?