The Street Art Uprising of Occupy Central’s Umbrella Revolution

You probably haven’t been keeping tabs on Hong Kong’s ‘Umbrella Revolution‘ orchestrated by Occupy Central activists demanding democratic rights to freedom of assembly and the right to open elections. And why would you? There’s been an almost complete media blackout here in the US as the Ebola/ISIS/Dept. of Fear 24/7 “news” cycle does its diligent job of distracting us all.

As in Cairo, Istanbul, London, Kiev, and Ferguson, the people of central Hong Kong are rightfully rousing the rabble, waging a street rebellion against anti-democratic forces – and against HK police obliged with putting down this popular democratic uprising. They are the armed thugs whose job it is to inflict brutality against their own people, ensuring the ‘peace’ and ‘order’ of status quo are not disrupted.

Some might condone police actions against protesters as warranted punishment for disrupting traffic. Others might find such police tactics outright fascist.

Really, though, who am I to judge?

What is most remarkable about Occupy Central are the sheer volumes of people taking to the streets, the imaginative craft work of the blockades they’ve constructed, and most of all – the creative diversity with which the Umbrella Revolution has displayed its discontent. Virtually every image published thus far has featured some kind of unique artwork – whether functional or symbolic or both – the people there are on to something that other international protesters have only glanced the surface of.

This uprising’s ingenuity seems to confound and taunt law enforcement and government authorities alike. It’s as though Hong Kong police are battling an ongoing, ever evolving art installation itself in which they themselves are simultaneously baffled onlooker and begrudging participant.

The details and nuance of the continued situation on the ground are easily researchable. I’ll leave you to delve into that on your own if you like. What matters are the people rebelling to gain their rights to their city, their right to protest, their right for representation. How they’re winning this battle is displayed below via Twitter posts.

Honestly, have you ever seen anything quite like this?

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