V is for Velvet
A fabric so smooth it glides through your fingertips, so durable it holds against the stretch of wear and so gentle a baby would swoon at the touch. The 1989 Prague revolution was velvet in quality. It is the one of the few revolutions where not one participant was killed. Seeing the footage in the communist museum makes it almost unbelievable to imagine. The brutality the police showed the protesters was harsh in nature. They pushed against the linked arms of the protesters, using weapons against the defenseless. But the people held strong to the nonviolent nature of the movement. In a book about nonviolence by Dr. Kurlansky, held the idea- if a nonviolent side is provoked into violence, they have already lost. The power in the Velvet Revolution came from the peaceful character of the protestors, no matter how they were coerced. Without the backing of the Soviet Union, the government did not want to use overdue force to subside the protests. Within a week the communist government had fallen, with a peaceful transfer of power. Interestingly enough, some Czechs believe it to have been too velvet and thought not enough leaders were punished. On the other hand, I think the success came with the unwavering commitment to being velvet.
V is for Vaclav
Gandhi was famously quoted saying, "Be the change you want to see in the world.", Vaclav Havel embodied this idea. Havel was the first democratically elected president in forty-one years, even more so the vote was unanimous. He held great dedication in liberating Prague from the confines of communism. As a writer of essays, poems, and plays, Havel often voiced his opposition to government within his works. After participating in Prague Springs, he was blacklisted and held under surveillance. Havel was a leader in the Velvet Revolution and a key figure in the overthrow of the government. He brought a lot of change to Prague and helped them transition into a democratic era. It was because of Havel that Radio Free Europe was relocated to Prague, he understood the need for countries to know what freedom was and attributed that to the media. Vaclav Havel left a legacy in Prague as a man who stood for freedom and a liberator from the time of communist repression.
V is for Victory
Thousands of protestors gathered in the square held up their hands in the shape of a V. Forty - one years of censorship, of repression, of loss of freedom. But the people would stand for it no longer. They unrest held so thick in the air as the people shouted, "we have bare hands", while being beaten by by policemen in the streets. They stood strong, as the honored the bravery of Jan Palach, and fought for the freedoms the government had taken. Communism would end today. They held their hands in the air shaped like a V, V is for victory.
Sydney Harris