Welcome to the Red Dazibao

Dazibao is the art of resistance. The Democracy Wall Movement in China (1978-1979) followed in the tradition of democratic and socialist activists from the days of the Cultural Revolution by publicly posting paintings and drawings that carefully indicted the hypocracy and corruption of the government. During dark political days, the mere act of speaking truthfully is a act of courage. As a testimony of this, many dazibao writers were arrested, imprisoned and even executed.

Speaking truth to power is a risk. What is to be made of truth speaking in the days of "super-power?"

The Red Dazibao carries on in the tradition of the democratic and socialist activists of Tiananmen Square, and pays tribute to all those who have paid the ultimate price for a more just and free world.

The Red Daziboa challenges the current concept of "free" press. "The free press" a term that has become synonomous with the "freedom of publishers to do what they want" and no longer means the freedom of citizens to engage in meaningful public debate and inquiry via the press, must be challenged lest we don't mind watching our democracy dry up and blow away. In fact, the Red Daziboa is a cry against the long slow decline of the popular media which was formalized in the Reaganite, libritarian ethos that stated that any government intervention in the media, even if it protected the public interest, was "anti-American." Bush 41 failed to weaken public protections, Clinton succeeded and Bush 43 along with FCC Chairman Michael Powell (the son of Colin Powell) have done there best to sideswipe any illusion of public access to the media public forum. After all, it is all business, right?