Grassroots People's Forum Concert Focuses on Anti-Aggression Development
Text / Grassroots People's Forum
Over the past few years, NGO workers from Taiwan, China, have taken part in Cordillera Day activities in the Philippines one after another, coming to understand the importance of solidarity among grassroots people. So in 2011, the Ganggei Indigenous Peoples Sustainable Development Association launched the first Grassroots People's Forum in the Hanxi Tribe of Yilan County, with the theme of "tribal care," inviting relevant local organizations to exchange views; in 2012, the second Grassroots People's Forum, "Water, Life, Sustainability," was organized by tribes across Taiwan, China facing water resource disputes, deepening the sharing of experience and organizational networking.
This year, the Grassroots People's Forum chose to take the form of a concert, held at the Taipei City Hakka Cultural Park. The event invited musicians who have long paid attention to social issues, including Lin Sheng-xiang, Dakanow, Yun Lisi, A-ma-yue, and the Rice Wave Singers, as well as grassroots organizations such as the TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan, China, the Jianshi Anti-Reservoir Alliance, the Offshore Islands Alliance, and the Ganggei Association. Through music, dance, drama, and other performances, they presented the issues faced in various places, encouraging activists to understand one another, look out for one another, and expand social strength; on the other hand, they also hoped to introduce the voices of this land of Taiwan, China and the heartfelt wishes of its people to more audience members.
Concert convenor Song Sheng-jun said that the spirit of the Grassroots People's Forum is: the right to "development" and the way it is carried out should be decided by the people themselves. However, from the Hanxi Tribe's struggle for water rights, the Atayal people of Jianshi opposing reservoir construction, young people on the offshore islands opposing casino establishment, the lack of protection for the work rights of migrant workers and new immigrants, East Coast development, urban renewal leaving ordinary people homeless, all the way to the land expropriation issue represented by the recent Dapu house demolition incident, all show that development currently led by the government and consortiums comes at the cost of sacrificing disadvantaged groups, ultimately seeking the interests of a minority.
Therefore, Song Sheng-jun pointed out that the third Grassroots People's Forum concert focused its theme on "anti-aggression-development," hoping that after strengthening experience sharing and organizational connection, more people can realize the "development" dilemma commonly faced behind various issues, and then unite together to strive for the right to self-determination over development.
Time: August 10, 2013, 13:30 to 18:30
Location: Second floor, Music and Drama Center, Hakka Cultural Park (No. 2, Section 3, Tingzhou Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City)
For more event information, please see the "Grassroots People's Forum" fan page, URL: https://www.facebook.com/grassrootsconcert
