When I moved to the U.S., I embraced this nation’s holidays and traditions. I have always loved Thanksgiving as it reminds us to gratefully acknowledge what we might otherwise take for granted — like freedom, the right to vote, and the right to express oneself politically and artistically.

I am especially thankfully for the blessings of freedom because I remember what it was like to live without them. And I remember what it means to fight for the most basic human dignities.

This November marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany, and the “Velvet Revolution” in my native country, the Czech Republic. It was a lifetime ago, but I vividly remember those ten days in Prague when we took to the streets and peacefully ended a 41-year reign of communism.

Growing up in the Czech Republic, my parents were both teachers, who were often targeted by the Communists. My father once wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, expressing disappointment with a policy, and shortly after received a knock on the door from the police. He was removed from the classroom and reassigned to ditch-digging.

My mother was a music teacher who ran a college choir. As part of the program, she chose a song calling for “freedom for all.” Again, the knock at the door. After a rather intimidating interrogation, the communists started selecting the appropriate songs for my mother’s choir.

As a parent, I know that people can tolerate almost anything except violence against their children. This was ultimately, the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back in Prague.

Young people like myself were peacefully celebrating the International Day of Students by visiting the grave site of young victims of war. We spontaneously remembered the name Jan Palach who tragically died setting fire to himself in protest of the Russian invasion in 1968. Soon, we were met with a violent riot of military police, brutally beating students for remembering a name erased from our history.

Our parents lost their fear and joined us on the streets. And so began the Velvet Revolution, dubbed for its peaceful approach. Gathered at Wenceslas Square, we sang songs of freedom and met the police officers’ guns with flowers. In the end, not a single life was lost.

It was an exhilarating 10 days…10 days filled with a hopeful restlessness like none of us had ever felt before and 10 days you can never forget. As the day when in the growing crowd at the square, someone took a bold step. He shouted the word: “Svoboda,” which means freedom. In the U.S., this would be no big deal, but it was the first time most of us had ever heard this word spoken publicly. We were shouting and singing for freedom and the government could not ignore the massive, growing movement so much urgent in its mission: to gain a respectful life without oppression. Things were changing before us. Freedom was within our reach.

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Factories began striking in solidarity with our protest. The crowd grew larger every day. The city was bustling. Revolution does not know days or nights. Everything was open 24 hours, no one was in hurry anywhere, this was the time of our lives. Prague was bubbling, steaming. The city was in a frenzy, the air smelled sweet and people delirious with the certainty of victory. The overwhelming bond between all of us was sudden, and emotional. That incredible bond was our strength. We all palpably felt the historic significance of this moment. It was paradise.

When I think about my life today in San Diego, I am grateful to send my children to public schools where they are encouraged to express their ideas and think for themselves. I am thankful that I can urge the art students at the design school where I teach to express their political ideas through filmmaking, painting and animation. I am also grateful to have been part of bringing democracy to the Czech Republic. I am grateful to all who helped me to win my fight for freedom.

As we celebrate our American tradition, I will give thanks for the freedom my family enjoys in the U.S. I will also remember all of the brave Czech people who peacefully joined together to bring freedom to their homeland 20 years ago.

Marketa Hancova is the dean of education at Platt College, San Diego School of Art and Design.

Tags: berlin wall, communisim, czech communists, Czech Republic, Germany, giving thanks, international day of students, Jan Palach, prague, SDNN, thanksgiving, wenceles square

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 9:02 am and is filed under A More Perfect Union. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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Giving thanks for freedom, remembering the Czech Revolution - http://www.sdnn.com/?p=74495

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