{"id":642,"date":"2012-05-29T15:26:13","date_gmt":"2012-05-29T15:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=642"},"modified":"2012-06-04T18:48:50","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T18:48:50","slug":"reggie-littlejohn-receives-spirit-of-tiananmen-award-honors-chen-guangcheng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/reggie-littlejohn-receives-spirit-of-tiananmen-award-honors-chen-guangcheng\/","title":{"rendered":"Reggie Littlejohn Receives “Spirit of Tiananmen” Award, Honors Chen Guangcheng"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Reggie Littlejohn stands with friends from China Aid's Los Angeles office, after receiving the "Spirit of Tiananmen" award.<\/p><\/div>\n


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Reggie Littlejohn spoke at the Commemoration of the 23rd<\/sup> Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, hosted by the Visual Artists Guild of Los Angeles.\u00a0 Speaking in honor of Chen Guangcheng, she then found to her surprise that she was the recipient of the coveted \u201cSpirit of Tiananmen\u201d Award.\u00a0 Here are her remarks:<\/em><\/p>\n

I am greatly humbled to speak to you in honor of one of the greatest and most noble heroes of our time \u2013 one of the human rights giants of the twenty-first century, the Gandhi of China — activist Chen Guangcheng.\u00a0 Blinded by a childhood illness, Chen taught himself law and at first advocated for the rights of the disabled.\u00a0 The Chinese Communist Party ignored him until he began to advocate for the rights of women who were victims of the massive, systematic use of forced abortion and sterilization in his city \u2013 Linyi.\u00a0 Chen bravely filed a class action lawsuit on their behalf, and that\u2019s when all hell broke loose for him and his family.\u00a0 It is fitting that we should honor him on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.\u00a0 The same brutal regime that massacred students on Tiananmen Square also has brutalized Chen and his family for seven years.\u00a0 Here is our\u00a0 video, Free Chen Guangcheng!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/?nav=free-chen-guangcheng<\/a><\/p>\n

Chen miraculously escaped from illegal house detention.\u00a0 Chen has no religious affiliation, yet he said, \u201cGod rescued me.\u201d\u00a0 I have been advocating for Chen\u2019s release since 2008 \u2013 five times in the U.S. Congress, twice at the European Parliament, and at the British and Irish Parliaments as well.\u00a0 I have also briefed the White House, State Department and Vatican about Chen and One Child Policy issues.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers has been leading the international coalition to free Chen.<\/p>\n

We released the Chen Guangcheng Report in Chinese on Chen’s 40th birthday, and in English at a Congressional Hearing on December 6, 2011.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=chen-report<\/a><\/p>\n

We collected more than 11,000 signatures on our Free Chen petition. http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=chen-guangcheng#pet<\/a><\/p>\n

We also have 500 Free Chen Sunglasses Portraits from all over the world.http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=chen-sunglasses<\/a><\/p>\n

We sent two big packages of Christmas cards to Chen in December 2011.<\/p>\n

When I flew to New York City one week ago today to welcome Chen to the United States, it was one of the most exciting moments of my life.<\/p>\n

While Chen is free, his family and friends are not.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n