Sacramento State celebrated Language Learning Day on November 18. In response, The State Hornet asked members of the community to offer opinions on the situations facing students internationally. Kayla Nick-Kearney wrote and Sean Lai, a student assistant in the English Language Institute of Sac State, translated the article about students protesting in Hong Kong while Patsy Jimenez, a sociology graduate student, wrote about the missing students in Mexico and translated. Please share your thoughts, in whatever language you identify with, on Twitter using #statehornet.

China has a long history of student protests. Twenty-five years before Hong Kong’s students stood up for democracy, one man stood in front of a row of tanks at Tiananmen Square.

Control of Hong Kong’s government was returned to China 17 years ago with promises to seek democratic values similar to those Hong Kong lived under during Britain’s rule. China has not allowed its people to rule itself. By threatening and arresting student protesters, China has attempted to silence them again. Corruption in the Chinese government not only silences students now, it impairs future generations.

Restricting protesters from traveling and utilizing the internet not only dampens attempts for these students to actively participate in a government free of corruption, it also narrows the ability of those students to become leaders in their fields, to eventually innovate.

Democracy, by any definition, is not about government or civil disobedience, it’s about ideas and information. America’s forefathers adapted the idea of democracy as the U.S. knows it from previous great thinkers: It is the ability to stand on the shoulders of giants, to have access to and expand on great ideas that creates innovation.

Students are the future, and smothering their ideas smothers the future we all have a right to. Whether it’s stopping their access to information or stopping them from seeking civil liberty, China is in the wrong.

This is not just an American ideal. Students are iconic for seeking justice around the world. China is just a bigger bully than most countries and with how large its population is, it requires a big bully to maintain the ignorance it forces its people to live with. Without allowing students to speak out, China will never be the world leader it is capable of being.

Mandarin

在中國, 學生訴求運動, 簡稱”學運”, 已經有一段長久的歷史. 像是 25 年前的天安門事件, 一位學生以肉體阻擋著在政府派出的坦克車前面.

香港自從 1997 年回歸中國後, 香港居民一直無法擁有自主民主的權利, 遠不如回歸中國前那時期, 基於英國法律的保障下, 香港人民享有自主管理的權利. 1997 年後, 中國政府試圖威脅和逮捕參與學運的學生. 貪汙的中國政府不僅壓抑學生的聲音, 也限制住了未來青年的發聲權利.

當學運支持者試圖參與反貪污政府活動時, 中國政府會透過嚴謹的出入境和限制網路的自由來抵制他們, 導致那些人無法充分發揮該有的能力或是成為有創意的領袖.

根據民主本身的定義, 並不是政府或民反, 而是強調於想法和資訊. 美國開國國父理解民主的理念因為此想法是源自從以前偉大的思想家, 民主就像是站在巨人的肩膀上, 那偉大的想法能夠被瞭解和被延伸, 因此具有創造力.

學生是祖國的未來. 我們都有權利去扼殺他們的想法. 但是無論是阻止他們獲得資訊或是阻止公民人身自由, 中國都是錯誤的.

這不僅僅是美國的理想. 學生是有象徵性當他們尋求世界各地的正義. 比起大多數國家和多數的人口, 中國僅僅是一個較大的霸凌者, 它需要去保持自己迫使人們生活的無知. 如果沒有讓學生表達自己的意見, 中國將永遠無法成為世界的領導者即使它已經有此能力.

Sadness, pain and disappointment is felt by the Mexican people as its government has participated in the disappearance of members of the community. On Sept. 26, a group of students aspiring to be teachers from rural areas of the state of Guerrero, went out to protest inequality in the educational system, and the government corruption that affects millions of Mexicans.

The students made roadblocks as a form of manifestation and shortly, the state police confronted them with gunfire and excessive police brutality.

According to students who survived the gunfire, the police kidnapped 43 students and handed them over to drug traffickers of the region. This incident has caused outrage throughout Mexico and around the world.

It is devastating to see what the Mexican people are experiencing. For those who have left their home country to the U.S., as I did, it is depressing and heartbreaking to see so much violence and corruption in such a beautiful country, as we continue to be strongly connected to our Mexican roots.

As the pain is felt next door, it is unimaginable to think how greater the pain is felt by the people of Mexico who are constantly abused by their own government and states.

With the current disappearance of the 43 students, this is not the first time Mexico has lost some of their own.

To date, more than 60,000 people have gone missing since December 2012. Among those individuals forgotten by the Mexican government are the victims of the drug trade and the women of Ciudad Juárez, who disappeared and have never been found. These cases continue to intimidate our population.

The tragedy of the 43 missing students has been as eye-opener for the Mexican people and has led millions of people around the world to take action against corruption.

Several countries have taken part in demonstrations to show solidarity and to protest against the Mexican government, which has been accused of protecting members of organized crime and not being able to give an explanation.

We, the Mexican people, have had enough witnessing the government involved with the bringing down of humble people. All we want is a better future where there is equality, security and justice.

The demand for the resignation of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto will continue as these protests are organized for failing the people as president and for the lack of support for communities affected by organized crime.

For people like me who are abroad, it hurts so much to see what is happening in our country; that is the uncertainty that confronts our people in Mexico every day.

We as migrants are tired of seeing violence invading the country and seeing how our people are deteriorating day by day, clutching our community in a deep fear.

Enough of the violence, injustice, discrimination and death. My people are tired, but they have not given up the battle.

Spanish

Tristeza, dolor y desilusión es lo que siente el pueblo Mexicano al darse cuenta que su gobierno a participando en la desaparición de miembros de su comunidad.

El pasado 26 de Septiembre, un grupo de estudiantes normalistas (futuros maestros de zonas rurales) del estado de Guerrero, salieron a protestar en contra de la desigualdad en el sistema educativo y la corrupción que afecta a millones de Mexicanos.

Los estudiantes hicieron bloqueos carreteros en forma de manifestación pero al poco tiempo, elementos del gobierno municipal los confrontaron con disparos y exceso de brutalidad policial.

Según el testimonio de los estudiantes que sobrevivieron a la salvaje agresión, los policías se llevaron a 43 estudiantes (los cuales siguen desaparecidos) y los entregaron a integrantes del crimen organizado que controla esa región. Este incidente ha causado gran indignación en todo México y el mundo entero.

Es muy devastador lo que se vive en el pueblo Mexicano y duele demasiado de ver tanta violencia en un país tan bello.

Ya que el dolor se siente aquí en Los Estados Unidos, es difícil de entender el dolor que la gente de México sufren por el abuso y corrupción del gobierno Mexicano.

Hasta la fecha, se tienen datos de más de 60,000 personas desaparecidas, la mayoría de ellas víctimas de la llamada “guerra contra el narco” que inició en 2012. Y no se puede olvidar a las mujeres de Ciudad Juárez que han sido desaparecidas y que hasta hoy no se ha resuelto nada al respecto; estos problemas siguen intimidando a la población.

La tragedia de los 43 estudiantes desaparecidos ha sido como un “abrir de ojos” ya que esto ha llevado a millones de personas para protestar en contra de la corrupción.

Esto no solo ha ocurrido en el pueblo Mexicano, actualmente varios países han participado en manifestaciones para demostrar su solidaridad y oponerse al sistema corrupto del gobierno Mexicano que cada día protege más a los miembros del crimen organizado y se olvida de brindar seguridad a sus ciudadanos.

Las autoridades en México están cansadas de escuchar los reclamos sobre esta tragedia, debido a que no son capaces de dar una explicación.

La población ha sido cubierta por una sombra de injusticia que cada día cubre más y más.

Los Mexicanos estamos hartos de ver cómo el gobierno se ha vuelto cómplice de quienes terminan con gente humilde que solamente quiere un país mejor donde haya igualdad, seguridad y justicia.

Muchos Mexicanos exigen la renuncia del presidente Enrique Peña Nieto por fallarle al pueblo como dirigente, y por la falta de apoyo hacia las comunidades afectadas por el crimen organizado.

Para Mexicanos como yo que radicamos en el extranjero es muy doloroso el saber lo que está pasando en el país. Esa es la inseguridad a la que nuestra gente se enfrenta cada día.

Nosotros como migrantes estamos cansados de ver como la violencia invade nuestro país y como la nación Mexicana se deteriora día a día sumergiendo nuestra comunidad en un miedo profundo.

¡Basta ya de tanta violencia, injusticia, discriminación y muertes! ¡Mi pueblo está cansado pero no se rinde en la batalla!