Causecast

by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer

November ninth marks the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which triggered the collapse of communism that would spread throughout Eastern Europe in the years to follow. The Berlin Wall was the iconic symbol of the proverbial iron curtain that separated a free Europe from the communist east and divided the city of Berlin for nearly 30 years.

The day the wall fell there was no press release, no news conference, just thousands of Germans who found their voice after four decades of being silenced and divided. With the collapse of the wall they said, "Enough is enough." Eventually the media did show up to find East Germans toppling over the top of the wall separating them from the West. No guns. No war. Just peaceful revolution.

The collapse of the Berlin wall is more than an event to fill a few pages of high school history books. Twenty years later, it still represents a shift in paradigm for human rights throughout the Eastern Communist Corridor. For 40 years, the citizens of the Soviet Union and it’s allied nations were cut off from basic human rights of religion, free speech, entrepreneurship. Even the freedom to travel was minimized. Once the wall crumbled, so did the oppression of government over its people.

As Germany remembers the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the global community watches on and the party begins. Hotel rooms in Berlin are booked solid through the next week. U2 is throwing a free concert. And of course, MTV is hosting the 2009 European Video Music Awards from where else, but Berlin.

Los Angeles is hosting it’s own remembrance festivities as only L.A. can. Don’t worry the Cold War communists have not relocated to Southern California. Los Angeles based nonprofit Wende Museum, has erected ten slabs of the former wall down Wilshire Boulevard in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The remnants stand as a symbol of the diverse interpretations of what the wall symbolizes. Artists from all over the world have been invited to contribute their own ideas and add their own take on the significance of the wall to history and today. Wende is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and enabling access to Cold War-era artifacts from Eastern Europe. The display will remain on Wilshire until November 8. On the 9, well, the wall comes down. If you’re in L.A., go check it out.

The threat of human rights violations of all kinds still oppresses societies in many parts of the world. Virtually every continent is plagued by some form of human rights issues. The collapse of the wall, as a triumph over oppression, represents hope for millions around the world who are denied basic human rights by their own governments. Nonprofit organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch work tirelessly to ensure justice for those afflicted by human rights violations around the world.

Donate. Advocate. Educate. Do something on behalf of those around the world who are denied to right to basic freedoms.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons.