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A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs
The extraordinary memoir of a woman who gave up everything to help her people
In February 2018, twenty-four members of Gulchehra Hoja's family disappeared overnight. Her crime - and thus that of her family - was her award-winning investigations on the plight of her people, the Uyghurs, whose existence and culture is being systematically destroyed by the Chinese government.
A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs is Gulchehra's stunning memoir, taking us into the everyday world of life under Chinese rule in East Turkestan (more formally as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China), from her idyllic childhood to its modern nightmare. The grandchild of a renowned musician and the daughter of an esteemed archaeologist, Gulchehra grew up with her people's culture and history running through her veins. She showed her gifts early on as a dancer, actress, and storyteller, putting her on a path to success as a major television star. Slowly though, she began to understand what China was doing to her people, as well as her own complicity as a journalist. As her rising fame and growing political awakening coincided, she made it her mission to expose the crimes Beijing is committing in the far reaches of its nation, no matter the cost.
Reveling in the beauty of East Turkestan and its people - its music, its culture, its heritage, and above all its emphasis on community and family - this groundbreaking memoir gives us a glimpse beyond what the Chinese state wants us to see, showcasing a woman who was willing to risk not just her own life, but also that of everyone she loves, to expose her people's story to the world.
In February 2018, twenty-four members of Gulchehra Hoja's family disappeared overnight. Her crime - and thus that of her family - was her award-winning investigations on the plight of her people, the Uyghurs, whose existence and culture is being systematically destroyed by the Chinese government.
A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs is Gulchehra's stunning memoir, taking us into the everyday world of life under Chinese rule in East Turkestan (more formally as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China), from her idyllic childhood to its modern nightmare. The grandchild of a renowned musician and the daughter of an esteemed archaeologist, Gulchehra grew up with her people's culture and history running through her veins. She showed her gifts early on as a dancer, actress, and storyteller, putting her on a path to success as a major television star. Slowly though, she began to understand what China was doing to her people, as well as her own complicity as a journalist. As her rising fame and growing political awakening coincided, she made it her mission to expose the crimes Beijing is committing in the far reaches of its nation, no matter the cost.
Reveling in the beauty of East Turkestan and its people - its music, its culture, its heritage, and above all its emphasis on community and family - this groundbreaking memoir gives us a glimpse beyond what the Chinese state wants us to see, showcasing a woman who was willing to risk not just her own life, but also that of everyone she loves, to expose her people's story to the world.
303 pages, Paperback
First published February 21, 2023
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5092 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 212 reviews
January 7, 2023
This book, written by a Uyghur journalist about her life and how her embrace or freedom has impacted her family and friends, is deeply moving, terrifying and a reality check on our world. There is massive genocide occurring to the Uyghur population in China and this writing highlights the reality of it. I applaud the courage and fortitude shown by Ms. Hoja in her personal life and for her ongoing crusade seeking justice for her people. This is an important work that should be loudly heard.
My thanks to the author, Gulchehra Hoja, and the publisher, Hachette Books, for my copy of this book, which will be released on February 21, 2023. #Goodreads Giveaway
My thanks to the author, Gulchehra Hoja, and the publisher, Hachette Books, for my copy of this book, which will be released on February 21, 2023. #Goodreads Giveaway
March 9, 2023
This deeply affecting record of the beleaguered experiences of the Uyghur people, is reminiscent of the fate of ethnic minorities in many areas throughout history. These regions have seen their citizens arrested, tortured, and killed without cause, their lands and crops stolen, their culture abd languages outlawed, their resources commandeered. As much as China complains about Western Imperialism, it's obvious that they know all about doing a lot of cultural and colonial style genocides of their own.
It's amazing how these regimes pull the same stunts from the same playbook. Claiming that you're making a region more "civilized" is an inherently evil way to propagandize justification for the attempted annihilation of a people.
The aims of a repressive regime are: to make an example of a few, imprison some others, and demoralize the many. In this way they deprive the people of hope, and dampen the energy needed to resist and rebel.
The author, Gulchehra Hoja, makes an interesting parallel between how the Uyghur people had been forced to defer to the Han Chinese, just like she had felt obligated to defer to the man she would marry. In both cases, having to swallow the expression of who you are and what is important to you, has consequences.
It is a cruel irony that true social equality, espoused by Communist China, but a farce in actual practice, could be found in Gulchehra Hoja's outreach to all Uyghur children, regardless of their status. The rural areas particularly clung to this strength of unity through shared culture, as they scratched out bitter lives under the thumb of the oligarchs.
The author reveals a landscape of impossible choices. What would it take to stand up to such a powerful government? Who actually gets to hear about the courageous acts of dissent, and does the ripple effect of these small acts make it around the globe? Gulchehra Hoja shows us one path out of many, one that does trouble the waters, for all to see. It's up to us not to look away.
It's amazing how these regimes pull the same stunts from the same playbook. Claiming that you're making a region more "civilized" is an inherently evil way to propagandize justification for the attempted annihilation of a people.
The aims of a repressive regime are: to make an example of a few, imprison some others, and demoralize the many. In this way they deprive the people of hope, and dampen the energy needed to resist and rebel.
The author, Gulchehra Hoja, makes an interesting parallel between how the Uyghur people had been forced to defer to the Han Chinese, just like she had felt obligated to defer to the man she would marry. In both cases, having to swallow the expression of who you are and what is important to you, has consequences.
It is a cruel irony that true social equality, espoused by Communist China, but a farce in actual practice, could be found in Gulchehra Hoja's outreach to all Uyghur children, regardless of their status. The rural areas particularly clung to this strength of unity through shared culture, as they scratched out bitter lives under the thumb of the oligarchs.
The author reveals a landscape of impossible choices. What would it take to stand up to such a powerful government? Who actually gets to hear about the courageous acts of dissent, and does the ripple effect of these small acts make it around the globe? Gulchehra Hoja shows us one path out of many, one that does trouble the waters, for all to see. It's up to us not to look away.
February 28, 2023
This is a must-read memoir about the ongoing struggle by the Uyghurs in East Turkestan, which is considered the Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region of China. The quotation marks for Autonomous are mine - ironic since there’s nothing autonomous about the region. The Uyghurs are an ethnic Turkic group in central and east Asia. From a cultural, religious, and language perspective, they are very different from the Han Chinese, the majority of the Chinese population. They are ethnically related to the Turks and share similarities in terms of culture, language and religion. The book is Gulchehra Hoja’s account of her life to date. She grew up in the city of Urumchi, the region’s capital. Her family was fairly prominent in the community - her father was an archaeologist and her mother was a pharmacologist who provided medical care in the absence of doctors. Her grandfather was a famous Uyghur musician, who worked at the Uyghur Arts Center, which had previously housed the U.S. consulate. Early on she was exposed to the political wheels, cautioned about speaking out against the Chinese government, and being aware of what it meant to be Uyghur. Wholesale re-education of the Uyghurs was rampant and the migration of Han Chinese to the Uyghur region was encouraged and facilitated - all to infiltrate and dominate the local population. The author and her family’s life were heavily impacted by her brother’s stealing money and apparently gold, along with other young men, from the police chief’s house. Her brother was caught, tortured and imprisoned. I felt the author in some respects glossed over the actual incident. Her brother confessed to stealing money but was it for drugs? Did he and the other young men steal the gold? There’s mention of young people and drugs but it wasn’t clear to me if that was the case with her brother, or the reference was too subtle. I felt the author glossed over her brother’s culpability a bit. The memoir maps the author’s life from childhood to adulthood in Urumchi to her move to Germany and then on to the U.S. With a bit of luck through her connections, she landed a job as a journalist with Radio Free Asia in 2001 and was based in Washington D.C. At that time she knew no English and through sheer hard work and perseverance learned the language. She began reporting and exposing the plight of the Uyghurs and the ongoing persecution of this group by the Chinese government. Today, she is a well-known award-winning journalist covering ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs by the Chinese government. The book is informative and interesting, depicting what it means to be Uyghur, as well as the plight of the Uyghurs and their fight against persecution, re-education, and so much more. I highly recommend this book. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
September 9, 2024
"... if we stopped doing our duty as journalists, if we were silent, the world would simply forget."
This is a memoir of Gulchehra Hoja, the grandchild of renowned grandparents who grew up in Uyghur culture and lived in exile later for exposing truths, as a journalist, about the Chinese oppression.
This book begins with immersing the reader in the Uyghur culture and history, and I learned so much about it. From the meticulous exploration of Ürümchi's geography to her childhood memories, Hoja's words are evocative in a way that effortlessly connect the reader with her homeland, the beauty of Uyghur instruments, the land, close-knit family and community.
However reading this book has its challenges, and more often than not, it's painful and infuriating - the cultural annihilation, censorship, persecution and dehumanizing treatments permeate the pages, horrifying to a degree that I almost forgot I was reading a non-fiction. Hoja also examines inequality, prejudice, colonialism, privilege, religion and poverty, offering a full view of what Uyghur people was going through.
This book is emotionally laden, which the emotions feel palpable. Beyond the horrific stories, the togetherness and Hoja's experiences as a mother moved me. The author's resilience, strength and determination are nothing but inspiring, and it emphasizes the importance of fighting for human rights, while these stories need to reach a bigger audience. For me, the most impactful aspect is to see this reality from a non-Chinese perspective.
In A STONE IS MOST PRECIOUS WHERE IT BELONGS, Hoja speaks up for the voiceless, revealing truths through Uyghur stories. This is one of the most poweful/relevant memoirs I've ever read and I urge you to read this.
[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Hachette books . All thoughts are my own ]
This is a memoir of Gulchehra Hoja, the grandchild of renowned grandparents who grew up in Uyghur culture and lived in exile later for exposing truths, as a journalist, about the Chinese oppression.
This book begins with immersing the reader in the Uyghur culture and history, and I learned so much about it. From the meticulous exploration of Ürümchi's geography to her childhood memories, Hoja's words are evocative in a way that effortlessly connect the reader with her homeland, the beauty of Uyghur instruments, the land, close-knit family and community.
However reading this book has its challenges, and more often than not, it's painful and infuriating - the cultural annihilation, censorship, persecution and dehumanizing treatments permeate the pages, horrifying to a degree that I almost forgot I was reading a non-fiction. Hoja also examines inequality, prejudice, colonialism, privilege, religion and poverty, offering a full view of what Uyghur people was going through.
This book is emotionally laden, which the emotions feel palpable. Beyond the horrific stories, the togetherness and Hoja's experiences as a mother moved me. The author's resilience, strength and determination are nothing but inspiring, and it emphasizes the importance of fighting for human rights, while these stories need to reach a bigger audience. For me, the most impactful aspect is to see this reality from a non-Chinese perspective.
In A STONE IS MOST PRECIOUS WHERE IT BELONGS, Hoja speaks up for the voiceless, revealing truths through Uyghur stories. This is one of the most poweful/relevant memoirs I've ever read and I urge you to read this.
[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Hachette books . All thoughts are my own ]
September 2, 2022
THIS IS A MUST-READ!!!
The memoir of an Uyghur woman who loves her people, her culture, and her home, and who becomes an enemy of China's CCP as their approach to controlling the East Turkestan region and people grows more imposing, more restrictive, more violent. Born and raised to a proud Uyghur family, Gulchehra recounts the history and culture of her people as she learned it and engaged in it firsthand - the music, the dancing, the fables, the histories. As China tightens its hold on the region in her adolescence and adulthood, she experiences the effects of those policies - her brother is targeted, her job is controlled, her opportunities limited. By a stroke of luck, Gulchehra finds herself in Europe during another crackdown on the Uyghur people and becomes determined to join the growing group of people trying to bring awareness to the genocide of her people. In doing so, she becomes an enemy of the Chinese state, and despite her family (still home in occupied East Turkestan) coming under fire for her work, she remains one of the loudest voices in the ongoing fight for justice.
"Women rock the cradle with one hand, and rock the world with the other." This Uyghur saying is especially true for Gulchehra - she has had a personal life that alone would be enough to write a memoir on, but in combination with her passion to celebrate and sustain the Uyghur culture, and to educate others on this topic she prizes above all others, this memoir quickly became one of my favorite books of the year and one of my favorite memoirs of all time.
Her writing is propulsive and her anecdotes are so entertaining! I was on the edge of my seat to find out if she would make the dance troupe, get a role, overcome her heartache. In short, she has led a fascinating life to the backdrop of one of humanity's worst and most-neglected ongoing human rights abuses. Her audience will be captivated by her personal triumphs and trials, as well as the control and violence the Uyghur people are increasingly subjected to - and especially by those parts of the story where these two topics overlap (her schooling, her movie audition, her brother's story, her TV show). Her writing brings to life her culture, art, music, history, and community - I found myself googling Uyghur cultural touch points. I also found that though the topic is undeniably tragic, the story does not feel bogged down in tragedy, it's actually quite buoyant.
Although I am not a woman of any faith, I found her writing about her journey to embracing Islam very moving. Parts of the story about her first hijab, her prayers in moments of loneliness, the support she and her husband received from their imams in desperate times, made me absolutely bawl my eyes out.
I was reminded in this story of so many others stories of fascism and resistance, across the world. I hope this story sheds greater light on the genocide and apartheid happening in East Turkestan right now.
The memoir of an Uyghur woman who loves her people, her culture, and her home, and who becomes an enemy of China's CCP as their approach to controlling the East Turkestan region and people grows more imposing, more restrictive, more violent. Born and raised to a proud Uyghur family, Gulchehra recounts the history and culture of her people as she learned it and engaged in it firsthand - the music, the dancing, the fables, the histories. As China tightens its hold on the region in her adolescence and adulthood, she experiences the effects of those policies - her brother is targeted, her job is controlled, her opportunities limited. By a stroke of luck, Gulchehra finds herself in Europe during another crackdown on the Uyghur people and becomes determined to join the growing group of people trying to bring awareness to the genocide of her people. In doing so, she becomes an enemy of the Chinese state, and despite her family (still home in occupied East Turkestan) coming under fire for her work, she remains one of the loudest voices in the ongoing fight for justice.
"Women rock the cradle with one hand, and rock the world with the other." This Uyghur saying is especially true for Gulchehra - she has had a personal life that alone would be enough to write a memoir on, but in combination with her passion to celebrate and sustain the Uyghur culture, and to educate others on this topic she prizes above all others, this memoir quickly became one of my favorite books of the year and one of my favorite memoirs of all time.
Her writing is propulsive and her anecdotes are so entertaining! I was on the edge of my seat to find out if she would make the dance troupe, get a role, overcome her heartache. In short, she has led a fascinating life to the backdrop of one of humanity's worst and most-neglected ongoing human rights abuses. Her audience will be captivated by her personal triumphs and trials, as well as the control and violence the Uyghur people are increasingly subjected to - and especially by those parts of the story where these two topics overlap (her schooling, her movie audition, her brother's story, her TV show). Her writing brings to life her culture, art, music, history, and community - I found myself googling Uyghur cultural touch points. I also found that though the topic is undeniably tragic, the story does not feel bogged down in tragedy, it's actually quite buoyant.
Although I am not a woman of any faith, I found her writing about her journey to embracing Islam very moving. Parts of the story about her first hijab, her prayers in moments of loneliness, the support she and her husband received from their imams in desperate times, made me absolutely bawl my eyes out.
I was reminded in this story of so many others stories of fascism and resistance, across the world. I hope this story sheds greater light on the genocide and apartheid happening in East Turkestan right now.
September 24, 2022
This memoir is just so important. The plight of the Uyghur people is heartbreaking. I hope everyone will do their part and read memoirs such as this one, by the courageous and fearless Gulchehra Hoja.
Gulchehra did an excellent job at describing life in East Turkestan (or Xinjiang Province). What I didn't know is how beautiful that culture is! The contrast of life pre-Han movement into the region and post, is something that is hard to bear, and I just don't know how these families lived through this period of having a culture wiped out, a beautiful one at that.
Through quick decisions, Gulchehra moved away and eventually landed in the US, quickly becoming labelled as a terrorist by the Chinese Government. With this, the horrifying realization she'd never be able to see her family again. She had a vision, to help her people, and she stayed true to it. She is a hero, and I hope she will become a household name. Please read this book.
Gulchehra did an excellent job at describing life in East Turkestan (or Xinjiang Province). What I didn't know is how beautiful that culture is! The contrast of life pre-Han movement into the region and post, is something that is hard to bear, and I just don't know how these families lived through this period of having a culture wiped out, a beautiful one at that.
Through quick decisions, Gulchehra moved away and eventually landed in the US, quickly becoming labelled as a terrorist by the Chinese Government. With this, the horrifying realization she'd never be able to see her family again. She had a vision, to help her people, and she stayed true to it. She is a hero, and I hope she will become a household name. Please read this book.
April 26, 2023
STONE is an intimate and courageous memoir detailing Hoja's life, from her care-free childhood celebrating Uyghur culture, her ascension to a well-known kid's TV show host, her exile in the US in reporting incarceration and reeducation of her people, to the overnight disappearance of all her 24 family members.
There's so much I love about this book I can write a whole thesis on it 🤣 But I'll just highlight a couple of aspects of why I think EVERYONE should read STONE:
1. I have so much respect for Hoja's courageous reporting and her unwavering commitment to shedding light on the injustices the Uyghur people are facing. There are moments in Hoja's life when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) approaches her to return to China and "denounce her extremism" in exchange for her old position. But she held on to her faith even though her family was constantly harassed & eventually imprisoned.
2. Hoja fled to the US without knowing much English to pursue her goal of exposing the CCP's surveillance and jailing of Uyghurs. She broke one of the first stories on the reeducation camp, which led to her entire family's overnight disappearance. As of the book's writing, Hoja is in the top 10 most wanted in China. We often talk about how we'd stand up to authoritarianism & fascism, but I sometimes wonder if I have the mental fortitude to endure all that Hoja has experienced.
3. It's very telling to see how the Chinese government recycled a lot of US political propaganda to incarcerate Uyghurs disproportionately. Hoja mentioned implementing the "People's War on Drugs" to imprison young men and the "War on Terror" to label devout Uyghur Muslims as terrorists. Racist states everywhere use the same antiques to suppress and subjugate marginalized communities, but it's especially interesting seeing an "anti-American" government using the same methods for oppression.
In all, STONE is an essential read for those looking to learn more about the culture of Uyghurs and the continual oppression their community faces.
There's so much I love about this book I can write a whole thesis on it 🤣 But I'll just highlight a couple of aspects of why I think EVERYONE should read STONE:
1. I have so much respect for Hoja's courageous reporting and her unwavering commitment to shedding light on the injustices the Uyghur people are facing. There are moments in Hoja's life when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) approaches her to return to China and "denounce her extremism" in exchange for her old position. But she held on to her faith even though her family was constantly harassed & eventually imprisoned.
2. Hoja fled to the US without knowing much English to pursue her goal of exposing the CCP's surveillance and jailing of Uyghurs. She broke one of the first stories on the reeducation camp, which led to her entire family's overnight disappearance. As of the book's writing, Hoja is in the top 10 most wanted in China. We often talk about how we'd stand up to authoritarianism & fascism, but I sometimes wonder if I have the mental fortitude to endure all that Hoja has experienced.
3. It's very telling to see how the Chinese government recycled a lot of US political propaganda to incarcerate Uyghurs disproportionately. Hoja mentioned implementing the "People's War on Drugs" to imprison young men and the "War on Terror" to label devout Uyghur Muslims as terrorists. Racist states everywhere use the same antiques to suppress and subjugate marginalized communities, but it's especially interesting seeing an "anti-American" government using the same methods for oppression.
In all, STONE is an essential read for those looking to learn more about the culture of Uyghurs and the continual oppression their community faces.
January 16, 2024
Gulchera Hoja is a Uyghur who grew up in East Turkistan, which is in Northwest China. She is the grandchild of a renowned musician and the daughter of an esteemed archaeologist. Hoja grew up with her people’s culture and history running through her veins. She states that she was blessed with the talents of a dancer, actress, and storyteller, putting her on a path to becoming a local TV star in the Uyghur community.
The Uyghurs have been occupied by the majority population, The Han Chinese, since 1949. Hoja says the Uyghurs are not Chinese, but Indo European, and have lived in East Turkestan for thousands of years. Uyghurs are different from the Hans in culture, languages, religious beliefs, music, history, holiday, festivals and food. Hoja was raised in a prominent family to be proud of her heritage.
This book is a memoir and part of it is about China’s human rights abuses and cultural genocide against Uyghur region in East Turkistan. I was hoping for a perspective on how Uyghur people have been treated by China, and there is part of that in this book. Most of it, however, is stories about a self-indulgent unreliable narrator too caught up in her own stories of delusions of grandeur. Her upbringing, her career in dancing, acting, and then TV where she expounds on her popularity.
Since English is a second language I don’t know if its accident or deliberate but the writing is a lot of bombastic rhetoric of Hoja talking about – “How pretty I am. What a great dancer I am. How brave I am. How loyal I am. How much courage I have. How much I love children. How much I suffered.” All her bravado made her an unreliable narrator of a contemporary tragedy that is still going on today.
Early in the book she tells a story at age 19, after auditioning and then winning a major acting role in a Uyghur historical movie, of because of who her grandfather is, and of course how talented she is, that Hoja gets a starring role in a movie that she was dismissed when she refused to play a scene, because it is not portraying Uyghur history accurately, which is to be admired.
A little later in the memoir, Hoja gets a job as a TV reporter on Xinjiang TV. She self admits that she produced stories encouraging parents to send children to 12 different cities in China to study Chinese, separating them form their Uyghur language and people they love. Hoja says it started with good intentions to teach Uyghur children to be proud of their heritage. Paradoxically the higher up she got, she would parrot the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) telling Uyghur children that the CCP loves them like a father, and they must love them back. Hoja says, “I had to teach them to be ashamed of their own language and to reject their own ancient music, books, and stories. Uyghur culture is backwards and Chinese culture was the future.” Hoja says she was ashamed, but she kept doing it. Why did her principles change since the movie?
Later on, Hoja marries a childhood sweetheart she was never in love with, who she knew knowingly cheated on her. To not disappoint her parents, Hoja goes through with the marriage, and she is never happy. She eventually wants to get a divorce, but decides against it, or her husband will kill himself. They make it to Austria, defect from Europe to Washington DC where she began her career as a journalist at Radio Free Asia (RFA), a U.S. federally funded nonprofit news agency that first broadcast in 1996. The husband ends up taking a job as a dishwasher and she eventually leaves him for a man she met at RFA. Never a word on what ever happened to the first husband.
In America Hoja proudly starts wearing a Hijab, despite coming from a non-religious family. Her motivation might come form the fact that she did not have religious freedom to wear a hijab back in China. She did not mention all of the other countries where women are forced to wear hijabs and other body armor. Based on Hoja’s writing she consistently sounds more like an opportunist than someone with religious convictions.
Hoja says her mom was able to visit her in America if she was able to encourage her to come back to China. Why would Hoja go back? Why would her mother want her to do that? The mother goes back to China without her. What happened to her mother when she did not come back without her? Wouldn’t there be consequences? It did not make any sense.
Hoja also kept calling home when she knew the CCP collects phone records and was warned not to by her own parents, but she kept doing it without explanation. In February of 2018, Hoja states that 24 people in her family were arrested and taken to internment camps. They can also be called reeducation or indoctrination camps. It clearly sounds like a cultural genocide, but not a genocide. I’ve read other irresponsible writers call it a genocide. I think when it comes to reporting on such a tragedy there is no need to exaggerate or play with the truth.
Today there is estimated to be or have been over one million Uyghurs and Kazakhs at these camps. Kazakhs are a Muslim Turkish ethnic group that Hoja makes no mention of. This is the largest incarceration of an ethno-religious minority since the Holocaust.
Hoja’s mother was released from one of the camps, and she said what saved her life was befriending one of the guards. In typical unreliable narration in this book on the same page, Hoja says she saved her mother’s life from all her brave journalistic reporting.
My consistent turnoff in this memoir is Hoja as a reporter, kept making herself and all her great attributes as part of the story. The non-stop bragging about herself on qualities that did not need to be said. She says how determined she is to be part of revealing the truth regardless of the risks. Isn’t that a prerequisite for being a journalist? Not to mention all the time she says she loves her family, country, and children. I don’t think there is anything unusual about that. I hope most people do.
I wanted more to be illuminated on what exactly is going on in China with state control over Muslim minorities, and what it was like being in one of those internment camps. There is better information on this on YouTube. There have been better stories told on Vice News, Democracy Now and even Jon Oliver to name a few. I have also scene good interviews with Abduweli Ayup and Nury Turkel who are both Uyghur.
Today the Xinjiang region of China has turned into an Orwellian system of authoritarianism with a complete lack of privacy, state violence and an enormous open-air jail. There are facial recognition cameras everywhere and anyone can be taken to an internment camp for any innocuous reason. The CCP seem to be attempting to eradicate the Uyghur language, religion and culture. Gulchera Hoja has been a journalist with Radio Free Asia for over 20 years
The Uyghurs have been occupied by the majority population, The Han Chinese, since 1949. Hoja says the Uyghurs are not Chinese, but Indo European, and have lived in East Turkestan for thousands of years. Uyghurs are different from the Hans in culture, languages, religious beliefs, music, history, holiday, festivals and food. Hoja was raised in a prominent family to be proud of her heritage.
This book is a memoir and part of it is about China’s human rights abuses and cultural genocide against Uyghur region in East Turkistan. I was hoping for a perspective on how Uyghur people have been treated by China, and there is part of that in this book. Most of it, however, is stories about a self-indulgent unreliable narrator too caught up in her own stories of delusions of grandeur. Her upbringing, her career in dancing, acting, and then TV where she expounds on her popularity.
Since English is a second language I don’t know if its accident or deliberate but the writing is a lot of bombastic rhetoric of Hoja talking about – “How pretty I am. What a great dancer I am. How brave I am. How loyal I am. How much courage I have. How much I love children. How much I suffered.” All her bravado made her an unreliable narrator of a contemporary tragedy that is still going on today.
Early in the book she tells a story at age 19, after auditioning and then winning a major acting role in a Uyghur historical movie, of because of who her grandfather is, and of course how talented she is, that Hoja gets a starring role in a movie that she was dismissed when she refused to play a scene, because it is not portraying Uyghur history accurately, which is to be admired.
A little later in the memoir, Hoja gets a job as a TV reporter on Xinjiang TV. She self admits that she produced stories encouraging parents to send children to 12 different cities in China to study Chinese, separating them form their Uyghur language and people they love. Hoja says it started with good intentions to teach Uyghur children to be proud of their heritage. Paradoxically the higher up she got, she would parrot the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) telling Uyghur children that the CCP loves them like a father, and they must love them back. Hoja says, “I had to teach them to be ashamed of their own language and to reject their own ancient music, books, and stories. Uyghur culture is backwards and Chinese culture was the future.” Hoja says she was ashamed, but she kept doing it. Why did her principles change since the movie?
Later on, Hoja marries a childhood sweetheart she was never in love with, who she knew knowingly cheated on her. To not disappoint her parents, Hoja goes through with the marriage, and she is never happy. She eventually wants to get a divorce, but decides against it, or her husband will kill himself. They make it to Austria, defect from Europe to Washington DC where she began her career as a journalist at Radio Free Asia (RFA), a U.S. federally funded nonprofit news agency that first broadcast in 1996. The husband ends up taking a job as a dishwasher and she eventually leaves him for a man she met at RFA. Never a word on what ever happened to the first husband.
In America Hoja proudly starts wearing a Hijab, despite coming from a non-religious family. Her motivation might come form the fact that she did not have religious freedom to wear a hijab back in China. She did not mention all of the other countries where women are forced to wear hijabs and other body armor. Based on Hoja’s writing she consistently sounds more like an opportunist than someone with religious convictions.
Hoja says her mom was able to visit her in America if she was able to encourage her to come back to China. Why would Hoja go back? Why would her mother want her to do that? The mother goes back to China without her. What happened to her mother when she did not come back without her? Wouldn’t there be consequences? It did not make any sense.
Hoja also kept calling home when she knew the CCP collects phone records and was warned not to by her own parents, but she kept doing it without explanation. In February of 2018, Hoja states that 24 people in her family were arrested and taken to internment camps. They can also be called reeducation or indoctrination camps. It clearly sounds like a cultural genocide, but not a genocide. I’ve read other irresponsible writers call it a genocide. I think when it comes to reporting on such a tragedy there is no need to exaggerate or play with the truth.
Today there is estimated to be or have been over one million Uyghurs and Kazakhs at these camps. Kazakhs are a Muslim Turkish ethnic group that Hoja makes no mention of. This is the largest incarceration of an ethno-religious minority since the Holocaust.
Hoja’s mother was released from one of the camps, and she said what saved her life was befriending one of the guards. In typical unreliable narration in this book on the same page, Hoja says she saved her mother’s life from all her brave journalistic reporting.
My consistent turnoff in this memoir is Hoja as a reporter, kept making herself and all her great attributes as part of the story. The non-stop bragging about herself on qualities that did not need to be said. She says how determined she is to be part of revealing the truth regardless of the risks. Isn’t that a prerequisite for being a journalist? Not to mention all the time she says she loves her family, country, and children. I don’t think there is anything unusual about that. I hope most people do.
I wanted more to be illuminated on what exactly is going on in China with state control over Muslim minorities, and what it was like being in one of those internment camps. There is better information on this on YouTube. There have been better stories told on Vice News, Democracy Now and even Jon Oliver to name a few. I have also scene good interviews with Abduweli Ayup and Nury Turkel who are both Uyghur.
Today the Xinjiang region of China has turned into an Orwellian system of authoritarianism with a complete lack of privacy, state violence and an enormous open-air jail. There are facial recognition cameras everywhere and anyone can be taken to an internment camp for any innocuous reason. The CCP seem to be attempting to eradicate the Uyghur language, religion and culture. Gulchera Hoja has been a journalist with Radio Free Asia for over 20 years
June 12, 2023
I was curious about this book because while I had peripherally known about the Uyghur people, I didn’t fully understand the history behind the people and their current plight. This book weaves in Gulchera’s personal story with the story of her people in the most intimate of ways. It’s sad to see history repeat itself in this type of manner…
January 18, 2024
I am frozen in time, trying to digest every word of this heartbreaking and remarkable book.
October 3, 2022
Really appreciated Gulchehra's courageous and heartbreaking story and her journey as a journalist and eventually becoming an enemy of the state to the Chinese government. She also does a great job of educating the reader about the intricacies of Uyghur culture and history. A timely book as we should all learn more about the devastating Uyghur genocide. I wish the book would have included a little more information on the camps and what's happening in Uyghur region at the moment.
March 31, 2023
I read Hoja’s memoir to get a first-hand perspective as an Uyghur, which is a Turkic ethnic group native to the Xinjiang region in northwest China that has been subjected to a series of human rights abuses. Her life is certainly eventful and interesting, but her journalistic background is not the most engaging and impactful way to tell the story.
January 6, 2024
A Uyghur journalist’s account of surviving and confronting China’s human rights abuses against her homeland and people. She has lived an incredible life.
Written in a straightforward, simple style suitable for young readers. Probably ideal for middle and high schoolers. It left me wanting for a little more complexity of style given the dramatic content.
Written in a straightforward, simple style suitable for young readers. Probably ideal for middle and high schoolers. It left me wanting for a little more complexity of style given the dramatic content.
Read
September 10, 2023I was drawn to this memoir because of my own travels in the Uyghur homeland of Xinjiang. The author recounts her childhood in Ürümqi, and the gradual erosion of civil rights there by the Chinese government. It culminates with the arrest of more than 20 family members because of her reporting for Radio Free Asia. While the writing itself isn’t particularly riveting, her story and her willingness to tell it are incredibly brave.
PopSugar Reading Challenge 2023: A book published in Spring 2023
PopSugar Reading Challenge 2023: A book published in Spring 2023
July 6, 2023
Excellent book that I would highly recommend. As with many others, I have heard of the Uyghur situation, but it was only high level. The book shined a light upon how the Uyghur people are facing genocide as we speak, and how their culture is being meticulously destroyed.
My main regret for this book was listening as an audiobook rather than through print. The author used several Uyghur words (as many books do), but they were hard to search up and reference by ear, which I tried many times.
My main regret for this book was listening as an audiobook rather than through print. The author used several Uyghur words (as many books do), but they were hard to search up and reference by ear, which I tried many times.
February 18, 2024
What a heartbreaking and underreported story of such a beautiful community. I feel so grateful to live in a free country when genocide and control of the Uyghur people is currently happening. Thank you to Gulchera for sharing your story
Read
May 7, 2023It is one thing to cognitively know via the news that genocide is happening and another to experience it through the eyes of someone who has lived it. For that, I am so thankful for Gulchehra Hoja's book that allowed me to better understand the history and persecution of the Uyghur people. Certainly this was a difficult read, especially as this is an atrocity that is happening now while I enjoy a life of freedom and ease. Definitely a book that will stay with me.
March 26, 2025
Another book that made me realize how ignorant I was!
What I liked best about this book is that it dove deeply into the history of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and efforts of the Chinese government to encourage Han settlers in this region. I knew very little regarding that region other than the fact that there were re-education camps and a vague understanding of the human rights abuses there. This goes over the history of what happened before that, Uyghur language policies, boarding schools and the unequal enforcement of the one child policy.
I felt like I learned a lot and Hora's life was very eventful - definitely not a boring book. That being said, I am picky about memoirs. I felt like this didn't really provide anything very new or outstanding to me.
Still, I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Uyghurs and Hora's life story and journey as a journalist.
What I liked best about this book is that it dove deeply into the history of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and efforts of the Chinese government to encourage Han settlers in this region. I knew very little regarding that region other than the fact that there were re-education camps and a vague understanding of the human rights abuses there. This goes over the history of what happened before that, Uyghur language policies, boarding schools and the unequal enforcement of the one child policy.
I felt like I learned a lot and Hora's life was very eventful - definitely not a boring book. That being said, I am picky about memoirs. I felt like this didn't really provide anything very new or outstanding to me.
Still, I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Uyghurs and Hora's life story and journey as a journalist.
June 4, 2023
*4.5
I know, I know. I always proclaim to dislike memoirs, and here I am reading yet another memoir! I don't know what to say...This one piqued my interest, and quite frankly, my motives for reading A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs: A Memoir of Uyghur Exile, Hope, and Survival weren't purely that I was interested in this nonfiction so much as I felt an obligation to read Gulchehra Hoja's life story. Why do I feel obligated, you ask? Well, if you don't know how Canada's federal government supports China (The Trudeau Foundation has taken money from Chinese-linked donations and then misled the public about it; the federal government has protected a well-known Chinese national, the Chief of Financial Officers of a certain tech giant guilty of crimes in an allied country; and the federal government has not only allowed the existence of Chinese organizations in Canada to function as (Chinese) police stations, but the government has actually given a Montreal location upwards of $200,000 of federal funding since 2020.) and keeps silent about the treatment of Uyghurs, then please do some research. It's not difficult to see how Canadians and our government fail this cause based on our very friendly relationship with China.
This memoir comes from Gulchehra Hoja, a Uyghur living with her family in Ürümqi. The account mainly focuses on the ways in which Hoja sees her culture disappear as the Chinese government erases it—and continues to expulse it today. This is a difficult read, so if you're not familiar with how the Chinese government operates in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, then you may not want to read this as it is known that the Chinese government has kidnapped, physically and sexually assaulted, sterilized, killed, and sent Uyghurs to re-education camps. These topics all make an appearance, so you've been warned. And yet, I found myself hopeful throughout Gulchehra's entire story. I was rooting for a girl who could be any girl, but is remarkable because of the risks she takes and the sacrifices she makes. I love that she's a badass because so rarely do I encounter this kind of real-life heroine: someone to look up to and someone to learn from! And as Gulchehra's story came to light, I kept hoping for a new happy beginning for her, her family, and her friends.
This memoir highlights how China's surveillance functions. Surveillance, similar to that in George Orwell's 1984 exists in mainland China, too. But it's something altogether more invasive in Xinjiang as the population there isn't Han-descendant. After living in China for a few years, I feel that this is a topic that Canadians still don't believe and know enough about, but if they doubt that it's not going to impact them in Canada, then they have another thing coming. I digress. The Chinese heavily monitor Uyghurs, limiting and preventing their movement, and while living in China, "Xinjiang" was like a curse word: don't say it and if you do, you better whisper it because it was one of many heavily censored topics in the country. We couldn't discuss it, refer to it, include anything about it in our work, or give any opinion about it. Dissent is still met with harsh punishment, so believe me when I say that I'm also angry at myself for not being more vocal about this atrocity. This crime against humanity, I fear, has no end in sight...Hoja's memoir, however, holds more hope.
I am very disappointed in the lack of response about these crimes from so-called democratic nations in the west. I'm ashamed and embarrassed by the lack of a response from our federal government...Although I shouldn't be considering they've done nothing to address the MMIWG—but who cares about femicide, right?
When I think about the Uyghur humanitarian crisis, I know that it is one of many in the world. But what causes my heart to break is that we don't know enough about it; we don't do anything to try to learn more about it; we don't try to help Uyghurs; and we don't acknowledge what's happening and the ways in which we are complicit in the harm against them. If nothing else, reading Gulchehra's memoir is a small step forward in the right direction and a small way to acknowledge that we're aware of this problem and we're willing to learn more about it in order to take a firm stance on the situation. Therefore, I highly recommend that you read it, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you. It is a read that will remind you that we need to do more and be on guard of how China influences (or doesn't) your own government and how that may affect you and those you love.
*Please note, this isn't a Conservative rant. I can't stand any of Canada's political parties and believe that all politicians (around the world) are the worst of humanity.
[Audiobook, borrowed from library]
I know, I know. I always proclaim to dislike memoirs, and here I am reading yet another memoir! I don't know what to say...This one piqued my interest, and quite frankly, my motives for reading A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs: A Memoir of Uyghur Exile, Hope, and Survival weren't purely that I was interested in this nonfiction so much as I felt an obligation to read Gulchehra Hoja's life story. Why do I feel obligated, you ask? Well, if you don't know how Canada's federal government supports China (The Trudeau Foundation has taken money from Chinese-linked donations and then misled the public about it; the federal government has protected a well-known Chinese national, the Chief of Financial Officers of a certain tech giant guilty of crimes in an allied country; and the federal government has not only allowed the existence of Chinese organizations in Canada to function as (Chinese) police stations, but the government has actually given a Montreal location upwards of $200,000 of federal funding since 2020.) and keeps silent about the treatment of Uyghurs, then please do some research. It's not difficult to see how Canadians and our government fail this cause based on our very friendly relationship with China.
This memoir comes from Gulchehra Hoja, a Uyghur living with her family in Ürümqi. The account mainly focuses on the ways in which Hoja sees her culture disappear as the Chinese government erases it—and continues to expulse it today. This is a difficult read, so if you're not familiar with how the Chinese government operates in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, then you may not want to read this as it is known that the Chinese government has kidnapped, physically and sexually assaulted, sterilized, killed, and sent Uyghurs to re-education camps. These topics all make an appearance, so you've been warned. And yet, I found myself hopeful throughout Gulchehra's entire story. I was rooting for a girl who could be any girl, but is remarkable because of the risks she takes and the sacrifices she makes. I love that she's a badass because so rarely do I encounter this kind of real-life heroine: someone to look up to and someone to learn from! And as Gulchehra's story came to light, I kept hoping for a new happy beginning for her, her family, and her friends.
This memoir highlights how China's surveillance functions. Surveillance, similar to that in George Orwell's 1984 exists in mainland China, too. But it's something altogether more invasive in Xinjiang as the population there isn't Han-descendant. After living in China for a few years, I feel that this is a topic that Canadians still don't believe and know enough about, but if they doubt that it's not going to impact them in Canada, then they have another thing coming. I digress. The Chinese heavily monitor Uyghurs, limiting and preventing their movement, and while living in China, "Xinjiang" was like a curse word: don't say it and if you do, you better whisper it because it was one of many heavily censored topics in the country. We couldn't discuss it, refer to it, include anything about it in our work, or give any opinion about it. Dissent is still met with harsh punishment, so believe me when I say that I'm also angry at myself for not being more vocal about this atrocity. This crime against humanity, I fear, has no end in sight...Hoja's memoir, however, holds more hope.
I am very disappointed in the lack of response about these crimes from so-called democratic nations in the west. I'm ashamed and embarrassed by the lack of a response from our federal government...Although I shouldn't be considering they've done nothing to address the MMIWG—but who cares about femicide, right?
When I think about the Uyghur humanitarian crisis, I know that it is one of many in the world. But what causes my heart to break is that we don't know enough about it; we don't do anything to try to learn more about it; we don't try to help Uyghurs; and we don't acknowledge what's happening and the ways in which we are complicit in the harm against them. If nothing else, reading Gulchehra's memoir is a small step forward in the right direction and a small way to acknowledge that we're aware of this problem and we're willing to learn more about it in order to take a firm stance on the situation. Therefore, I highly recommend that you read it, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you. It is a read that will remind you that we need to do more and be on guard of how China influences (or doesn't) your own government and how that may affect you and those you love.
*Please note, this isn't a Conservative rant. I can't stand any of Canada's political parties and believe that all politicians (around the world) are the worst of humanity.
[Audiobook, borrowed from library]
July 31, 2023
Like so many others around the world I have been perturbed by news reports about the persecution of the Uyghur people by the Chinese government. Gulchehra Hoja’s memoir about life under Chinese rule in East Turkestan (more formally known as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China) proved to be an excellent source in discovering that media reporting about the plight of the Uyghur people is unfortunately remarkably close to the truth.
Gulchehra Hoya’s career as a journalist gave her the opportunity to showcase the culture, heritage, and music of the people of East Turkestan. Through her journalistic endeavours, it became evident to her that Chinese Government was doing all in its power to undermine this Uyghur way of life in myriad ways that would eventually decimate and ‘disappear’ the Uyghur nation completely. In her astonishing memoir, A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs Hoya reveals how as a journalist, she reported from afar the heinous treatment of her people by the Chinese Government. In so doing, Hoya placed both herself and her family in extreme danger which her memoir makes plain she was prepared to do for the sake of her whole country.
Highly recommended.
Gulchehra Hoya’s career as a journalist gave her the opportunity to showcase the culture, heritage, and music of the people of East Turkestan. Through her journalistic endeavours, it became evident to her that Chinese Government was doing all in its power to undermine this Uyghur way of life in myriad ways that would eventually decimate and ‘disappear’ the Uyghur nation completely. In her astonishing memoir, A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs Hoya reveals how as a journalist, she reported from afar the heinous treatment of her people by the Chinese Government. In so doing, Hoya placed both herself and her family in extreme danger which her memoir makes plain she was prepared to do for the sake of her whole country.
Highly recommended.
November 9, 2023
‘Appreciate everything, even plain water. Because everything’s beautiful, the sun in the sky, the moon, everything… If you’re alive, everything is possible. Everything.’
September 18, 2023
Fleewww through this! I wish the author included was more history & was more honest about the US’ own issues with censorship, surveillance, propaganda, etc …… but nevertheless, this was very powerful
November 15, 2023
This is one of the most powerful things I have read and my heart breaks
August 18, 2025
Half the time I was reading this book, I felt like I was reading a dystopian novel. The horrifying thing is that this is real life for the Uyghur people of East Turkestan. The amount of inhumane treatment meted out by the Chinese government on a people just trying to live their culture and religion is astounding. Mass incarcerations, work camps, forced sterilization, medical experimentation and torture.. the list goes on.
For the most part this book was just the story of a life of a girl growing up in a loving family with a colorful culture trying to be the best that she could be. But as it went on, her life became more and more like a dystopian novel as she tried to speak out and share with the world the human rights abuses happening to her people, and the Chinese government retaliated by disappearing her entire family. Of course the writing wasn’t perfect but Gulchehra is an inspiring person and it was an honor to be a witness to her life story and life’s work.
Do yourself a favor and be a global citizen by reading this book.
Writing style: 4
Educational value: 5
Emotional impact: 5
=4.5
I am currently reading one book for every state in the United States written by a non white author. This book is written by Uyghur Gulchehra Hoja
and set partially in Washington D. C.
For the most part this book was just the story of a life of a girl growing up in a loving family with a colorful culture trying to be the best that she could be. But as it went on, her life became more and more like a dystopian novel as she tried to speak out and share with the world the human rights abuses happening to her people, and the Chinese government retaliated by disappearing her entire family. Of course the writing wasn’t perfect but Gulchehra is an inspiring person and it was an honor to be a witness to her life story and life’s work.
Do yourself a favor and be a global citizen by reading this book.
Writing style: 4
Educational value: 5
Emotional impact: 5
=4.5
I am currently reading one book for every state in the United States written by a non white author. This book is written by Uyghur Gulchehra Hoja
and set partially in Washington D. C.
October 25, 2022
Gulchehra Hoja is from a part of China known to its Uyghur population as East Turkestan that is being decimated, culturally and violently by the Chinese government. The author grew up in a privileged family with a deep understanding of her cultural heritage which she used to create a much loved children’s program. When the Chinese government began to impede upon her ability to make the content she wanted, she left China to begin honestly reporting on the Uyghur situation from the United States. Gulchehra’s entire family back in China is targeted as she continues to speak out against the Chinese government. This is a harrowing memoir but considering it is a necessary book. I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
January 3, 2024
Wow !! Phenomenal memoir about a part of the world I know very little about. Chinese occupation of East-turkestan. It sounds horrifically similar to Palestines current experience.
Read
August 9, 2023The subject matter of this book is immensely important. The Chinese government is in the middle of committing genocide against the Uyghur people - they are denied rights, they are persecuted, they are killed, they are imprisoned without reason. It is one of the greatest human rights violations in modern times, and this book gives good insights into the culture and lives of Uyghurs, as well as the crimes that have been committed against them for decades.
For that, it's worth the read. However, something about it just didn't work for me. The reader of the audiobook wasn't very good, which didn't help, but I also think this would have worked better had it been more about Uyghur culture, history and the violations they currently face, and less about Gulchehra Hoja. She's lived an interesting life, certainly, and her current work as a journalist and activist deserves plenty of respect, but this book felt a little self-aggrandizing and was not very nuanced.
I wish she had dug deeper at the real-world issues, presented more facts and spent less time on her own life. But I also understand that the persecution of the Uyghur people is something that has only recently come to international attention, so a book focused solely on that may be somewhat premature.
For what it is, this presents some fascinating and horrifying insights and is a good starting point, if you want to know more about Uyghur people and the political and human rights situation they are currently (and for some time have been) in the middle of. I'd recommend reading it yourself, the audiobook did it few favors.
For that, it's worth the read. However, something about it just didn't work for me. The reader of the audiobook wasn't very good, which didn't help, but I also think this would have worked better had it been more about Uyghur culture, history and the violations they currently face, and less about Gulchehra Hoja. She's lived an interesting life, certainly, and her current work as a journalist and activist deserves plenty of respect, but this book felt a little self-aggrandizing and was not very nuanced.
I wish she had dug deeper at the real-world issues, presented more facts and spent less time on her own life. But I also understand that the persecution of the Uyghur people is something that has only recently come to international attention, so a book focused solely on that may be somewhat premature.
For what it is, this presents some fascinating and horrifying insights and is a good starting point, if you want to know more about Uyghur people and the political and human rights situation they are currently (and for some time have been) in the middle of. I'd recommend reading it yourself, the audiobook did it few favors.
May 23, 2023
Thank you to Net Galley and Hachette for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. The author bravely shares her story of being Uyghur and growing up in an Autonomous Region of China. Until she graduated from college, she didn't realize how the Chinese government was targeting her people by discriminating, in many ways discouraging their culture and language, creating a police state and committing genocide. When the author lived in the US and worked for Radio Free Asia, 24 members of her family were taken to jail when the author spoke out about the medical treatment which most likely included sterilizing Uyghur women. This was an education as I didn't know much about the Uyghur people. China has done so many awful things during the Cultural Revolution that unfortunately the author's story doesn't surprise me. It's hard to know as Americans how we can help these types of ethnic groups where there are human rights violations. The writing is very basic and I believe English is probably the newest of the 3+ languages she knows. Still quite an impressive feat considering this.
Read
December 31, 2023A fascinating, unique memoir that opened my eyes to the depth and historical context of Uyghar persecution across China. Gulchehra Hoja tells a deeply personal story which takes on greater meaning given the many that have similar lived experiences yet are without access to a platform
The atrocities described are heartbreaking, yet I can’t help but notice the parallels in the occupation/settler strategies employed by the Chinese with the USA’s own imperial past + the strategies of certain of its allies. Criminalization of the trivial, mass detention, and a racialized two-tiered society / apartheid are all present in full.
The atrocities described are heartbreaking, yet I can’t help but notice the parallels in the occupation/settler strategies employed by the Chinese with the USA’s own imperial past + the strategies of certain of its allies. Criminalization of the trivial, mass detention, and a racialized two-tiered society / apartheid are all present in full.
March 10, 2024
This was a harrowing account of a woman who narrowly escaped East Turkestan before the Chinese government began overtly attacking the Uyghur population. It's an inspiring story of expressing yourself after growing up without freedom, of family and fighting for the ones you love, and about a woman who stood up for herself and for her people's rights time and time again.
Go read this one, especially if you're not familiar with the Uyghur conflict in China.
Go read this one, especially if you're not familiar with the Uyghur conflict in China.
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