Occupy Central

Nine leaders of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central protests are waiting to be sentenced after being found guilty for their roles in organizing the massive pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement” in 2014. Days before their conviction, the three leaders at the center of the movement – Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming – returned to the same red-brick building where they had launched their civil disobedience campaign. At Kowloon Union Church on Saturday, they went to seek solace not just in their faith but also in their supporters, in an emotional gathering of prayers, tears and aching acceptance that the journey was coming to an end for now. Six years earlier, they had urged Hongkongers

Nine organizers of the largest civil disobedience movement in Hong Kong’s history have been found guilty over their roles in the 2014 protests. They were the final group of protesters to go on trial over the 79-day Occupy Central protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, which exposed clashing visions for the future of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. China resumed control of the former British colony in 1997, promising the city a high degree of autonomy and eventual democratic elections. But a restrictive proposal Beijing issued in 2014 for what would have been the first-ever popular election of Hong Kong’s leader prompted thousands to occupy the city’s streets in protest. Concl

On September 28, 2014, the never-ending stream of traffic that traversed the political and commercial heart of Hong Kong came to a standstill.  Under glass-and-steel skyscrapers and outside luxury car showrooms in the Central district of the former British colony, hundreds of thousands of people dissented. Demanding democracy, protesters blocked the traffic with their bodies and shielded themselves against the police’s use of pepper spray with umbrellas.  The event is known as the Umbrella Movement, the Umbrella Revolution, or Occupy Central. Protesters took over several parts of Hong Kong for weeks. In the process, they created countless banners, drawings and sculptures that adorned the str