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Sky Burial is the remarkable story of a young American man traveling in the Himalayas who inadvertently walked into one of the grimmest - and least-known - scenes of political oppression in the world. Blake Kerr had just graduated from medical school and was fulfilling a lifelong dream by visiting the remote mountain nation of Tibet. Traveling with an old college friend, John Ackerly, he enjoyed the sights and sounds of Lhasa, the "forbidden city" capital of Tibet, and hitch-hiked to Everest, where the two "humped loads" for an American expedition assaulting the mountain's North Ridge.
Upon returning to Lhasa, Kerr and Ackerly swiftly became sensitized to the oppressive character of the Chinese occupying forces and their efforts to eradicate Tibetan culture. Though they knew that Tibet had long been subject to Chinese military rule, their outrage grew as discontent brewed among the Tibetans of Lhasa. Finally, they witnessed a series of demonstrations by Tibetan monks that triggered an explosion of pro-independence protests greater than anything witnessed by foreigners since China entered Tibet in 1949 - protests that were swiftly and brutally quashed by Chinese police and army forces.
Kerr and Ackerly attempted to aid the rebels, but were arrested and endured a brief, harrowing imprisonment. Their efforts to alert the international media met with success, however, and China suffered international embarrassment and condemnation as the story of the crackdown in Lhasa became news in the West. After their forced departure from the country both Kerr and Ackerly became activists committed to ending Tibet's oppression at the hands of China, and Kerr tells the story of his repeated efforts to document the coercive "family-planning" measures instituted by the Chinese in Tibet. This urgent tale has never fully been told. Kerr's account furnishes unprecedented first-hand testimony to the tragic threat of cultural genocide facing Tibet.
Upon returning to Lhasa, Kerr and Ackerly swiftly became sensitized to the oppressive character of the Chinese occupying forces and their efforts to eradicate Tibetan culture. Though they knew that Tibet had long been subject to Chinese military rule, their outrage grew as discontent brewed among the Tibetans of Lhasa. Finally, they witnessed a series of demonstrations by Tibetan monks that triggered an explosion of pro-independence protests greater than anything witnessed by foreigners since China entered Tibet in 1949 - protests that were swiftly and brutally quashed by Chinese police and army forces.
Kerr and Ackerly attempted to aid the rebels, but were arrested and endured a brief, harrowing imprisonment. Their efforts to alert the international media met with success, however, and China suffered international embarrassment and condemnation as the story of the crackdown in Lhasa became news in the West. After their forced departure from the country both Kerr and Ackerly became activists committed to ending Tibet's oppression at the hands of China, and Kerr tells the story of his repeated efforts to document the coercive "family-planning" measures instituted by the Chinese in Tibet. This urgent tale has never fully been told. Kerr's account furnishes unprecedented first-hand testimony to the tragic threat of cultural genocide facing Tibet.
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Review:
"Sky Burial is the distilled truth--alternately tragic, hilarious, and rousing--of two young Americans' exposure to the joyous spirit of the Tibetan people and their courageous struggle to survive under the brutal subjugation of Chinese communist rule. It is a vivid portrait of a critical moment in Tibet's modern history. An evocative, endearing, and invaluable book."--John Avedon, author of In Exile from the Land of Snows "The story is told uncommonly well by Kerr--a well-crafted text by a writer sure of his talents."--Tibet Journal
About the Author:
Blake Kerr is a graduate of Dartmouth College and SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine. In 1987 he traveled to Tibet, where he witnessed the violent repression of Tibetan nationalist demonstrations by Chinese police in Lhasa. Since then he has journeyed several times to Tibetan refugee communities in India and returned twice to Tibet in order to document human rights abuses. He currently works as a general practitioner on eastern Long Island, where he lives with his wife, Kate.
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- PublisherNoble Pr
- Publication date1993
- ISBN 10 1879360268
- ISBN 13 9781879360266
- BindingHardcover
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