SulliView

Because of Buffalo's burgeoning Burmese population, including accomplished photojournalist Law Eh Soe, I've written before in this space about my admiration for Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi. (Those earlier posts are here and here.)

The human rights advocate and democracy champion is a Nobel laureate, having finally accepted the peace prize only recently, though it was awarded in 1991.  She has spent 15 years under house arrest in Burma, finally released late in 2010.

I want to mention her again now because of her historic speech to British Parliament today, a portion of which I was lucky enough to hear on NPR this morning, and which brought me to tears with its simplicity and power.    The first non-British woman to address both houses of Parliament, she spoke eloquently of the Burmese journey toward democracy and the struggle that lies ahead and asked for help from Britain and other Western countries.

Voice of America has good coverage, including video of her entire address.

I also very much like this piece by columnist Frida Ghitis for CNN, which describes the 67-year-old activist as brilliant, charismatic and one of the few modern figures who fully deserves her icon status.

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