Can Flower Speech Outgrow Hate Speech?

#Panzagar (Flower Speech), illustrated in Autodesk SketchBook Ink, Kenneth Wong

Here's a confession: When Burma was straining every nerve to outlive a pernicious military regime, I was proud to say, "I'm from Burma." But today, as the country rises to reclaim her long-denied political destiny, I find myself cringing at her missteps. As she thrashes about to find her ways, she seems to be losing her graceful ways. And I find myself wavering whenever I'm asked, "Where are you from?" When I do answer, I am painfully aware the name of my homeland conjures up not only visions of smiling novices and towering pagodas but also charred villages, angry mobs, and displaced people begging for protection.

Burma's darkest hour was also her finest hour. When she was forced to sacrifice thousands of her best and brightest to meaningless massacres and boundless prison walls, she protested without violence. When she was pressed into isolation, she used her silence to express her dignity and character. But as dawn comes up, some of the country's baser instincts also seem to be awakened. Online, hate speech targeting certain minority groups found an audience. It's fueled, it seems, partly by conservative groups that fear what they perceive as the swift erosion of traditional Burmese culture and values; and partly by the ultra-nationalists who want to preserve their dominance.

I caught a glimpse of the alternative to hate speech when I spotted photos of Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt and his friends, many of them with flowers stuffed in their mouths. It was April, Burmese New Year. The yellow padauks were in full blossom. And Nay Phone Latt was sowing the seed for a social media-driven movement to combat hate speech.

Panzagar, or Flower Speech, is a campaign to stamp out hate speech. Supporters show their solidarity with photos of themselves biting flowers between between their lips, the recognizable symbol for Flower Speech.

The Panzagar Tenet, as published in its Facebook page, reads:

We cherish peace. We value freedom of expression. We also understand the words we utter can either be the bedrocks of peace or root causes of conflicts.

Therefore, we oppose the types of speech that promote hatred among peoples of different races, faiths, beliefs, skin colors, and sexual preferences; or words that endanger the safety and security of civil society.

We shall avoid such speeches and speak instead flower-scented words that instill and promote peace.

Huddling 8,000 miles away in San Francisco Bay Area, the enclave of immigrants and exiles from Burma may be far removed from the violent confrontations taking place in midland and western Burma. But we're by no means immune from the divisive nature of hate speech. Its poison seeps through HTML code, DSL cables, and Facebook comments. I personally have had to forgo some friendships and distance myself from certain individuals, because I cannot in good conscience remain silent to their vitriol.

I see Panzagar as a movement that brings out the best in us. It reminds us to look beyond our different religious rituals, skin colors, and lifestyles; and to seek our common humanity. It holds us accountable for what we write and say. That's important in the digital era, where everyone has the ability to draw blood with sharp pixels, but few will ever be called to face their victims or witness the wounds they cause.

Burma is my homeland; San Francisco is my home. In the 70s, San Franciscans proudly wore flowers in their hair. (Some still do today in the Haight-Ashbury district.) It's a small step from wearing flowers to biting flowers, but perhaps a giant leap for peace, especially if the movement goes viral.

I'm supporting Panzagar because Flower Speech tastes better than hate speech; because it cuts through the thorny jungles of national, racial, and religious identities; because it's the only thing that can give me the courage to face people who have lost their homes and loved ones to communal violence; because if the movement ever goes global, I can proudly say, "I'm from Burma, where they speak Panzagar."

For more on Panzagar, visit the campaign's Facebook page here.
For the overseas supporters' community, visit the Support Panzagar page here.
If you'd like to be part of it, please come join us this Saturday in San Francisco's Union Square for a Panzagar selfie.

Post by Support Panzagar: End Hate Speech with Flower Speech.