35 Years of Czech Democracy
This November marks the 35th anniversary of the November 1989 Velvet Revolution, which brought about the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
On this occasion we were delighted to welcome Jan Bubeník, student activist during the Velvet Revolution 1989, in our school to talk with our students about his personal experience with the Velvet Revolution and his life before the fall of communism as well as afterwards.
The lecture took place as part of the ECP Lecture and Talk programme with the title My Velvet Revolution Story – My Dream Came True.
Jan Bubeník talked about how he was a student activist during the Velvet Revolution 1989, a member of the Student Strike Committee and later a deputy in the Federal Assembly. At the time of the revolution, he was studying medicine at the Faculty of Pediatrics at Charles University in Prague. In the whirlwind of events during the November and December days of 1989, he became a member of the Student Strike Committee, then a member of the Commission for Oversight of the Investigation into the Events of November 17, and, at the age of twenty one, the youngest deputy in the Federal Assembly.
After the lecture, ECP students had an opportunity to speak with Mr Bubeník and ask questions. There were also follow-up discussions in tutor groups, which focused on the strongest moments in the lecture, the impact of individuals on changing history, and the connection between Jan Opletal and Velvet Revolution. Students were also watching a series of short videos reporting about the 1989 events.
As part of homework, students were to think about current threats to democracy and ask their parents and grandparents about their experiences during the Velvet Revolution.
Velvet Revolution Festival
Celebrations of the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution at ECP also included student-lef Velvet Revolution Festival. A group of students prepared various workshops for their peers. They were not allowed to select their workshop freely to remind ourselves that during communism there was no freedom of choice.
The workshops, which aimed to recall what it was like during communist times, included designing a protest poster, Spartakiáda exercises, documentary watching or communist bake sale with proceeds going to the Ježíškova vnoučata charity.
