What is this Ukrainian Pianist Playing for Security Forces?
The Ukrainian protests produced a photo well-worth seeing. It's of a young man playing piano in the square in Kiev where the protesters gather. He's playing in front of a line of security forces.
I don't know what he was playing. But I do know that Slavs love music, with a great line of pianists to demonstrate that love. They're much more passionate than are we Americans when it comes to music - at least good music (vs. pop music). So, who knows, maybe the security forces were listening sympathetically as he played.
Another thing that's become apparent is the extraordinary relationship between the protestors and the government forces (*see below for more on this). For the most part, the confrontation between the two remains peaceful. Again, having followed some of the live feeds, I will tell you that exchanges between the two groups frequently demonstrate a polite, respectful and even friendly tone. (My wife is Ukrainian-American, so she has translated some of the exchanges for me to understand what's going on.) At times, demonstrators offer the security forces something to eat or a hot cup of tea. The people are heard talking about how they understand that these guys in the security forces are just people like them, for example, people doing a job who have families to support. They don't want harm to come to them, and, for all we know (and hope) the security forces feel the same way. I've even heard some protestors thank the security people for their service!
Let's hope and pray things remain on this generally cordial level. Who knows, maybe this will be resolved without bloodshed. Again, hope and pray.
Click HERE to see the photo.
*POSTSCRIPT: New security forces were brought in Tuesday night, some, if not most of whom, were not native Ukrainians; many looked Asian, which may mean they are Russian. They were more assertive and arrived in greater force. None of this is being covered to any great degree by the U.S. media. But so far bloodshed has been avoided - for the most part. Click HERE for a detailed report from Der Spiegel.
I don't know what he was playing. But I do know that Slavs love music, with a great line of pianists to demonstrate that love. They're much more passionate than are we Americans when it comes to music - at least good music (vs. pop music). So, who knows, maybe the security forces were listening sympathetically as he played.
Another thing that's become apparent is the extraordinary relationship between the protestors and the government forces (*see below for more on this). For the most part, the confrontation between the two remains peaceful. Again, having followed some of the live feeds, I will tell you that exchanges between the two groups frequently demonstrate a polite, respectful and even friendly tone. (My wife is Ukrainian-American, so she has translated some of the exchanges for me to understand what's going on.) At times, demonstrators offer the security forces something to eat or a hot cup of tea. The people are heard talking about how they understand that these guys in the security forces are just people like them, for example, people doing a job who have families to support. They don't want harm to come to them, and, for all we know (and hope) the security forces feel the same way. I've even heard some protestors thank the security people for their service!
Let's hope and pray things remain on this generally cordial level. Who knows, maybe this will be resolved without bloodshed. Again, hope and pray.
Click HERE to see the photo.
*POSTSCRIPT: New security forces were brought in Tuesday night, some, if not most of whom, were not native Ukrainians; many looked Asian, which may mean they are Russian. They were more assertive and arrived in greater force. None of this is being covered to any great degree by the U.S. media. But so far bloodshed has been avoided - for the most part. Click HERE for a detailed report from Der Spiegel.
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