Nguyễn Thị Bình (born 26 May 1927), also known as Madame Bình & Mother of Vietnam, is a South #Vietnamese #revolutionary leader, #diplomat & #politician. She became internationally known for her role as the #VietCong (NLF)'s chief diplomat & leading its delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. She later served in the government of reunified Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon & became the country's Vice President in 1992. She is the first woman in Vietnamese history to be appointed a cabinet minister.

Nguyen Thi Binh was the only woman to sign the Paris Agreement on Ending the War & Restoring Peace in Vietnam on 27th January 1973. South Viet Nam was liberated on 30th April 1975 & the two parts of Vietnam were finally brought together in 1976 as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

In her memoirs, she said: “My own life, in concert with the life of our nation, has helped me understand that seizing political power and demanding independence were extremely difficult, particularly when opposing colonialists and imperialists. However, maintaining political power and building a nation…is much more difficult.”

At Hanoi Peace Conference in November 2022, she stated:

“Having suffered numerous sacrifices, pain and loss during decades of struggle against foreign aggression and for peace, independence and freedom, the people of Vietnam deeply appreciate the value of peace,” she told those gathered. Warning that the danger of wars, including a nuclear catastrophe, is greater than ever before, she stressed the vital importance of “rallying and uniting peace forces and movements” to halt aggression and build a world of peace and justice for all.

Ref: Nguyen Thi Binh. Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography (3rd ed.). Boston: Northeastern University Press. 1999. ISBN 978-1-55553-421-9.

Ref: Brigham, Robert K. (2011). "Nguyen Thi Binh". The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd ed.). ISBN 978-1-85109-961-0

Ref: Hy V. Luong (2003), Postwar Vietnam: dynamics of a transforming society, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0847698653

Nguyễn Quyền (1869–1941) was a #Vietnamese #scholar & #AntiColonial #revolutionary #activist who advocated independence from #French #colonial rule. He was a contemporary of Phan Bội Châu & Phan Chu Trinh & one of Tonkin Free School's founders.

"The more I read the more I become aware that the things we studied, our examination system, were wrong – indeed the real reasons for our having lost our country. From that point on I was determined to seize upon our country's literature and on modern learning to awaken our citizenry."

Quyen advocated the modernisation of Vietnam's #education system. Around 1903 or 1904, Quyen met Tang Bat Ho, who had returned from his travels abroad & talked extensively about the modernisation of Japan. In 1904 he met with Phan Bội Châu, but Quyen had little in common with Chau's ideology of using violence to achieve independence. Quyen went on the work with Lương Văn Can & Le Dai in setting up the Dong Kinh Thuc Nghia, which sought to strengthen the Vietnamese people & thereby the likelihood of independence through the training of a new, more modern generation of scholars.

In 1908, Quyen was arrested in a general crackdown by French authorities and sent to jail on Côn Lôn island. He died in the prison which was infamous for torturing political prisoners.

Ref: Marr, David G. (1970). Vietnamese Anticolonialism, 1885–1925. Berkeley: University of California. ISBN 0-520-01813-3.

Nguyen Huu Tho (July 10, 1910 - Dec. 24, 1996) was the chairman of the National Liberation Front #NLF - the South Vietnamese political organization formed in 1960 in opposition to the U.S. backed Saigon government.

He was born in the same Chinatown district (Cho Lon in Saigon) that my patriarch family lived & where we had our large incense factory.

The son of a rubber-plantation manager who was later killed during the First #Indochina War (1946–54), Nguyen Huu Tho studied law in Paris in the 1930s. Returning to #Saigon, he set up practice, remaining politically inactive until 1949, when he led student demonstrations against the French; he also organized protests in 1950 against the patrolling of the southern Vietnamese coast by U.S. warships. He was imprisoned & won popular acclaim for his prolonged hunger strike in protest of the war.

After the Geneva Agreements divided Vietnam into northern & southern zones in 1954, Tho cooperated with the southern regime of Ngo Dinh Diem until he was arrested for advocating nationwide elections on reunification. Except for a short period in 1958, Tho remained in prison from 1954-1961, when he escaped with aid of some of his anti-Diem followers. These men, who had recently formed the NLF, made Tho, a noncommunist, provisional & then full-time chairman of the NLF.

In 1965, he delivered an anti-imperialist speech, a booklet was later published in English, entitled SPEECH. His title was given as: President of the Presidium of the Consultative Council of the South Viet Nam National Front for Liberation on the 5th founding anniversary of the NFL.

Tho served as a figurehead leader. Real power in the NLF was held by its military arm, the #VietCong & by veteran communists who reported directly to the North Vietnamese leadership. Tho helped attract a wide spectrum of South Vietnamese supporters to the NLF. In June 1969, the NLF established a Provisional Revolutionary Government with Huynh Tan Phat as president & Nguyen Huu Tho as chairman of its advisory council. The PRG became the government of South Vietnam in April 1975, when Saigon government’s troops surrendered to the North Vietnamese & PRG forces. Tho was made a vice president of Vietnam in 1976, a post he held until 1980, when he became acting president. In 1981, Tho was made vice president of the Council of State & chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

Thọ was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (1983–84).

Between 1988 & 1994, he was chairman of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front (Mặt trận Tổ quốc Việt Nam), an umbrella organization for mass organizations in the country.

Ref: Jacques Dalloz : Dictionnaire de la Guerre d'Indochine, Paris, 2006, S. 171
Christopher E. Goscha : Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945–1954), Kopenhagen, 2011, S. 323

Ref: Kiernan, Ben. How Pol Pot Came to Power. London: Verso, 1985. pp. 170-71.

Ref: Nghia M. Vo - Saigon: A History (2011)

"Perhaps this is the biggest single difference between Viet Nam and Abu Ghraib. In Viet Nam, the U.S. primarily taught and paid the Saigon police and military to do their bidding. In Abu Ghraib and Iraq, the U.S. military is carrying out the torture themselves. There were, however, many Vietnamese who were tortured by Americans before being turned over to their Saigon allies and put into jail. Reports of suspected Viet Cong being thrown out of helicopters, peasant farm people tied to stakes in the hot sun, and young men led off to execution by U.S. soldiers are well-documented by U.S. soldiers and journalists.

The U.S. paid the salaries of the torturers, taught them new methods, and turned suspects over to the police. The U.S. authorities were all aware of the torture."

https://www.historiansagainstwar.org/resources/torture/luce.html

Nguyễn Văn Trỗi (1 February 1940 – 15 October 1964) was a #Vietnamese #revolutionary & member of the NLF (National Liberation Front). He gained notoriety after being captured by ARVN forces while trying to assassinate US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara & Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who were visiting South Vietnam in May 1964.

Trỗi became the first publicly executed member of the NLF. His execution was filmed, and he remained defiant to the end. His last words before his execution in #Saigon :

"You are journalists and so you must be well informed about what is happening. It is the Americans who have committed aggression on our country, it is they who have been killing our people with planes and bombs ... I have never acted against the will of my people. It is against the Americans that I have taken action."

When a priest offered Trỗi absolution, he refused, saying: "I have committed no sin. It is the Americans who have sinned." As the first shots were fired, he called out: "Long live Vietnam!"

His wife wrote a biography book on his short but brave life. Phan Thi Quyen (c. 1965) Nguyen van troi tel qu'il etait (Nguyễn Văn Trỗi As He Was).

Lê Đức Thọ (14 October 1911 – 13 October 1990), was a #Vietnamese #revolutionary general, diplomat & politician. Tho was the first #Asian to be awarded the #NobelPeacePrize, jointly with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1973, for their work on Paris Peace Accords, but refused the award.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1973/tho/facts

"However, since the signing of the Paris agreement, the United States and the Saigon administration continue in grave violation of a number of key clauses of this agreement. The Saigon administration, aided and encouraged by the United States, continues its acts of war. Peace has not yet really been established in South Vietnam. In these circumstances it is impossible for me to accept the 1973 Nobel Prize for Peace which the committee has bestowed on me. Once the Paris accord on Vietnam is respected, the arms are silenced and a real peace is established in South Vietnam, I will be able to consider accepting this prize. With my thanks to the Nobel Prize Committee please accept, madame, my sincere respects."
https://web.archive.org/web/20110403165243/http://www.blackandwhitecat.org/2010/12/11/why-le-duc-tho-refused-his-nobel-peace-prize/

"Unfortunately, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee put the aggressor and the victim of aggression on the same par. ... That was a blunder. The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the greatest prizes in the world. But the United States conducted a war of aggression against Vietnam. It is we, the Vietnamese people, who made peace by defeating the American war of aggression against us, by regaining our independence and freedom."
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/12/17/Personality-Spotlight-Le-Duc-Tho-Vietnams-poet-revolutionary/1693535179600/

9.Queerfilmfest in #muenchen gestern im #Schauspielhaus der #Kammerspiele eröffnet, mit einem spannenden Kammerspiel aus dem argentinischen Frauenknast ... Heute im #CityKino mit #Viet&#Nam ... Bis Sonntag mit Filmen und Foren zum #internat. #Filmemachen

I LOVE Saigon Supersound albums

#SaigonSupersound releases Vietnamese music fused with elements of vintage western pop. This marriage of cultures results in unique, sophisticated sounds which transcend time and geographical boundaries to bridge east and west. The label started with two compilations that rediscovered gems from the so called “Golden Music” period in the south of Vietnam and soon began including new releases in the same vein. While considering the valuable heritage of Vietnamese popular music, the new releases are in the form of edits, re-works and remixes, as well as fresh compositions by upcoming artists which transport listeners from the past into the present. With this in mind, we are looking forward to developing new artists that share this common vision. The journey just started…let´s see where it will take us.

https://saigonsupersound.com/

My #MorningMusic choice, today

#SaigonSoulRevival returns with their second album, "Mối Lương Duyên".

New York based DJ & producer, #Nickodemus, head-honcho behind Wonderwheel recordings and one of the most important leaders of the global fusion dance community since the mid-90s, delivers the first remix from Saigon Soul Revival’s second album. Spicing up the opening title “Ai Thật Lòng Yêu Ai“ with his electronic trademark sound that is often focused on the connective tissue of live collaborations and the electronic solitude of his record-filled studio, Nickodemus is putting his own twist on the sultry soul groove.

What is the song about ?
This very soulful album opener „ Ai Thật Lòng Yêu Ai“ tells the story of a man who is deeply in love has his heart betrayed when he discovers his sweetheart is with another. Confused and crushed by despair, the man swears to himself that he will never forget the pain she caused him that day. He wishes never to see her again, in this life or the next.

Once again featuring Nguyễn Thị Hải Phượng on #ĐànTranh (Vietnamese 16-stringed #zither)

https://saigonsoulrevival.bandcamp.com/album/ai-th-t-l-ng-y-u-ai-nickodemus-remix?label=3187674626

Tapioca pearls are inferior to choobees.