“ONCE GRANTED, EVEN A SMIDGEN OF FREEDOM CAN TRANSFORM INTO AN UNSTOPPABLE WEAPON AGAINST OPPRESSION.”

Many may not be familiar with what is known as ‘The Singing Revolution’ – a series of mass public events that led to the independence of the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the late 1980’s. After decades under repressive Soviet rule following its military occupation in the 1940’s, widespread dissatisfaction within the Baltic states resulted in a revolution that involved one of the longest human chains in history — two million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians linked arms across the three Baltic states, from Tallinn to Vilnius, protesting by singing illegal patriotic songs expressing their desire for independence from Communist rule.

Decentralised groups of protestors gathered together to sing songs spontaneously and Soviet tanks were were met with civilians acting as human shields in peaceful defiance to protect radio and TV stations from attack. In a remarkable revolution that spanned over 4 years, Estonia finally gained its independence from the USSR in 1991 through the sheer force of people power by creating one of the longest human chains in history at the time, and enacting peaceful change through the power of song.

I had no idea about the history of Estonia until I watched ‘The Singing Revolution’ a few years ago at its New York premiere; a documentary Executive Produced by my friend Steve Jurvetson — it is an incredibly powerful and moving film and I can not recommend it highly enough.