‘Glory at the End’: Yellow Umbrellas Raised at ‘Selma’ Hong Kong Premiere

Civic Party's Ken Tsang (R) and "Grandpa Wong" (L) pose for a picture at the "Selma" premiere in Hong Kong on Feb. 27, 2015. (Larry Ong/Epoch Times)

HONG KONG—Five days after rapper Common sent a shout-out to the Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrators during an Oscars acceptance speech, Selma opened to a full house in the city.

Amnesty International Hong Kong held a charity premiere of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. biopic at iSquare shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui on Friday night.

A number of prominent protest figures and pan-democrat lawmakers—Occupy Central trio Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming; Hong Kong’s Labor Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and Civic Party’s Ken Tsang; 90-year-old “Grandpa Wong”—were in attendance.

"The spirit of the civil rights movement and the song spells out the spirit that we must persist in. In the end, we will have victory, and we will have glory."

— Benny Tai, Occupy Central leader

Before the movie screening, Reverend Chu spoke briefly about Dr. King’s life and the civil rights movement in the United States at a press event just outside the theater.

Later, Ken Tsang, who was dragged to a dark corner and beaten up by seven police officers in the first weeks of the protests—an incident caught by a local broadcaster—posed for cameras with a sign that read: “Fear not violent oppression on the road to democracy.”

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Lonnie Lynn aka Common (L) and John Stephens aka John Legend winners of the Best Original Song Award for 'Glory' from 'Selma' pose with their trophies on February 22, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Common said that the spirit of the bridge in Selma, Alabama which Dr. King and civil rights protesters marched lives on today in people around the world, including “the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy.”

Social media in Hong Kong and China exploded after Common’s comments. Hongkongers applauded the Oscar nod on social media, while mainland Chinese slammed Common for “being political” on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter-like platform. 

On Friday’s Selma premiere, key Occupy activists expressed optimism and a desire to continue fighting for democracy in Hong Kong.

“The spirit of the civil rights movement and the song spells out the spirit that we must persist in,” Benny Tai told Epoch Times. “In the end, we will have victory, and we will have glory.”

Ken Tsang expressed similar sentiments.

“After the demonstration areas were cleared up, Hong Kong people have been trying different ways and methods to fight back and do something,” said Tsang.

“Nobody steps back or stays behind,” Tsang continued. “The game is not over.”