Don Mee Choi

“Do you remember? I remember.”

– From Don Mee Choi’s “Do You Remember?”

“Protesters confront and march toward the troops,” from 5-18 Photo Club. This site contains photographs taken by several Korean journalists during the Gwangju Uprising, May 1980.

 

DO YOU REMEMBER?

Do you remember? I remember. Are you Gwangju? I am Gwangju. Your language? My language. Do you speak silence? I speak silence. Your nation? Brutal Nation. Do you remember? I remember. Buses and corpses? Buses and corpses. Masses and masses? Faces and faces. Helmets and batons? Batons and batons. Are you breathing? I am breathing. Are you standing? I am standing. Are you singing? I am singing. Are you homesick? I am homesick. Do you remember? I remember. Thumbs-up or thumbs-down? Thumbs-up then thumbs-down. Thumbs-up then thumbs-down. He speaks nothing and nothing.

 

Written in 1982, this version is the original recording of the song. It was initially composed and written for a “spirit wedding” for two deceased activists: Yoon Sang-won, who died during the uprising and his beloved, a labor activist, Park Gi-soon. The song has become the official anthem for the annual May 18th ceremony. From the May 18 Memorial Foundation.