Believe in Something

A woman announces the presidential candidate’s approach as two hundred armed guards shield her from the public. As head of security, Alice has planned every root the president will take, she changes them constantly to remain unpredictable, knowing all too well, that getting boxed in can mean the difference between life and death.
I met Alice last night. I wasn’t hiring her detail, or interacting with a protected individual. I was standing in a small apartment in San Francisco, eating pizza with a group of friends, and listening intently as a petite art teacher described the humble beginning that lead her to protect and serve the most powerful woman in Taiwan.
Humble Beginnings
Alice ignored politics for most of her childhood, and she remained detached from a system that had little interference on her life. It wasn’t till college that she began understanding her place in the world, she stood up for her beliefs alongside thousands of college students as they occupied the Taiwanese capital.
At 3am on the 24th day of the occupation, police forces were instructed to evict the students by any means necessary. They worked with speed, as to avoid the media.
Parliament was in session the next day, and the government wanted nothing standing in its way.
Alice describes her walk toward the building that night with wide eyes that still vividly remember. She heard screaming inside, she saw people running from the building who were bleeding from their heads where police officers had clubbed them. Suddenly lights flashed on at every street corner where police officers had formed barricades.
She Ran, The idea of capture was terrifying
Her position outside the building gave her an advantage. Still, as she looked ahead she could see a funnel forming in front of her. She ran to its edge and pushed through with all of her strength.
looking up and saw a friend running toward his motorcycle. Without a word of exchange, she ran up and jumped on behind him. With a quick glance, he understood her intent, brought the motorcycle to life, and dodged a second wave of police barricades going up a few blocks from the main lines.
Coming to terms
Alice returned to college the following morning shocked and pale faced, but she had to go, she was the teaching assistant.
She stood through most of the class like a ghost, mind racing, When her professor asked if she was okay, she blurted out, “I swear I almost died last night. Haven’t you heard what happened?”
“No,” the professor replied, “Tell me.”
Alice looked up, “I can’t… I can’t even begin to explain, nor do I know it’s extent. Please turn on the news and find out for me. All I know is what I saw, and I swear it almost killed me.”
Belief
At that moment, Alice understood the power of protest. And she understood her place was to protect others when they could not protect themselves. She became an advocate after college and attended dozens of protests.
She told me of the children’s camps she protected on the site of a nuclear factory. Thousands of peaceful protesters brought their children who sat and read books about nuclear power while their parents prevented construction of a factory that had been deemed unsafe.
When police arrived, they turned firehoses on the crowd with 6 inch streams that ended up killing an elderly woman in the crowd. Alice stood her ground in front of the children and when police turned toward them she looked them dead in the eyes, screamed in rage, and threw herself into the punishing stream to shield a younger girl.
In the end, she was captured by police. She didn’t describe the capture or aftermath.
Only touched her shoulder which hurts to this day.
Later, her picture ended up in numerous newspapers and her story spread. One day after she had moved on from protesting, she was approached by a Taiwanese presidential candidate who shared her ideologies. The woman reminded Alice of the vigorous woman she had seen in the newspapers and asked if Alice would join her cause as the head of her protection detail.
She said yes, and that’s how at 25, Alice, the petite, determined, art teacher, helped the Taiwanese president safely get elected.
Her least public, and most impactful protest of all.
