First arrested in 2006, lawyer and human rights activist Gao Zhisheng was released in 2014 after withstanding severe mistreatment and torture in solitary confinement at an underground facility in China, while his wife, son and daughter escaped to California. But two years later, he disappeared, leaving his family and associates clueless as to his whereabouts. His son, MVHS junior Peter Gao, describes life while his father is a prisoner in China. His wife, Geng He, provides her experiences with her husband as well as her own vital contributions to Zhisheng’s movement.

As the decade neared an end, crowds of protesters and activists gathered in Hong Kong to express opposition to the extradition bill, which allows Hong Kong to transfer people in and out of its region, mainland China and Taiwan. Among the thousands of protestors was Geng He⁠ — now a woman who sought her independence and purpose. Her family shares their story of a missing father, husband and respected human rights lawyer who had often gone head to head with the Chinese government in his cases.

Read the full story here: A protest of a lifetime: searching for freedom