Voice of Hope

Conversations with Alan Clements

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's imprisoned State Councilor Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, mother of two, and devout Buddhist, is one of the most inspiring examples of spiritually infused politics and fearless leadership that the world has ever seen. Daughter of the martyred Burmese national hero General Aung San, who negotiated Burma's independence from Britain in the 1940s, Aung San Suu Kyi led the pro-democracy movement in Burma in 1988. The movement was quickly and brutally crushed by the military dictatorship, and Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under arrest.

The Voice of Hope is a rare and intimate journey to the heart of her struggle. Over a period of six months, Alan Clements, the first American ordained as a Buddhist monk in Burma in modern times, met with Aung San Suu Kyi shortly after her release from her first house arrest in July 1995. With her trademark ability to speak directly and compellingly, she presents here her vision of nonviolence and engaged compassion and describes how she has managed to sustain her hope and optimism in the face of unrelenting violence.

©1997 Alan Clements (P)1997 Alan Clements