He faced three tanks on an empty avenue. Armed with resolve and two grocery bags, he blocked their path as they pushed forward into the square. A day after the Chinese military had massacred thousands of pro-democracy protesters, many of whom were students, a convoy of Type 59 Chinese military tanks tried to travel into Tiananmen Square. One man, a third of the size of the massive symbols of military might he faced, stopped the convoy. The man in the tank, recognizing their common humanity, refused to run him over.

From a sixth-floor balcony at the Beijing Hotel, Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener captured the scene on his Nikon FE2, and the photo circulated the planet, even eventually landing on the western wall of Middle School English teacher David Fuder’s classroom. “To see a guy with plastic bags of groceries continue to move his body in front of a giant tank and cause those three tanks to just stop in their tracks,” Fuder, who was in college at the time of massacre, said, “I found to be an amazing scene to see on television. That image to me is a reminder of the importance of standing up for what you think is right.”

Thirty years after the Tiananmen Square Massacre (June 2, 1989), a “constitutional crisis” is occurring in the United States of America, according to Congressman Jerry Nadler, revealing that democracy is not guaranteed and that one person can have a considerable impact on global affairs.

The photo of “Tank Man” changed the trajectory of Fuder’s life. “It was one of those things that got me to notice world politics and got me to think more broadly,” Fuder said. “I was really taken with that message of standing up to power and collective bodies in pursuit of something.”

Reflecting on the Tiananmen Square student protests, Fuder fears that today’s students are not sufficiently vocal. “Students are really comfortable,” Fuder said. “In 2016, there was a pretty strong level of resistance. That’s kind of dissipated over time. It’s really challenging to look at if we have this cohort of student activism and student protest, but I don’t feel like there’s this underbelly of activism around youth as much as there could be.”

Fuder considers the lack of student protest unfortunate, considering the current state of the United States government. “I think about Donald Trump and his obsession with autocrats,” Fuder said. “It’s not just a President who is making bad choices but a Senate that is going along with it and jumped onto the bandwagon of crazy things and crazy ideas that aren’t healthy for our country. The rhetoric that’s out there is pointing toward autocratic leadership for our country.”

Upper School history teacher Kevin Conlon agrees that the United States is in a constitutional crisis and is concerned about the lack of student protests. “When is this going to start hurting enough Americans that there’s going to be people going out in the streets protesting and demanding action that our president resigns and that the different branches of government work together?” Conlon said. “I’m holding my breath. When is that moment going to come? We are in a moment of crisis.”

Conlon was transitioning between studying in Paris and starting graduate school in Iowa City, Iowa during the Tiananmen Square student protests. Meanwhile, Upper School Head Justin Brandon was watching the news as an 11-year-old in New York City. “As a kid, I was thinking ‘why is that guy standing in front of a tank?’” Brandon said about the “Tank Man” photo. “That was an opportunity where I was educated and introduced to Chinese culture, Chinese history, and the impact that China played in the world.”

Recalling his experiences watching the news during the Tiananmen Square student protests, Brandon, unlike Fuder and Conlon, believes that today’s students are more engaged than those of years past. “In this society now, with so much technology, a lot more movements are happening because a lot more moments are shared in such a live way,” Brandon said. “There’s an understanding of the need to be present and visible and fight for what’s right.”

Brandon believes that today’s political situation in the United States requires students to fight hard. “We are in a very interesting time in regards to our leadership,” Brandon said. “I remember, when I was a kid, there was this understanding that this is the leader of your country regardless of party. You’re going to assume competence and courage in that person and know that that person has surrounded himself with the people who will help him make the best decisions for the country as a whole. To be honest, I don’t think we have that right now. It’s kind of sad that that’s where our country is right now as a country that was seen as the leader of the free world.”

Conlon is optimistic that the United States will regain its stature as the leader of the free world and avoid losing its systems designed to hold authority accountable. “I feel confident that we’re not going to go down that route,” Conlon said. “We have good political structures that will survive the current crisis.”

Conlon believes that the people of the United States should learn from “Tank Man” and the student protest that preceded him. “The person put himself out there, did not get taken out, and walked away,” Conlon said. “It should be a poster in every person’s bedroom. I need my Tank Man poster.”