An Inter-Generational Anti-Military Dictatorship Movement Solidifies Min Ko Naing expressed alignment between veteran activists from previous generations and novice Gen Z activists when he declared in a 17 February message recorded in an underground location: “This revolution represents a combination of Generations X, Y and Z in fighting against the military dictatorship.”35 The ’88 Generation student leader thus iterated a multigenerational history of anti-military uprisings as a single revolutionary movement and a common cause—Doh Ayay, “Our Cause!” Veteran activists added their own tactics and strategies to the Gen Z movement. For example, they shared songs written during the 1988 protest period, which found new life at mass rallies with printouts of the words circulating through the crowds and with a new generation committing the words to memory. Thway Thitsar or Blood Oath, written by Htoo Ein Thin, a former member of the 1988-era All Burma Students Democratic Front, reached the status of a protest anthem and effectively connected the generations in a shared cause. Other songs, like Kabar Makyay Bu or We Shall not Forgive, also an ’88 era protest song, spoke to the sacrifice of fallen heroes and evoked the language of revolution in affirming the vow of a new generation to “fight till the end of the world”.36 But the most popular protest song of recent months has been A-lo-ma-shi or We Don’t Need It. Written by Gen Z’s Than Zin Thway, it captured this generation’s spirit in the anti-coup movement, affirming through lyrics how everyone is together beating their pots, standing for “Do You Hear the People Sing? A Guide to Myanmar Protest Music”, Khaosod English, 1 March 2021, https://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/ 2021/03/01/do-you-hear-the-people-sing-a-guide-to-myanmar-protest-music/ (accessed 18 March 2021). 35 On Myanmar protest songs, see “Do You Hear the People Sing? A Guide to Myanmar Protest Music”, Khaosod English, 1 March 2021, https://www. khaosodenglish.com/opinion/2021/03/01/do-you-hear-the-people-sing-a-guideto-myanmar-protest-music/ (accessed 18 March 2021). 36 18 21-J07648 01 Trends_2021-7.indd 18 28/4/21 9:34 AM