Wei Jingsheng, O.C.D.C. Chairman and Creator of the Wei Jingsheng Foundation

 Wei Jingsheng, dubbed the "Father of Chinese Democracy" and "The Nelson Mandela of China," was born in 1950 in Beijing, China to parents who were long time Chinese Communist Party cadres. His name, Jingsheng, reflects his family's pride in his birthplace, as Jing means "capital" and and Sheng means "birth." Wei was 16 at the start of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1966, and left home to explore the north and northwest Chinese countryside. During this time, he saw firsthand the effects that Communism was having on the Chinese people, as well as served in the People's Liberation Army.  Once he returned to Beijing, he wrote the essay "The Fifth Modernization," in which he explained that China could not truly modernize unless it adopted democracy.  This essay was posted on The Democracy Wall in Beijing in 1978, and caused quite a sensation.  Wei was arrested March 29, 1979 after publishing an article in an underground magazine called "Exploration."  The article was titled "Democracy or a New Dictatorship," and identified Deng Xiaoping, China's communist leader at the time, as the new dictator.  He spent a total of 18 years in various prisons before he was ultimately exiled to The United States in 1997.  Wei now lives in Washington, D.C., and is still very active in the cause for Chinese democratization.  He frequently gives speeches and publishes articles for media stations like Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, and BBC.  In 1998, Wei founded the Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition (O.C.D.C.), which is an umbrella organization for international groups dedicated to Chinese democratization.  In 1998, Wei also established and became president of the Wei Jingsheng Foundation, a non-profit organization based in New York City that aims to promote democratization and improved human rights in China.  Wei's dedication to Chinese democratization has been recognized, and he has received numerous awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Award in 1996, the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, and the National Endowment for Democracy Award in 1997, among others.  Since 1993, he has been nominated seven times for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Wei also published the book "Courage to Stand Alone--Letters from Prison and Other Writings," which is a collection of articles he wrote on toilet paper while in jail.