And the winner is…

The Protester

This year TIME Magazine’s Person of the year is you, well, if you were one of the hundreds of thousands around the world who joined the Occupy movement, or stood up to your oppressive regime in an attempt to free yourself and your countrymen, such as happened in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Russia, Greece, Spain, the UK, Syria, Mexico, the USA and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others.

2011: The year the people said, “This far, no further!”

History will probably point to one man who kicked off one of the most aggressive and dynamic periods of political protest and change we’ve seen since the middle of the last century, or perhaps even the 1990s in Eastern Europe. Mohamed Bouazizi was a 26-year old trader in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. He came to international attention when, in the depths of despair at mistreatment at the hands of local police, he set himself on fire outside a government office in late December 2010.

Bouazizi’s family with an image of their fallen son.

Early in January 2011 Bouazizi passed away from his injuries, but the fire had already been lit underneath a popular protest against government corruption and malpractice that would up-end the government of Tunisia within months. Egypt was next, with the ousting of now ex-president, Hosni Mubarak. Libyans followed, as did Yemenis, Bahrainians and Syrians.

The so-called Arab Spring broke its nominal boundaries and swept into debt-torn America, into the trembling, cash-starved economies of Europe, and even our neighbour Swaziland entertained a brief, futile attempt to overthrow the rotten government of long-reigning despot, Mswati III. The same in Malawi, if to no avail.

The peak of the protest in Tahrir Square, Cairo

Usually, TIME selects one person for the annual honour – and it need not always be a hero. Hitler has received the nod, as did the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran once. Last year was Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and this year’s other nominees, including new royal Kate Middleton, Chinese dissident Ai Wei Wei and US Naval Admiral, William McRaven, who led the team that killed Osama Bin Laden, were all strong contenders.

To encompass “the Protester”, given the massive sprawl of people who fall under the banner, TIME focuses on different personalities who stood out among the thousands who occupied, liberated, protested and stood up against tyranny, whether Occupying Wall Street, protesting Putin, fighting Greek austerity, or risking death confronting Mexico’s deadly drug cartels.

Check out the full coverage of TIME‘s Person of the Year here.

There’s also some video coverage from Slate here.

[Source: TIME Magazine, Guardian, Washington Post]