Dissident Spotlight: Mohamed Bouazizi
Mohamed Bouazizi wasn't an activist for very long. But he did set a movement off that engulfed the Middle East.

On December 17, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in front of the provincial government building where his wares were confiscated. He didn’t die until January 4. During that time, protests inspired by Bouazizi’s self-immolation took over Tunisia. Ten days after Bouazizi died, Tunisia’s president of 23 years, Ben Ali, stepped down.
It wasn’t just Tunisia, either. North Africa, the Middle East, and even China saw pro-democracy protests fighting for regime change. It was a universal demand for the right to self-government. Protesters around the world wanted to live their lives free from government interference. These global protests were all inspired by someone who had struggled against that same pain.
A Lifetime of Hardship
Ever since Bouazizi was born in 1984, he faced an uphill battle to provide for himself and his family. He lost his father as a child, and his mother married his uncle. One of six children, Bouazizi worked throughout his life to provide for them. He would drop out of high school to work full-time after his uncle’s poor health kept him from working.
With five other siblings and two parents to care for, Bouazizi became a street vendor. He hoped to be able to put him and his sisters through high school and eventually university. Street vending wasn’t a good living, but it brought some money in.
However, the local police wanted their take. Corruption was rife in Sidi Bouzid where Bouazizi sold his goods. Police officers would demand bribes from vendors or confiscate the vendor’s goods. That cut into the already meager profits vendors made. Bribes kept siblings from school and took food off families’ tables.
It interfered with the industrious methods ordinary people took to survive.
December 17: The Last Indignity
The day of Bouazizi’s self-immolation began ordinarily enough. He took out a loan to buy goods to sell later. After he set himself up for the day, the police approached him. The details of this confrontation vary. What’s certain is the police took his fruit cart and scale. Some accounts say he was also beaten.
After the police took his wares, Bouazizi demanded them back at the provincial government building. His request was refused. The last thing he shouted before he set himself on fire was “How do you expect me to make a living?”
Ordinary Outrage and Extraordinary Results
Mohamed Bouazizi wasn’t a lifelong activist. He wasn’t a long-time protester or a theoretician. Instead, he was someone who lived a life plagued by hardship and government oppression. That was all the background he needed to ignite a pro-democracy movement across the Middle East.
After he died, Bouazizi received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. His rage against his government’s unfairness inspired other countries and his own to fight for a government that would support instead of exploit them.
Bouazizi was a regular person slaving to make a better life for his family. He was not given the environment to earn the life he wanted for his loved ones. The rage at having that environment blocked from him was unleashed by thousands of protesters in many unfree countries after his self-immolation.
His circumstances were more dire than most, but his struggle for a better life for those around him remains universal.