Warnings From Charlie Kirk’s Assassination and the Cultural Revolution_Joanne Tan Shares a Family Tragedy_Season 2, Episode 75
10PlusBrand
To read it as a 3-min blog
To watch it as a 7-min video
From Personal Tragedy to National Warning
In this episode, Joanne Z. Tan shares an intensely personal story. As a child in China during the Cultural Revolution, she witnessed how political passion, once inflamed, turned ordinary citizens into enemies. Her father, a professor, was exiled and died in forced labor. Her stepbrother’s mother, a school principal, took her own life after brutal persecution. Millions of others were betrayed, beaten, or killed.
These tragedies are not just history lessons. They are warnings for today’s America. The same forces—demonization, manipulation, blind obedience, self-righteous anger—can surface here if we fail to see each other’s humanity.
Why We Must Be Better Angels
Joanne urges us to:
Resist the pull of hatred, even when politically provoked.
See the human side of those who vote or think differently.
Remember that no good comes from violence—ever.
Practice civility, tolerance, and respect as patriotic duty.
We hold democracy in our own hands. Every word, every action matters. In divisive times, being our better angels may be the most radical form of leadership.
About the author, Joanne Z. Tan
Joanne Z. Tan is the Founder & CEO of 10 Plus Brand, Inc., a brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and speaker. She helps executives, board members, entrepreneurs, and organizations decode their Brand DNA, create authentic brand identity and content to build brand equity and lead their industries in the AI age. Trained in law and business, Joanne was a former journalist, and an award-winning photographic artist. She had a liberal arts education from Brandeis University before earning a law degree. Joanne's passion is to build brands for leaders and their organizations with her analytical, holistic, and strategic design thinking, as well as her artistic creativity. Her coaching emphasizes comprehensive strategies, business modeling, thought leadership and high authority content creation, brand building, culture, teamwork, leadership mindset and resilience. She guides leaders to stand out with vision, multi-disciplinary approaches, and strategies in leading themselves and their organizations. Additionally, Joanne is a poet, writer, and artist.
© Joanne Z. Tan, Jan. 2026. All rights reserved.
©Joanne Z. Tan all rights reserved.
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