allaboutadvocacy.com

Will Advocate for Food

Advocates sometimes appear in the places where you would least expect them.

The latest viral video making the rounds on the Internet in China documents the spellbinding sidewalk art of a one-legged man in the city of Wuhan. But there’s a twist: he’s a beggar.

It’s not uncommon to see people begging on the street in big cities around the world. In China, many beggars use chalk to write their story on the sidewalk, hoping it will persuade passersby to philanthropic acts. But this man wields the chalk to paint masterpieces on the pavement, which is made all the more impressive by the fact that he does it all on one leg. 

You can watch him recreate the Mona Lisa below (01:44). As you will see, he also draws quite a crowd. Having only been online for nine days, the video has already generated 1,159,646 views and 16,894 comments!

Click here to watch the video.

What does begging have to do with Advocacy? Nothing. But the attention this man has gained – from the sidewalk to the city to the Internet – is nothing to be scoffed at yet. Perhaps it’s his creativity, perhaps it’s his talent, or perhaps there’s a compelling story shining through it all. How did this man become crippled? How did such a wonderful artist become a beggar? And where did he learn to draw like that? He also scratches nearly perfect Chinese characters (00:52) into the concrete and writes in English (12:32).