Kathy Change

Kathleen Chang, known by her performance name Kathy Change, was an American political activist, writer, and performance artist. She was a familiar figure on the University of Pennsylvania campus, often dancing on the College Green brandishing homemade flags painted with various political messages and vocally advocating nonviolent social revolution. On October 22, 1996, she committed suicide by self-immolation on the spot where she had often performed in an effort to engage Penn students in the progressive causes she championed; the packages of writings she delivered to six Penn students, two local residents, as well as Penn's campus newspaper and other news organizations contextualized her carefully planned suicide as both protest and a vehicle for her message.