When Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng and his family arrived in Greenwich Village from Beijing, Chai Ling was among the crowd cheering their arrival. In many ways, Chen was following in Chai’s footsteps.

A political generation ago, Chai was deemed an enemy of the state for her participation in the student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, where a papier-mache Statue of Liberty was the students’ chosen symbol. Chai escaped to the West in search of freedom, and her journey has been every bit as epic as the story of Chen and his family.