SAN FRANCISCO -- At Union Square in San Francisco Wednesday night, hundreds of people held a spirited rally to raise public awareness about freeing Tibet from the ongoing Chinese occupation.

Tibetans and their supporters marched around Union Square determined to promote the struggle for human rights and their desire to see Tibet freed from oppression.

Organizers estimate that more than a million Tibetans -- mostly men in their twenties -- have vanished or been killed in the past 50 years for protesting against the Chinese government.

Dechen Tsering of the Tibetan Association of Northern California showed off a quilt with the names of Tibetans who've died in Tibet under Chinese oppression since 1959. The Tibetan Memorial Quilt Project made its debut on Wednesday at the vigil.

Organizers said Northern California is home to 1,200 Tibetans with the largest concentration in Berkeley, Oakland, El Cerrito and Richmond.

And while their numbers may be small, Tibetans said their message is universal.

"We enjoy democracy here. We enjoy basic human rights. We take them for granted. But inside Tibet, inside China, people don't have those rights," said Tsering.

24-year-old Yangchen Lhamo said Tibetans have been using the internet, text messages and blogs to organize quickly and efficiently to call attention to their cause.

"We're seeing the younger generation of Tibetans is carrying the Tibetan movement forward and taking it to new levels with creative nonviolent tactics," said Lhamo.

Organizers said the commemoration reminds young Tibetans to not forget their homeland and their responsibility to carry on the fight until Tibet is free.