Gung Hay Fat Choy!

We had such an amazing time at London's Chinese New Year celebrations today. Apparently they are the biggest outside mainland China! I took loads of photos, and, for once, I actually went through them when I got home and only kept my favourites. So much more enjoyable to look through, although I still kept alot - do check out my top 20 on flickr.

Chinatown_mosaic

1. Heading Home, 2. Lanterns and bricks, 3. I don't know who they are but I like them!, 4. Too cool for parades and drums, 5. Welcoming the Year of the Rat, 6. Firework Joy, 7. Fireworks in Leicester Sq, 8. Backlit lanterns, 9. Dressed up for the New Year, 10. New Year's Parade, 11. Grocery storerooms, 12. Good luck!, 13. Archway of lanterns, 14. Across generations, 15. A good vantage point, 16. Parade down Shaftesbury Ave, 17. Happy New Year Fish, 18. White Dragon, 19. Red Dragon, 20. London Parade

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A great man had a dream

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day in the States. It is 40 years since he was assasinated, but has his dream come true? Not yet. I was reminded of this today by an excellent article at LifeHack.Org. The writer points out that:

Although the blatant racism of the past — the lynchings, the Klan rallies,the pogroms, the concentration camps — are no longer acceptable in most societies (though they keep rearing up with troubling regularity — consider Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, and Guantanamo Bay), race and racism are still factors in most people’s lives, and still create barriers to many people’s ability to succeed.

The article sums up:

The problem of racism is a big one, but it’s not an impossible one. Here are 12 things you can do — not always easy things, but ultimately doable things — to start making a difference in your the world around you. In the end, they boil down to “respect others” and “know thyself”, good advice for most situations. It doesn’t take a huge number of people to start making a difference — after all, Martin Luther King made a difference and he was just one person. Just like you are.

Wouldn't you like to make a difference? Please go read the rest of the article and be the pebble in a pond; one small action can affect the entire thing.

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