Yeesh, I have been so busy being sick and entering Lent and dealing with the faculty search that I neglected to honor the Lunar New Year of the Rat. Thank the heavens for Dennis, who as a good West Coast person duly noted the new year and did it in a timely manner.
On the West Coast of the U.S. the Lunar New Year is an established holiday because the East Asian and Asian-American presence is so strong. In San Francisco it is huge, and the traditional Chinese New Year Parade got renamed "Lunar New Year Parade" several years ago because in addition to Chinese and Chinese-American people we had so many other nationalities and cultures who celebrate the Lunar New Year, e.g. Vietnamese and Korean. The big event in SF seems to have gone back to "Chinese New Year" though. Maybe something about the commercial sponsorship of the parade? Or the desire of the Vietnamese and Korean and other communities to have distinctive events? Read about the San Francisco festivities here. The SF parade is a gorgeous event and televised in full on the local stations. In some ways you can watch it better from home since the TV cameras get great views, though nothing replaces being there, of course. People tend to go to each other's events in San Francisco and Oakland and the Bay Area. (Same thing in Seattle, Dennis?) So you won't see only Asians and Asian/Pacific-Americans at the Lunar New Year, or only Latinos at Dia de Los Muertos or Cinco de Mayo, or only LGBT people at the Pride Parade and related events, or only African Americans at Juneteenth (though they are still in the majority there, of course). I miss that. But North Carolina is changing and it is exciting to be part of that change and to help welcome it.
The change is happening in Des Moines, too. Hurrah. The more celebrations the better. Say amen, everyone.
On the West Coast of the U.S. the Lunar New Year is an established holiday because the East Asian and Asian-American presence is so strong. In San Francisco it is huge, and the traditional Chinese New Year Parade got renamed "Lunar New Year Parade" several years ago because in addition to Chinese and Chinese-American people we had so many other nationalities and cultures who celebrate the Lunar New Year, e.g. Vietnamese and Korean. The big event in SF seems to have gone back to "Chinese New Year" though. Maybe something about the commercial sponsorship of the parade? Or the desire of the Vietnamese and Korean and other communities to have distinctive events? Read about the San Francisco festivities here. The SF parade is a gorgeous event and televised in full on the local stations. In some ways you can watch it better from home since the TV cameras get great views, though nothing replaces being there, of course. People tend to go to each other's events in San Francisco and Oakland and the Bay Area. (Same thing in Seattle, Dennis?) So you won't see only Asians and Asian/Pacific-Americans at the Lunar New Year, or only Latinos at Dia de Los Muertos or Cinco de Mayo, or only LGBT people at the Pride Parade and related events, or only African Americans at Juneteenth (though they are still in the majority there, of course). I miss that. But North Carolina is changing and it is exciting to be part of that change and to help welcome it.
The change is happening in Des Moines, too. Hurrah. The more celebrations the better. Say amen, everyone.
4 comments:
Amen, Sister!
We enjoyed celebrating Dr King, Juneteenth, Día de los Muertos, Cambodian Martyrs and Survivors, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Cambodian New Year at St Cuddy's in Oakland. The more the merrier.
Amen. This is closer to my idea of heaven than a dominant mono culture.
The Bay Area; any excuse for a party.
Almost as bad as the Panamanians!
You think the Bishop of NC might be willing to send me as a missioner to the Bay Area? ;-)
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