Posts tagged history
Pictorial History of the PRC
Sep 4th
2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China. Since 1949, enormous changes have taken place in China, and many events have gone down in history as a part of the national memory. China.org.cn presents a series of old photos to review the past 60 years.
Oath of office of the President of the United States
Jan 14th
The only text that is in quotes in the U.S. Constitution…
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States; and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend, the Constitution of the United States.
Call + Response (Trailer)
Oct 5th
Saw this in church today.
Call+Response is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals a terrifying secret: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. In 2007, slave traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined. Call+Response goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving. First hand accounts from luminaries like Cornel West, Julia Ormond, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Ashley Judd, and Nicholas Kristof provide the backdrop of for this 21st century nightmare. Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek, Rocco Deluca, move this information into inspiration offering this century its first abolitionist songs.
April 4th, 40 Years Ago
Apr 4th
Update (April 5, 2008): Everyone’s knows of his “I Have a Dream” speech, but check out his very last speech in Memphis, the night before he was killed. Part one and part two, which is especially powerful and moving.
Photo Credit: Trikosko/Library of Congress
April 4, 1968- Dr. Martin Luther King was shot dead at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. I was listening to NPR on the way to work this morning and heard a story of Robert Kennedy delivering news of MLK’s death:
It was supposed to be a routine campaign stop. In a poor section of Indianapolis, 40 years ago Friday, a largely black crowd had waited an hour to hear the presidential candidate speak. The candidate, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, had been warned not to go by the city’s police chief.
As his car entered the neighborhood, his police escort left him. Once there, he stood in the back of a flatbed truck. He turned to an aide and asked, “Do they know about Martin Luther King?”
They didn’t, and it was left to Kennedy to tell them that King had been shot and killed that night in Memphis, Tenn. The crowd gasped in horror.
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to … be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling,” he said. “I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.”
Many other American cities burned after King was killed. But there was no fire in Indianapolis, which heard the words of Robert Kennedy.
“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”
Two months later, Robert Kennedy himself was felled by an assassin’s bullet.
Remember history and learn.
Events (September Edition)
Sep 19th
What: Survivor: China premiere
When: Thursday, September 20, 8pm ET/PT
Where: CBS
Why: The show claims to be the first full American television series to be filmed entirely within China. I’ve read that many aspects of Chinese culture and history have been included in this season. Each contestant was supposed to receive a copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu (which is excellent, by the way–I just finished the audio book earlier this year). The show supposedly had “unprecedented access” to several historical Chinese monuments, including a Shaolin Temple and the Great Wall.
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What: PARK(ing) Day
When: Friday, September 21
Where: San Francisco and across the world
Why: It’s a one day event where people temporarily transform parking spaces into public parks.
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What: Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节)
When: Tuesday, September 25
Where: Wherever there are Chinese people
Why: The mooncakes have landed! The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month each year. This is one of my favorite times of the year when I get to overdose on lard lotus seed paste.
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What: Special Olympics
When: October 2-11
Where: Shanghai
Why: There was a lot of hype for this during the summer when I visited a home for the mentally disabled. This is China’s beta testing for the Olympics next year. The Special Olympics will start almost as soon as the FIFA Women’s World Cup ends. Nearly 7,500 athletes from more than 160 countries, 40,000 volunteers and 3,500 event officials will descend upon Shanghai and athletes will compete in 25 Olympic-type sports in venues all across the city. Oooh, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Colin Farrell, Yo Yo Ma and Zhang Ziyi will be there at the opening ceremony on October 2 at the Shanghai Stadium!
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Oh, and happy talk like a pirate day.
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