In Conversation…

Yesterday I was invited by a friend of mine to attend a talk with CNN’s Don Lemon and Geraldine Moriba as part of TIFF’s “In Conversation” series.

I went in not knowing anything about it, but the talk ended up being quite a learning experience. It was a great reminder that everyone of us has the ability to make changes in our own community, and that it’s always important to engage in some level of civic duties, whether it be volunteering, or interacting with your government.

The talk was also a reminder of what a great city Toronto is. There were discussions of gun crime rates here compared to major cities in the United States, where the differences are in the hundreds of bodies. I was also particularly shocked to learn about the Rodney King Riot in 1992 Los Angeles, especially the looting of Korea Town. The multiculturalism and the diversity that we see in Toronto isn’t something that is present in other areas of the world, and it’s definitely something we should protect and cherish.

“Knowledge is power” they say, and I’ve been inspired to learn more about my own heritages after hearing others examine their own. I think some studies on Asian-Queer-Canadians would allow me to discover some interesting reads.