war and peace

Went to Ghandi birthday celebrations last night at SFU, sponsored by the Institute of the Humanities, SFU; the Thakore Charitable Foundation; and India Club, Vancouver on the invite of Roy Miki, who is this year's recipient of the Thakore Peace Award. Congratulations, Roy! Wow, the accolades are piling up. Your friends and colleauges are very proud of you. There was lots of action-- dances, speeches, an array of hosts and MCs from across the generations. Roy spoke beautifully on his work with the Japanese Canadian Redress movement, and showed a few photos including a hilarious (but touching) one of him and his family posing with John Turner when Turner passed through their riding during his 1984 election campaign. Roy saw the campaign bus go through and ran to the street with family and camera to lobby Turner to support Redress.

It seems unbloggish to give a a blow by blow of the talk, but for me, the really chewable kernal was a remark to the effect of: Obstacles can intensify the power of a movement. May be Roy will publish the whole text. It was great to see his wife Slavia, who so seldom comes to events.

In other news, there was a shooting near Rita's apartment in Miami this week. She sent a newspaper article that sounds like an episode of CSI.

I just dropped off a form in the English Department offices with my teaching preferences for next fall. Already! Interested parties, I'll keep you posted.