Resisting change

"You're getting old, but your mind thinks you are young. You are trying to do things you can't do anymore. You are resisting change. And if you resist change you will bring suffering to yourself." Laughed  a fellow parent. These were the words he told his parents when they tried to learn the butterfly instead of just swimming regular strokes at 80 years old. 

But these words have been resonating with me in terms of Chinatown's "struggle to survive."

I wrote a couple posts about why we should fight for Chinatown to stay around. I'm not doing a 180 right now. I'm not saying we shouldn't try to keep Chinatown. But at the same time you are more powerful going with the flow of change than going against it. 

For instance. Chinatown may be shrinking, but Chinese Restaurants are popping up all over Boston and New England that frankly, beat the hell out of the food in Chinatown. Grace and I just went to a wedding in Dorchester's Chau Chau city, which was not only better than Chinatown's Chau Chau city, but Grace argued, the best night of her life, and parking was free. 

"It was good as Jade Harbor" she said, comparing it to a place in Philly down the street from my Grandfather and Grandmother's house (now my Aunt's) which was once the whitest neighborhood I had ever been to and when my mother moved into that house, it was the only house around for miles and the street was not even paved yet. It was a dirt road. 

Change happens. 

Now I'm not saying F Chinatown, it's done for. If your protest and show organization and power then you get to benefit from Change, go with it, have it happen on your terms. Think of the way Japan modernized, letting Perry in, One Nation, instead of the way China pretty much got it's bones picked by the Eight strongest. 

By Organizing and showing you have so many votes etc. and also showing why Chinatown is beneficial to the rich (restaurants that open in Hurricanes, Childcare that doesn't close, when the city shuts down and shelters in place, Chinatown remains open) and also why it is important for Tourism (who is going to know about Chau Chau city in Dorchester if you are visiting from, I don't know, Spain, or heck, China) Or for a Chinese American sense of community. People gather in Chinatown weekly for Church, Chinese School, Kung Fu, Music, and other cultural stuff coming fro Newton, Lexington, Roxbury etc. 

Chinatown is still important. But you have to be realistic. Try to recruit people from the million dollar condos to come to the massage and acupuncture spas. Hold onto the community centers and Land trusts but show how they could be valuable to the new rich people moving in. 

After all, Mandarin, is a language of power in the world that a lot of rich people want to learn, or at least have their kids pick up. And if they want to learn Mandarin, they probably want to learn about the culture too. 

If you are a Chinese Immigrant, it's a good idea to hang out with these type of Lo Fahn A) to learn conversational English and B) maybe you can get some connections. 

Promoting Chinatown should not be about fighting change but adapting to it.