Mittens, Tea and Neighbourhood Politics

As I continued to spend time in Chinatown, I met more members of the community who suggested places to visit and meetings to attend in order to get a feel for the neighbourhood. Lisette, the director of the Chinatown Progressive Association, had mentioned that a resident's association would be meeting at the Josiah Quincy School cafeteria that evening. When I entered the brightly painted cafeteria, a number of elderly residents had already begun to congregate. As more people arrived, a few of the ladies distributed
cups of tea.

The meeting was led by May Lui, a community organizer at CPA and covered topics ranging from efforts to renew legislation providing for a bilingual ballot to the donation of mittens for the elderly residents. I was struck by the warmth of the interactions between the residence as well as the intensity of their debates, which confirmed Lissete's assertion that the elder members of the community were among the most active.

Many of the residents had immigrated in their youth and had formed strong friendships in the process of organizing the community. Although I was an obvious outsider, they welcomed me into their circle and insisted on offering me tea, cake and even a pair of mittens.