On the Lunar New Year, how the Asian diaspora celebrates

Also, why Americans should care about Ukraine.

View this email online by Suzanne Nuyen First up Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Happy Lunar New Year! It's one of the most important festivals in many Asian countries. The holiday prompts what is considered one of the world's largest annual human migrations as hundreds of millions of people travel back to their hometowns to spend the festivities, which last up to two weeks, with their families. Celebrants gather to see parades and perform various rites and rituals with elders in order to guarantee a lucky year ahead. Here in the U.S., I've only celebrated each Lunar New Year — or Tet, in Vietnamese — for one day each year, as it's not a federally recognized holiday. Nevertheless, my parents made sure we spent our time wisely.  The whole family would take the day off and wear our traditional ao dai to visit my grandparents. We would receive red envelopes, called li xi, filled with "lucky" money, but only after giving well wishes to our elders. Leading up to the new year, we would clean the house up and down and spend days making banh chung, a sticky rice cake filled with pork belly and mung bean.  It wasn't until my first Lunar New Year alone in college that I came to appreciate the how grounding it can be to spend the first day of the year focused on joy and family. While Lunar New Year has been celebrated or centuries in Asia, for members of the diaspora, festivities have evolved as people invite loved ones from other cultures to join in. Here's how some of us at NPR celebrate. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Stories we're following today Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images Why should Americans care about Ukraine? The standoff between Ukraine and Russia is about more than just those two countries. It's about global security and an attempt to "rewrite rules on which the world is based," says Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs. Not everyone wants to know if they have COVID. For some, getting a positive coronavirus test could mean loss of income or other life disruptions. Doctors worry about growing disincentives to test and how they could prolong the pandemic. Former President Donald Trump has used recent rallies to escalate a message rooted in racism and lies. At a weekend rally in Texas, he alleged that Black prosecutors investigating him are "racist" and pledged "to take back that beautiful, beautiful house that happens to be white."  The teachers are burnt out. A new poll from the nation's largest teachers union finds that more than half of educators say they're thinking about quitting.   Before you go Warren K Leffler/Universal History Archive/Getty Images Today is also the start of Black History Month, when the U.S. honors the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans. Here's why it's celebrated in February. The New York Times has bought Wordle, the viral word game, for an undisclosed price in the low seven figures. The newspaper says it will "initially" be free to play. A Tennessee school board's ban on the Holocaust novel Maus may end up putting the book into the hands of more readers. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Daily News emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy