Coming of Age as a Global Citizen

Brixton is primarily occupied by people of color and is known to be a rough neighborhood; however, it's wonderful to take the time to appreciate the rich and colorful culture in Brixton created by people who are important members of the global community.
London Landscape, James Fitton, 1948
Photographed in Museum of London

This shirt (unfortunately obscured by other outfits) features the logo of the punk band Crass. The logo incorporates a cross, a Union Jack, a Celtic snake, an anarchy symbol, and a swastika. Cross was not unlike Charlie's band The Condemned in the Buddha of Suburbia, which was a symptom of a large cultural change occurring in the '70s and '80s in London.
Photographed at Museum of London

By the 1970s, gay pride was a movement where members of the global community fought for equal rights and respect. Of course, this is still and issue today, closely related to the women's rights movements.
Photographed at Museum of London

Zabriskie Point , a film featuring Pink Floyd Music, depicted images of the counter-culture revolution of the 1960s-70s including police brutality and racial inequality.
Photographed at V&A Museum's Pink Floyd exhibit

Pink Floyd became a band that protested capitalism and other issues through their music as well as through their album art including this photo for Animals that shows a flying pig (when pigs fly?) over the bleak, industrial landscape that was Britain in the late 1970s.
Photographed at V&A Museum's Pink Floyd exhibit

These blank faces could be anyone in the global community brightened by their culture and ideas while also having to deal with the political and cultural issues we all face everyday.
Photographed at V&A Museum's Pink Floyd exhibit

Ending the last week of class is bittersweet, but I'll never forget the time I have spent in London and the lessons I have learned about being a global citizen. It has been an incredible experience and I feel like London is my home.

"It is not a pleasant place; it is not agreeable or cheerful or easy or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent" - Henry James, 1969

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