Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

The annual Notting Hill street Carnival celebrating Caribbean culture is usually a joyous event, but in 1976 it deteriorates into a violent riot. Historically London’s Notting Hill is a neighbourhood where white working class live side by side with impoverished immigrants. It has a high crime rate, a serious housing shortage and the competition for resources results in simmering racial tensions. Notting Hill also has a long history of strained relations between the black community and police. Race Riots in the 1950’s and 60’s prompted community activists to create a small event called the Notting Hill Festival to help ease racial tensions. But with new laws and complaints of police harassment, racial tensions again reach a crisis in 1976. The London police command predict the Notting Hill Carnival will attract trouble and come out in force. Under the dynasties, China was run on values of stability and peaceful harmony. But change and progress were not valued and many felt China made too many concessions to global powers to keep peace. In 1921 Mao became a founding member of the Communist Party of China, or the CPC. That same year, Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China with the CPC as the ruling party. In 1962 the policy was abandoned and faith in Mao was weakened within his own party. In an attempt to reassert his authority, in 1966 Mao declared a Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution aimed to rid China of any anti-communist impurities, as Mao saw them. Still having a stronghold on the public, Mao mobilized pro-communist student groups called the “Red Guards” and set them out to destroy the “four old's” - old ideas, old customs, old habits and old culture. China was sent into mass hysteria. The Red Guards were ordered to kill anyone who sided with the West or had anti-communist ideas. The death toll of Mao’s Cultural Revolution is estimated to be between 3-10 million people. China had effectively cut itself off from the rest of the world for 22 years, however towards the end of his life, Mao Zedong began to reconnect with Europe and the US. At the time of the historic visit, Chairman Mao’s health was already in decline. Just four years later he dies from Parkinson’s Disease on September 9, 1976.