By Olivia O. Ly-Pieknik
At first glance, the program was not very impressive, but the audience of approximately 60 in attendance at the 2003 Asian American Heritage celebration proved differently. The participants gathered on Saturday evening, May 3rd at International Institute on South Grand represented a diverse cross section of community organizations. They were representatives from American Jewish Committee, Cote-Brilliante Presbyterian Church, Japan America Society, Chinese Americans Organization (OCA), Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Friends of Taiwan, National Conference for Justice and Community (NCCJ), University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).
During the first hour, participants had opportunity to network as well as enjoyed delicious food from various ethnic groups such as Chinese (egg rolls), Thai (pad thai/noddles), Vietnamese (goi coun - spring rolls on rice paper), Japanese (sushi), Samoans (stir fried rice) and plenty of assorted sweet desert.
Mr. Rungsee Suvansri, 2003 CAPA co-chair, began the program at 7:00 p.m. by speaking of historical background about Coalition of Asian-Pacific Americans (CAPA) and about the celebration. CAPA is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 by Dr. & Mrs. John Hara. CAPA seeks to promote appreciation and understanding of Asian-Pacific cultures. Some of the projects CAPA has been undertaking are African/Asian Americans Dialogue Group, 100 Needy Cases (purchasing Christmas gifts for a family) and a dinner & tour at the St. Louis Art Museum on May 16th. The Dialogue Group was started in 1999 by Olivia O. Ly-Pieknik (1998 CAPA president), a graduate of Dismantling Racism, a program of NCCJ. Participants met at each other's homes, at restaurants, visited one another worship places, church picnics and recently, visited the Black World History Museum.
Suvansri is Thai-American and he is currently employed as Test Engineer by Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Clayton. Suvansri served as CAPA treasurer in 2001. Both Suvansri and his newly wedded wife, Nancy Mah, have been active members of the Coalition.
In 1977, a congressional bill was passed to proclaim the first 10 days of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Week. President Carter signed a Joint Resolution in 1978. In October 1992, President George Bush signed into law which permanently designated May of each year as Asian Pacific American Heritage month.
Suvansri introduced the 2003 CAPA Board - Dr. Vincent Joe as co-chair and Cathy Chu as treasurer. Although he relocated to St. Louis since 2000, Joe is an active member and served as CAPA treasurer in 2002. Joe is Chinese-American. He is currently works in the department of radiation oncology at Christian Hospital NE. Joe is active in the community through his frequent educational lectures about cancer prevention & treatment.
Joe spoke of what CAPA hopes to accomplish. He commented, "St. Louis has been in the news as one of the most segregated cities in America. The late Greg Freeman wrote in one of his last columns that most of the citizens of St. Louis were comfortable with segregation. Unfortunately, this tends to lead to less understanding and more intolerance of other cultures in the diverse population of St. Louis. Our goal at CAPA is to promote understanding of various Asian Pacific cultures. We hope event such as today, not only celebrating Asian American Heritage, but also help build bridges with all other community organizations."
Cathy Chu echoed Joe's comments with her own thoughts of the hopes and goals for the Asian American community. "I was honored to have the opportunity to serve as CAPA president in 2000. As with CAPA's mission statement, I wanted to bring the Asian American community together as one; with one voice and one representation. I believe that through education and communication, we will increase understanding of Asian cultures and to achieve positive relationships with other ethnic groups in St. Louis", said Chu. Chu is a certified financial adviser with Prudential Financial.
The program continued with two speakers, Anna Crosslin, president & CEO of International Institute and Uma Segal, a professor and director of the undergraduate social work program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Dr. Segal holds fellow positions in the Center for International Studies and the Public Policy Research Center. Dr. Segal published her latest book entitled, "A Framework for Immigration - Asians in the United States". After the presentations, many participants were engaging with questions for the speakers. There are many agreements among the participants such as maintaining the family and cultural values, passing the traditions to the next generations and at the same time creating understanding with their American born children. Dr. Segal suggested that Asian Americans must also be politically active and strive to work with mainstream community. At the end of the program, participants had the opportunity to purchase books autographed by Dr. Segal.
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