Utah
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Utah
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SALT LAKE CITY — When Emilio Manuel Camu seems to be at Utah’s Asian and Pacific Islander group, he is reminded of a Tagalog proverb his household has handed down by way of generations: “A brush is simply as sturdy as it’s tightly sure.”
“If you happen to’ve ever seen a Southeast-Asian broom made from sticks or within the islands, it is sure collectively, it is lengthy and straight and you utilize it to brush the dust and the mud exterior — it does its job,” Camu mentioned. “I feel it is such a metaphor for the way our communities are sturdy once we act collectively as one. Although we would look completely different, although we would suppose in another way, we nonetheless come collectively to realize our widespread objective and our better objective of constructing certain that Utah is the house for all.”
Camu was among the many group members and leaders who gathered on the Salt Lake County Authorities Middle on Monday to rejoice the beginning of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in Might and the 130,000 Asians and Pacific Islanders who name Utah residence. The month-long celebration began as a week-long occasion in 1978 earlier than being expanded in 1990.
Salt Lake Metropolis Councilman Darin Mano mentioned it is occasions just like the kickoff that helped him really feel seen whereas rising up in Sandy.
“I grew up form of all the time feeling like an outsider and probably not realizing the place I belonged on the planet and what it meant to be an Asian American, a Japanese American,” Mano mentioned. “Occasions like people who made me really feel empowered, made me really feel like I had a voice and made me really feel like I had a group.”
Mano and Camu each highlighted the many years of service many elders in the neighborhood have devoted to elevating Asian and Pacific Islander tradition and points.
“We stand on the shoulders of giants. I am grateful to see how a lot and the way far our group has come from 150 years in the past, a group which has been constructed and sustained by our elders to be sure that even at the moment our group in Salt Lake Metropolis and Salt Lake County, Utah, is a house for all of us,” Camu mentioned, including that youthful generations are additionally making modifications in the neighborhood.
One instance is Loimata Mauga, a Southern Utah College soccer participant and enterprise pupil who was born and raised in Utah.
“The person who I’m, I owe to my dad and mom and the wealthy tradition and heritage of my ancestors,” mentioned Mauga, who’s Samoan and Maori. “Might is Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, however … we should always honor and acknowledge it each day of the yr. Range is what makes Utah particular to me. After we truly take the time to study and rejoice the distinctive variations of all Utahns, it makes us higher individuals. At present, I honor and rejoice all Asians and Pacific Islanders, particularly the primary Maoris who settled in Utah again in 1884 and the Samoans in 1898.”
I am proud to rejoice Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month at the moment. #SLC, like so many nice cities, was constructed by immigrants, and our AANHPI group performed a key position within the historical past of our group, in addition to the state of Utah. I am so… pic.twitter.com/CSXlUBqLYw
— Mayor Erin Mendenhall (@slcmayor) May 1, 2023
College of Utah pupil Sariah Frost added that the month is a chance to rejoice “who we actually are, not who others stereotype us to be” and remembering roots.
“This month stands as a reminder for us to understand and rejoice who we’re and who we will be. It’s a month the place we spotlight each other for honoring the sacrifices of our dad and mom, our grandparents and our nice grandparents by residing as much as our potential,” she mentioned. “Might this month stand as an announcement to all that we’re able to something and every thing, not despite our tradition however due to it.”