For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Montgomery County Council to commemorate
Asian American and
Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Special event hosted by Council President Berliner
on Tuesday, May 2, will focus on issues
impacting Asian American and
Pacific Islander communities
ROCKVILLE, Md., April 25, 2017—Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner and the County Council will host a special event at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 2, to commemorate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with community leaders. Panelists will share their experiences, give details about their achievements and discuss the issues that are important for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who live in Montgomery County.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which is recognized nationally throughout the month of May, acknowledges the roles that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have played in our history and celebrates their achievements and contributions.
“The Asian American and Pacific Islander community is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse groups of residents who live in our County,” said Council President Berliner. “Our shared history would be incomplete without the contributions made by the Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who call Montgomery County home. This special event is one way that the Council can recognize these contributions and explore issues that are particularly important to these communities.”
The special event is open to the public and will take place in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The event will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM). The channel can be viewed on Cable Channels 996 (high definition) and 6 (standard definition) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; and Channel 30 on Verizon.
The session also will be available live via streaming through the Council web site at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .
According to the Montgomery County Planning Board, more than 160,582 County residents identify themselves as Asian American or Pacific Islander, which represents 15.4 percent of the County’s population. In this group, 29,647 residents are from China, 23,866 are from India and 12,168 are from Korea. More information can be found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LVtCm8bnPY&feature=youtu.be .
The event will include a video documenting personal stories from community leaders, a panel discussion about public policy issues and a special recognition ceremony for panelists and participants.
The Council’s panel discussion will touch on a wide range of issues including civic engagement, economic opportunities and senior services, as well as, education, finance, health, housing and transportation.
The panelists who will share their experiences with Councilmembers and the public include Vivien Hsueh, president of the Chinese American Senior Services Association (CASSA); Song Hutchins, president/CEO of the Asian-American Homeownership Counseling, Inc. (AAHC); David Lee, communications vice president of Communities United Against Hate—Montgomery County; Meng Lee, chair of the Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI); Jon J. Liu, president of the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce (APACC); and Neel Saxena, executive director of the Asian American Youth Leadership Empowerment and Development (AALEAD).
Leaders from the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities who will be profiled in the video segment include Ji-Young Cho of the Korean Community Service Center of Greater Washington; Maryland State Senator Susan Lee; Chih-Hsiang Li of the Chinese Culture and Community Services Center; Sam Mukherjee of the Asian Indians for Community Service; and Thomas Tran of the Association of Vietnamese Americans.
# # #