For Immediate Release: Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Montgomery County Council to commemorate
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Council will celebrate the County’s Asian American
and Pacific Islander communities on May 8
ROCKVILLE, Md., May 2, 2018—Montgomery County Council President Hans Riemer, Councilmember Roger Berliner and the full County Council will commemorate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with community leaders on Tuesday, May 8 at 9:30 a.m. 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.
“Montgomery County’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community is vibrant, extremely diverse, and absolutely vital to the life and economy of the County,” said Council President Riemer. “I am tremendously excited to engage with community leaders, listen to them share their perspective and life experience and commemorate their accomplishments.”
“The Asian American and Pacific Islander community is one of our most diverse and prolific communities in the County, representing roughly 50 different countries and over 2,000 languages,” said Councilmember Berliner. “The beauty of our County lies in our diversity, of which the AAPI community is a big part, representing over 160,000 residents. This commemoration is one way in which the Council can honor the rich history, contributions and service of some of our most dedicated AAPI community leaders and residents.”
The Council commemoration 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. It also 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. More information can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LVtCm8bnPY&feature=youtu.be .
The commemoration will include a video documenting personal perspectives from members of the Asian American community and a special recognition ceremony for participants.
Leaders from the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities who will be profiled in the video segment include Tho Tran, executive director, Vietnamese American Services; Tufail Ahmed, chairman, Montgomery County Muslim Foundation (MCMF); Devang Shah, immigration attorney, Shah & Kishore Family Law; Janet Yu, owner, Hollywood East Café; Dr. Revathi Vikram, board member of ASHA for Women and commissioner, Commission on Aging in Montgomery County; and Judge Chung Pak, special advisor, Korean American Association of Montgomery County. The participants will be presented with awards recognizing their substantial contributions to life in the County.
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Release ID: 18-129