Celebration of culture kicks off

On Friday evening, students and faculty gathered in Gasson Hall to celebrate the beginning of Boston College's fifth annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM).

The event was sponsored by the Office of AHANA Student Programs, and co-sponsored by various campus groups, such as the AHANA Leadership Council, Asian Caucus, the Undergraduate Government of Boston College, and Women's Resource Center, along with numerous others.

"APAHM is a mechanism for focusing attention on all aspects of the Asian- American experience. It gives the variety of culture clubs that make up the Asian Caucus a forum for demonstrating their pride in their traditional cultures and sharing these with their classmates. It educates both the Asian-American students and their colleagues and engages them in examining the politics, culture and history of Asians and Asian-Americans as well as the more expected food, art, and dance," said Dean John Joseph Burns, associate academic vice president for undergraduate programs and current committee chair for the Asian-American Scholarship.

"Without a concentrated effort like APAHM these various contributions might well get lost in the larger student culture and the enthusiasm of the various student groups might dissipate," he said.

The monthlong celebration officially begins on April 10 with Asian Food Night in Stuart Dining Hall and continues until April 30 with the Asian-American Scholarship Banquet.

The opening ceremony was made possible through the work of the APAHM committee, co-headed by Ryan Lo, CSOM '07, and Melissa Eng-Wong, A&S '08, which has been meeting since the start of this academic year to prepare for the event.

The theme of this year's heritage month is, Translation Beyond Words. "[It] means that understanding should be taken to the next level. To be able to 'cross borders' is what truly defines the term multiculturalism," said Lo.

The event began with an introduction by Lo and Eng-Wong, and a dinner featuring samples of various Asian cuisines such as Thai drunken noodles, naan with curry chicken, an Indian dish, and Bulgogi, a Korean specialty.

The next portion of the evening featured keynote speaker Phoebe Eng, a lecturer, strategist, and author of the book, Warrior Lessons.

Eng was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the nation's leading women's philanthropy organization, and has appeared in many media outlets including CNN and NPR.

Dr. Min Song, an English professor at BC who specializes in Asian-American and ethnic American literature, introduced Eng, stating that the terms "unique" and "empowered" are prevalent in her writings and lectures.

Eng began her address with, "We are invisible no more!" She then had all in attendance stand, raise their arms, and say, "We have arrived," an exercise that she routinely performs because it highlights the dramatic change that has taken place in America over the last 20 years.

Eng still remembers when she felt the pressure to "fit in at any cost," through questions like, "are you Asian or are you American?" This was a time in American culture when the push to renounce one's culture and history was stifling, said to Eng.

The tension to define oneself as Asian or American is not as great as it used to be, said Eng.

Traditional ideas of race and culture are being expanded, as one out of every 10 Americans is foreign-born and the 2000 U.S. census added "multiracial" as an option.

"This is why we need the concept of fluency - the art of understanding and being understood across any boundary," said Eng. This idea also influences a new style of leadership.

The all too common approach to problem-solving is, 'What is it that we have to do?' This is tied to an old idea of leadership that is "dying out," according to Eng. She stated that the new question should be, "How are you related to me?" This question seeks commonalities between seemingly different groups which builds trust.

Eng said that this question is based on the Hawaiian concepts of ohana and 'aina, which mean family and land, respectively. She began to think about these terms due to the influence of her poet-mentor Puanani Burgess.

For Hawaiians, the concepts of family, land, and self are all interconnected because they influence each other so heavily. It is only when this is understood that one can build relationships for the future, Eng said.

She went on to state that the best way to attain cultural fluency is by "losing assumptions and getting out of comfort zones is a proactive way."

Eng stated that people that appear different generally have much more in common than they believe. These similarities and the desire to leave a legacy often "push people into a fluent world," said Eng.

When asked about the impact of the APAHM, Lo said: "It is important that we celebrate this event because the Asian Pacific American community is oftentimes overlooked, especially in the Northeast."

This motivation, along with the call for cultural fluency implicit in the Translation Beyond Words theme, hopes to bring the APAHM committee's, "commitment to encourage mutual respect for cultural diversity of all racial and ethnic groups" to fruition.