The Brookline Asian American Family Network (BAAFN), the Brookline Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Relations, and the Public Libraries of Brookline invite the Brookline Community to an Annual Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Celebration.
The Celebration will kick off on Wednesday, May 15, with BAAFN’s 9th Annual Essay Contest Award Ceremony, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre from 6-8 pm. The Keynote Speaker for the evening will be Mira T. Lee, Author of “Everything Here is Beautiful.”
The event is free, but tickets are required and may be reserved here.
For questions regarding the Essay Award Contest Ceremony, please contact co-chairs, Susan Park and Giles Li, at baafnessay@gmail.com.
Organizers wish to thank the sponsors: The Brookline Community Foundation, BAB Korean Bistro, Mint Julep, Praise Shadows Art Gallery, Olive Connection and the Sapoznik Family, Council of Korean Americans, The Park Family and Giles Li.
The 2nd annual AAPI Heritage Celebration Event will take place on Saturday, May 18, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., beginning at Hunneman Hall in the Brookline Village Library and culminating at Brookline Town Hall. This community celebration focuses on AAPI stories and art, and features an author discussion, student performances and exhibits of student artwork. There will also be food, puppet performances, arts & crafts, games, prizes, and more.
This year’s featured author is Vincent Yee, a BHS alum, local author and the creator of the “Clara Wu and the World of Azen.”
Yee will share how he wrote this fantastical five-book young adult series in six months and why portraying Asian American superheroes is important. Stephanie Fan, a long time Brookline resident and advocate, will serve as special guest moderator.
Student performances will follow, including from Baker’s Fan Dance and KPop teams, the Triveni Dancers, the Brookline High School Popcorn Dance Club, and Guzheng, Hulisi, and Chinese Drum performed by students from the Brookline Chinese School.
Brookline Interactive Group will record these presentations and make a video available for viewing afterwards. Crafts, fun, and food will follow at Town Hall.
For more information about this year’s celebration as well as the Brookline Asian American Family Network’s 9th Annual Essay Contest Award Ceremony, please visit here.
Immediately following the annual AAPI Celebration, the Public Libraries of Brookline will host an hour-long concert celebrating the works of Rabindranath Tagore.
Vocalist Maitreyee Chakraborty will sing Tagore’s compositions ornamented by the melodic movements of acclaimed sarodist Pt. Anirban Dasgupta. The duo will be accompanied by Hirak Modi on harmonium and Koushik Chakraborty on tabla.
Translations of the lyrics will be displayed on screen. For more information about this concert visit here.
For the month of May, Brookline Village Library hosts an exhibit of Korean traditional artistry from local Brookline artist, Yoonkyoung Ahn (안윤경).
For more information, or to request any accommodations or language access, please contact Caitlin Starr, Assistant Director in the Brookline Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Relations at cstarr@brooklinema.gov, or at 617-730-2345.
