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 is kicked off on Wednesday, May 15, with BAAFN’s 9th Annual Essay Contest Award Ceremony. The Award Ceremony will be held at the Coolidge Corner Theatre from 6-8 p.m.
The Keynote Speaker for the evening will be Mira T. Lee, author of “Everything Here is Beautiful.” We are looking forward to an evening of celebration and recognition of outstanding essays! 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. A Special Thank You to our Sponsors for generously donating to ensure that this Essay Contest and Award Ceremony continues to be an annual highlight for Brookline students and families – 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 our Featured Author is Vincent Yee, a BHS alum, local Author and the Creator of the World of Azen. Beginning at 11 a.m., hear how he wrote this fantastical five-book series in six months and why portraying Asian American superheroes is so important with Special Guest Moderator Stephanie Fan, a long time Brookline resident and advocate.
Student Performances will follow the discussion and will include performances 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 a video will be available for viewing afterwards.
Following the performances we invite you to join us at Town Hall for various crafts, fun and food 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 visit: https://baafn.weebly.com/2024-aapi-heritage-month.html
Immediately following the annual AAPI Celebration we welcome you to join the Public Libraries of Brookline for 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: https://www.brooklinelibrary.org/events/event/songs-of-rabindranath-tagore/
Lastly, from May 1 through the end of the month we invite you to visit the Brookline Village Library to view an exhibit from local Brookline Artist, Yoonkyoung Ahn (안윤경) showcasing Korean traditional artistry.
For more information, or to request any accommodations or language access, please reach out to Caitlin Starr, Assistant Director in the Brookline Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Relations at cstarr@brooklinema.gov or at 617-730-2345.
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