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Special to ASIA
The origins of Asian Heritage Month go back to 1977 when then Congressmen Frank Horton and Norman Mineta and Sens. Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced resolutions asking the President to declare the first ten days of May – the month when Japanese immigrants first arrived in the United States in 1843 and Chinese laborers arrived a few years later to work on the railroads linking East and West Coasts to hornor Asian Heritage. President Carter made it an annual event and, finally, President George H.W. Bush, the current president's father, proclaimed the entire month Asian Heritage Month in 1990.
So what is heritage and what do we celebrate?
Sure, it's about eating good Asian food, going to festivals, watching cultural performances and attending art events. But, indeed, it is more.
Heritage is a generational thing. For most Asian ethnicities, we are talking even more than generations. We are talking millennia. Some of us can trace our ancestry back hundreds of years before anyone outside this land's native inhabitants arrived from overseas.
Heritage is more than a link to the past. In many ways, it is a link to the future – forging a destiny that becomes a legacy for future generations.
That is what our current group of nominees for the third annual Asian Heritage Awards is all about. On May 18, we will celebrate Asian Heritage Month at the University of San Diego by honoring these men, women and organizations that have not only achieved great things. In many ways, they have give back to their community and the greater community of San Diego, leaving a legacy that future generations can, indeed, be proud of.
They are artists, educators, performers, businesswomen, scientists, attorneys, poets, entrepreneurs, doctors and, in two cases, morning radio disc jockeys. Marking their accomplishments is alone a deed worth undertaking. Marking their commitment to community is an honor we are proud to share.
To do that in the manner worthy of them would not be possible but for the generous sponsors who have come forward to join us as partners in this event. They include Pechanga Resort and Casino, Time Warner Cable, San Diego Community College District, TMC Entertainment, Kyocera Corporation, KB Home, Epsilon Systems Solutions, Hawthorne Machinery, Cox Communications, UCSD, Viejas Casino, Neighborhood National Bank and Burkett & Wong Engineers. In addition, in-kind sponsors include Orfila Vineyards, Voice of San Diego.org, the San Diego Padres, Jed Sundwall, audiovisuals; and Romel’s Floral Design and Gifts.
We honor all of them, who, too, make this celbration possible.
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