Betty Chan
Newton resident, Betty Chan together with Ward 2 Councilor Tarik Lucas, co-authored this resolution, urging the City of Newton to take action on Anti-Asian hate crimes and invest in multiracial community health and safety. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the City Council last July. With the Newton Public School’s Asian American population at approximately 20%, both believed it was necessary to respond to the rise in Asian American hate crimes during the pandemic. The resolution specifically called on the Council to condemn and denounce all forms of anti-Asian sentiment, recognize the health and safety of all persons, encourage the creation of an Anti-Asian Hate Crime Task Force, prioritize language access and inclusivity in communication practices, and combat misinformation and discrimination that put Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at risk.
According to a Newton Police Report of Bias Incidents from 2018-2022, the number of reported incidents increased from 30 to 52 with 3 reported anti-Asian incidents. However, Councilor Lucas said, “During the height of the pandemic, we saw a sharp rise in incidents involving anti-Asian hate crimes and speech across the country. Because of this, I worked with Betty Chan in writing the resolution to bring awareness to Anti-Asian hate.”
Betty Chan, director of social work at A Joyful Life Adult Health Center, a facility providing culturally sensitive services to Chinese elders was inspired to write the resolution by Cynthia Choi, co-founder of the Stop AAPI Hate movement. She said, “I do feel that the City has been more responsive since the adoption of the AAPI Anti-Asian Hate Crime Resolution. It has made a positive impact on mobilizing people against hate, bigotry, and violence.” She added, “This has been a great step forward. The challenges are great but so are the rewards. “
Grace Cai
Grace Cai, a junior at Newton South High School recently received the outstanding achievement award for cultural exchanges and community development. Boston City Council President Ed Flynn and Councilor at Large Erin Murphy presented the award to her. She is a six-time President’s Volunteer Service Award winner (five Gold and one Silver medal), has more than 500 hours of community volunteer service, and is currently a member of the Newton Youth Commission Advisory Board.
Although Grace has heard many stories and incidents regarding Anti-Asian hate crimes on social media, she has not had any negative experiences because of her race. “I feel that the community of teachers and classmates here is supportive, loving, and caring.”
She credits the efforts of Asian communities to raise awareness about hate crimes and the support from Newton, Boston, and state officials to the decline in reported hate crimes.
Grace has been working with her mother, Tammy Tsikar, other Asian American students and families, and Ward 3 School Committee member, Anping Shen, in an effort to get Lunar New Year, Diwali, and Eid al-Fitr recognized as official school holidays (see Fig City News article). The Newton Public Schools Calendar Working Group recently released a survey seeking to:
- identify religious and cultural observances observed by NPS families ad staff and understand the nature of those observances,
- understand the priorities of the school community in balancing days out of school for religious observances with the state requirement for days in school, and
- utilize data to consider whether to add or subtract days out of school for religious observances.
Grace reports that the survey was recently completed by NPS faculty, parents, and students and that based on the survey results, the Working Group will decide which holiday(s) will be added or not to the next school calendar.
Anping Shen said, “In my opinion, this has been a thoughtful and deliberate process, though I feel it should have started early last year when the Newton South High student group started their online petition for Lunar New Year gathering overall of more than a thousand signatures.”
Significance of Asian Festivals – Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, and Lunar New Year
Last week, the Newton Free Library, hosted an event, The Significance of Asian Festivals – Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, and Lunar New Year. The event was organized by Ellen Meyers, Director of Programs and Communications with the assistance of community leaders Rakashi Chand, Lison Lui, and Ward 3 School Committee member Anping Shen.
Moderated by Michelle Leong, Newton North English teacher, and advisor to the Asian Student Association, each student spoke about their respective holidays, Diwali, Eid al-Fatir, and Lunar New Year, explaining the importance of the holiday and how they observe these festivals living in Newton MA.
Wasan Rafat, a Newton South senior, whose family is originally from Libya, spoke about the reasons why Ramadan and Eid are so beautiful and important for her family and community. Next Newton South sophomore, Sarina Chand, whose family is from India, spoke about the traditions and festivities around the Hindu celebration of Diwali. Then Helen Liu, also a Newton South sophomore, spoke about Lunar New Year and why it is so important to so many people who celebrate it across the City.
The three panelists wore traditional clothing and each brought objects of significance to contextualize their presentations.
Cultural performances began at the conclusion of the panel. The first was a classical Bharatanatyam dance from India by the Vidyanjali School ID Dance and directed by Anandani Sekhar. Shelly Shang led the Chinese Lunar New Year Drummers, who performed a dance with hip drums and flags. Taban Mahlihi, Nava Malihi, Kaveri Krishnamurthi, and Diya Misra, members of Zamana from Newton South High School, performed two songs, the first in Farsi and the second in Hindi.
Rakashi Chand said, “The entire event was a beautiful expression of our multicultural city, and illustrated the commonality of each festival and religion as they share the same values, joys, and hopes for future generations.”
