Asian Pacific Islander Business Community hosts first event in Colorado Springs

As Colorado Springs continues to grow, so does the need for support of diverse communities and businesses. The city is home to many amazing organizations that tackle a wide array of issues and causes, including multicultural chambers such as the Colorado Springs Hispanic and Black Chambers.

With less than 2% of the city’s population being of Asian Pacific Islander descent, it has been harder for people from those backgrounds to find a sense of community and resources for their businesses. As things started to return to the new normal after the pandemic, many API people sought opportunities to connect on culture and shared experiences.

It was this need that brought about the Asian Pacific Islander Business Community (API-BC) of Colorado Springs whose mission is to create a place of trust by keeping family at the center of economic development. API-BC aims to provide support and resources for our local API small businesses, while also working on community building and supporting the families that run and shop at those businesses.

API-BC held it’s first Community Day event on March 18 at Anthem Music Enterprises. The guests were able to mingle and enjoy API owned food trucks, a henna artist, and cultural performances including traditional Maori chants and a haka, a variety of Polynesian dances, original music from a Chamorro artist, and an interactive Bollywood dance demonstration.

This event will be the first of many so that more people can come together and help the API community in Colorado Springs thrive.

By Brent Sabati

Empowering Voices event initiates more dialogue between Asian community and law enforcement

The “Empowering Voices: AAPI Community Requests Support From Law Enforcement” town hall meeting on March 18 at the Filipino-American Community of Colorado building brought together federal, state and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors from 11 jurisdictions.

These local jurisdictions represent and serve over 115,000 AAPI residents. That’s over half of the total AAPI population in Colorado. The panelists of law enforcers listened to audience members tell of their hate incident experiences. Many of which were not reported because of past interactions that resulted in limited or no responses from law enforcement.

The officers stressed the importance of reporting all hate actions against the AAPI communities and prosecutors assured attendees that unlawful threats and violence will be reviewed. The federal officers who were present were particularly interested because of their awareness of Asian hate crimes that is occurring nationally.

Panelists told Action Against Hate they would like to continue building trust between them and the AAPI communities and offer personal support when called upon. Learn more at: actionagainsthate.org.

MODERATORS: George Kuwamura, Action Against Hate, Asian Roundtable of Colorado; Don J. Toussaint, Judge, 18th Judicial District, Arapahoe County Court

PRESENTERS: Justin Lock, Senior Counsel & Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Justice; Jeremy Shaver, Senior Associate Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League/ Hate Free Colorado

PANELISTS: Bilal A. Aziz, Associate Deputy District Attorney, Denver District Attorney; Mateo Montoya Collis, Deputy, Peace Officer, Arapahoe County Sheriff Office; Bryan Fields, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney District of Colorado; Norm Haubert, Chief, City of Westminster Police Department; Alexis King, District Attorney, 1st Judicial District, Gilpin and Jefferson Counties; John Lee, First Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Colorado; Sam McGhee, Commander, Professional Standards Bureau, City of Aurora Police Department; Anthony Parisi, Sergeant, Bias Motivated Crime Unit, City & County of Denver Police Department; Todd Reeves, Division Chief, Jefferson County Sheriff Department; Thomas Shea, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Denver Field Office; Eric Sonstegard, and Chief of Police, City of Edgewater Police Department.

Action Against Hate volunteer, Angela Han and Action Against Hate administrative support, Yangmee Lor register participants at the event.

“I am grateful that all the law enforcement officials at Empowering Voices encouraged our AAPI community to not hesitate to report any incidents, whether they are Hate Crimes or Civil Rights violations. They also promise to on-going training especially with new officers so that situations will be handled effectively.”

Colorado Dragon Film Festival celebrates AAPI stories

The Colorado Dragon Film Festival packed in four days of films, community discussions and food from March 9 to 12. This year’s theme of “Celebrating Our Stories” reverberated during the festival with films from Thailand, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and more.

“Especially after the past few years, it’s so important to find ways to engage and show support for your local humans here in Colorado to get a better understanding of different cultures and traditions,” said Sara Moore, Executive Director of Colorado Dragon Boat. Learn more at: cdfilm.org.

White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders meets with local community leaders

On March 30, Asian Pacific Development Center (APDC) was proud to host the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders last month for a robust dialogue with local and statewide community partners.

APDC looks forward to building a strong relationship with the Biden Administration and the federal government. Learn more at: apdc.org.

Downtown walking tour presents historic Chinatown and Japanese American landmarks

On March 17, the University of Colorado Denver and Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network presented a walking tour to students and curious community members interested in exploring downtown Denver’s historic and forgotten Chinatown and Japanese American sites.

The tour began on the CU-Denver campus in front of a notable mural and made its way to Larimer Square, formerly the location of Hop Alley, where many Chinese-owned businesses thrived in the 1880s.

Tour guides Mary J. Schultz and Gil Asakawa then led the group to the Chinese restaurant Zoe Ma Ma, ending the tour at Pacific Mercantile, a popular Japanese American supermarket located in Denver’s Sakura Square.

If you are interested in joining a tour, e-mail cacendenver@gmail.com.