upcoming events

agriCULTURE: Art Inspired by the Land

Now thru October 1

Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art

1750 13th St, Boulder

Museum Admission Tickets: $2 bmoca.org/exhibitions/2023

BI-PASSING Theatre Show

July 14-16 |

Four Performances

People’s Building

9995 E Colfax Ave, Aurora

Tickets: $20-$30 insightcolab.org

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23rd Annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival

Weekend of July 22-23

Sloan’s Lake Park agriCULTURE: Art Inspired by the Land, showcases new work created by 18 local and national artists in collaboration with Boulder County farmers in an effort to draw out parallels between art and agriculture.

Kariton ng Gulay is a collaboration between farmer Mark DeRespinis, owner of Esoterra Culinary Garden, Filipino American artist Yumi Janairo Roth, and the artist’s mother, Shirley Janairo Roth.

ZOTTO: Immersive Folktale

July 6-30

Sakura Square | 1905 Lawrence St. Denver Show Tickets: $75 zottofolk.com

BI-PASSING is a collection of short stories written by Edith and Winnifred Eaton, known as the first Asian American/Canadian women writers. Born to a Scottish father and a Chinese mother, Edith adopted a Chinese pen name Sui Sin Far (Narcissus) for her writing persona, as she focused on writing the Chinese experience in 19th century America. Winnifred adopted a Japanese pseudonym Onoto Watanna for her successful career as a romance writer.

25th Avenue and Sheridan Blvd., Denver Free and open to the public cdbf.org

Civics Training: What is Civic Engagement?

Saturday, July 15 | 12pm to 1:30pm

Asian Avenue | 14015 E Evans Ave, Aurora cacendenver.org/civics-training

The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, a staple summer event in the Denver community, will be filled with dragon boat races, great food, an Asian marketplace, and endless entertainment. Dine and sample a variety of Asian cuisines at the Taste of Asia food courts. Cheer on the dragon boat racing teams along the water. With no on-site parking or shuttles, festival goers are encouraged to walk, bike, or use the RTD or ride shares.

An Evening with Chloe Gong: Immortal Longings

Tour

Tuesday, July 25 | 6:30pm to 7:30pm Smoky Hill Library

ZOTTO is an immersive and multi-sensory supernatural Japanese folktale and theatrical journey. Audiences explore three generations of Japanese American women and their relationship to Denver’s rich yet sordid history as they encounter yokai and obake (Japanese spirits and demons) and other unexpected characters, discover hidden secrets within forgotten spaces, and engage with interactive elements that ask them to consider relationships between intention and impact.

Join CACEN for a four session civics training from July to October for AANHPIs, the first which will take place on July 15. The goal of the training is to educate members of Colorado’s Asian community about the political process and encourage civic participation, including increased voter turnout. Participants, who must be AANHPI Colorado residents, will receive $500 for completion of the four sessions.

5430 S. Biscay Circle, Centennial Free event | Registation required arapahoelibraries.org

Join for an evening with Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Secret Shanghai novels, as well as the Flesh and False Gods trilogy. Born in Shanghai and now living in New York, Gong will discuss her latest release in a conversation facilitated by bestselling author Rebecca Yarros. A book signing will follow. Refreshments will be served.

COLORADO DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL continues to bring the largest AANHPI celebration in the Rocky Mountain Region to Sloan’s Lake Park

The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, a staple summer event in the Denver community, will return to Sloan’s Lake Park on July 22 and 23, 2023. The park will be filled with dragon boat races, great food, an Asian marketplace, endless entertainment and thousands of members of the community gathering for this AANHPI (Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander) celebration.

“We are the LARGEST AANHPI celebration in the Rocky Mountain Region! We had an estimated 170K attendees last year” says Sara Moore, Executive Director of Colorado Dragon Boat.

With over 40 teams racing, 25+ food vendors, 60+ marketplace vendors, and plenty of performances — the festival is bound to have something for everyone. This fenced in event is free to attend, but donations are always welcome to support the operations and programming of the 501(c)3 nonprofit.

2023 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival Opening Ceremony | Join on Saturday, July 22, at 9:45 am for the official opening of the Festival! The event opens with Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu parading its 75-foot long, colorful, traditional Chinese Dragon around the park, the Dragon’s presence symbolizing chasing away “negative energies” and sending good luck, good fortune and a safe day of racing.

After the welcoming addresses, a storyteller will present the history and culture behind Dragon Boat racing followed by a Buddhist Monk and congregation chanting, offering a formal blessing for the event.

Dragon Boat Racing! | Come watch as our teams participate in the fast-paced dragon boat racing competition with two full days of racing. The colorful Flag Catching- Taiwanese-style boats are back by popular demand. Each Boat will have 18 paddlers, one drummer and one flag catcher. Head to the finish line to witness the exciting moment that the flag catcher has to lean out and grab the flag to help win the race!

The Hong Kong style division features a slimmer, sleeker boat that travels faster on the water. Each boat has 20 paddlers. These are the boats and style of competition you will see in international races and possibly soon, the Olympics! Come cheer on your favorite team!

Let’s talk FOOD! | Festivalgoers can satisfy their appetite with culinary delights from Asia and the Pacific at both Taste of Asia Food Courts. Food vendors will showcase an abundance of mouthwatering Asian cuisine from all over Asia and the Pacific!

Shop til you Drop! | Attendees can shop to their heart’s content at our Asian Marketplace full of unique, one-of-a-kind arts, crafts and vendors similar to those found in the open-air street markets all over Asia. New the past few years is the Asian Craft Tent! Also make sure to stop by the merchandise store to get all your festival swag and to support CDBF! Kanpai! Ganbei! Geonbae! Cheers! Make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day by purchasing water, soda, and beer at our festival beverage centers! Each beverage center is run by local nonprofits who use the festival as a fundraiser! For every dollar spent on a beverage, that will go directly back to the nonprofit and Colorado Dragon Boat.

Feel the Asian Beat | Get your toes tapping and your body dancing at the three Performance Stages which will feature traditional and contemporary Asian and Asian-American instrumental, vocal, choral and dance performances by wellknown local artists. Performances included: Japanese Taiko drumming by Denver Taiko, Halau Kalama, and Indian-fusion dancers, Mudra Dance. This is an interactive dance you do not want to miss!

RepresentASIAN through Art | The festival is all about representASIAN, celebrating the amazing contributions and accomplishments of the AANHPI communities right here in Colorado. Back by popular demand are the live art demos that showcase local AANHPI artists in the community. This year, artists include Casey Kawaguchi, Ratha Sok, Grace Gee, Bakemono 0504, and more!

Education and Empowerment | The past few years have been difficult for the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community due to the increase of hate and racism plaguing our nation. We believe that the best way to fight back against injustices is education and empowerment! Visit the section in the marketplace that will host local AANHPI nonprofits and organizations to learn about how you can help and become an ally!

Festival Facts

2023 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival

Year of the Water Rabbit / Cat

Saturday, July 22, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday, July 23rd, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sloan’s Lake Park (West Side) –25th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard

Free Admission | No on-site parking

More info at: cdbf.org

Volunteer opportunities are available!

By Albert Chang-Yoo

On June 29, the United States Supreme Court decided on one of the most important education cases of the past two decades. The Supreme Court case in question is a combination of two separate cases: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFAI) v. President and Fellows of Harvard and SFAI v. University of North Carolina.--both concern race-conscious college and university admission policies. The Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority (63) ruled against higher education affirmative action policies, which brings along serious ramifications.

Reflecting an ideologically-torn nation, Chief Justice John Roberts explained the majority’s decision: “A benefit provided to some applicants but not to others necessarily advantages the former at the expense of the latter.” Meanwhile, Judge Sonia Sotomayor described the ruling in her dissent as “a superficial rule of colorblindness” in an “endemically segregated society where race has always mattered and continues to matter.”

The plaintiff of the case, Students for Fair Admissions (SFAI), is an organization headed by staunch conservative activist Edward Blum. According to SFAI, Harvard discriminates against Asian American students, consistently scoring them lower in the “personality” metric. Harvard University is one of the most prestigious schools in the world, and its admissions processes have come under intense scrutiny.

The idea that elite schools such as Harvard discriminate against Asians in favor of other minorities was the topic on Fox & Friends last month. Alex Shieh, an incoming student at Brown University, appeared on the popular show to argue that the “deck is stacked against kids who look like me.” Shieh stated that he believed students shouldn’t be “judged on their race” and that it “would be much better if we just looked at peo - ple’s achievements and stuff that they can actually control.”

Emma Lu is a rising sophomore at Harvard. She’s a part of the Asian American Women’s Association and Labor Action Movement on campus. She disagrees with the notion that affirmative action is anti-Asian, “it’s something that for me personally feels like is painting AAPI communities as a monolith…I think that sort of messaging is meant to break down solidarity, both within the Asian community and between other communities of color.” For her, affirmative action means, “being able to consider your own stories, your own histories and perspectives, your own identity. To take that away– it feels damaging to me, as an Asian person, by not being able to speak about experiences that have been so formative to me, in terms of my race or ethnicity.”

The fact of the matter is that affirmative action means that colleges include race and ethnic background as a part of a multitude of factors in admissions. Most colleges operate using a “holistic review”, or basing acceptance on how a combination of factors interact: academic performance, legacy status, extracurriculars, etc. Additional- that Asian Americans are highly represented in higher education, with growth at major universities within the past decade. 6.7% of all college students are Asian (including 18.3% at Harvard), while Asian Americans make up 6.1% of the U.S. population. However, noticeable discrepancies exist mainly in other communities of color (i.e. Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous). By comparison, 8.1% of Harvard’s undergraduate population is Black even though African-Americans make up 13.6% of the population.

Islander, were underrepresented in the UC system. In addition, only onefifth of Laotian, Hmong, and Cambodian-Americans over the age of 24 holds a bachelor’s degree.

As for her experience at Harvard, the target of the SCOTUS decision, Lu says this: “Everyone who has gotten into Harvard that I have met personally, deserves to be there, truly, and it’s not a matter of ‘someone didn’t get in because someone else stole their seat’ or something like that.” ly, 54% of Asian Americans who have heard of the policy support affirmative action. The heart of the matter ultimately comes down to wording – only 21% of Asian Americans believed that race and ethnicity should be the deciding factor in the admission process.

An analysis by College Rover showed

Models run by both Harvard and SFAI projected that an incoming class without the consideration of race would see a 7% drop in Black and 4% drop in Hispanic students, respectively. This is run against the backdrop of disparities in representation across all Ivy League schools.

It’s also important to note the ethnic diversity within the term “Asian American” itself. A 2022 government study in California (which has already banned affirmative action) found that Filipinos, Thai, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific

We are deeply disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision as it disregards our nation’s true lived experience – one where segregation and racism continue to deeply impact upon communities of color to this day. The fact is, as Justice Sotomayor stated in her dissent, “race has always mattered and continues to matter.” We hope that, in the coming days as we live with this decision, that our communities nevertheless remain committed to fighting for the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in education and beyond.

Join Affirming Affirmative Action: A Community Dialogue on the Supreme Court Decision on August 3 to participate in a virtual discussion. Register at: tinyurl.com/CO-AA-Dialogue.