Rochester New York Heralds the Joint Origins of National Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Hon. Ruby Moy, First Asian American Pacific Islander professional working in the White House, as former Chief of Staff to Congressman Frank Horton from Rochester NY, Hon. Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and founder of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus CAPAC and Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. recount their historical efforts to proudly establish legislation and Presidential proclamation designating the month of May as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

May 26, 2015 Washington DC – Thirty eight years ago, Representatives Frank Horton from Rochester NY (R-NY) and Norman Mineta (D-CA) introduced House Resolution 540 (Pacific/Asian Heritage Week) in Congress to proclaim the first ten days of May as Pacific/Asian Heritage Week now known as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. May was denoted to commemorate the first Japanese immigrant to the U.S., and also to mark the anniversary of the completion of the trans-continental railroad, the majority of the tracks laid by Chinese workers. Subsequently President Jimmy Carter signed the Joint Resolution on October 5, 1978. In 1992, President Bush signed legislation into law designating the month of May as we know now as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Law HR-5572 originally introduced by Horton and Mineta, was unanimously approved by both the House of Representatives and Senate during the 102nd Congress.

During the first ever White House Summit on AAPIs, U.S. Surgeon Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy M.D. was installed as the new co-chair of WHIAAPI. President Obama proclaims, “The rich heritage of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders spans the world and the depths of America’s history. Generation after generation, Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders have forged a proud legacy that reflects the spirit of our Nation. During AAPI Heritage Month, we honor the perseverance of those who courageously reached for their hopes and dreams in a new land, and we celebrate the important impact the AAPI community has made to our Nation’s progress…As we commemorate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we pay tribute to all those in the AAPI community who have striven for a brighter future for the next generation. Together, let us recommit to embracing the diversity that enriches our Nation and to ensuring all our people have an equal chance to succeed in the country we love.”

U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy M.D. Keynote Speaker at 21st Annual APAICS Awards Gala

Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President & U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy M.D. and newly appointed Co-Chair of the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders at the 21st Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies APAICS Annual Gala Awards Dinner celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage Month in Washington, D.C.

May 18, 2015 Washington DC – Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy M.D., M.B.A. was confirmed as the 19th U.S. Surgeon General on December 15, 2014. Dr. Murthy oversees the operations of the U.S. Public Health Services USPHS Commissioned Corps, comprised of over 6,800 uniformed health officers who serve in global locations to promote, protect and advance the health and safety of our nation. Moreover, Dr. Murthy’s announcement during the first ever White House Summit on AAPIs as Co-Chair of the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders WHIAAPI stressed the importance of connecting and mobilizing the AAPI community for collaborative goals.”We need to learn from communities across the country to make sure we’re lifting up all communities together,” Murthy remarked.

Dr. Murthy is the son of immigrants from India and discovered a love for the art of healing early in his childhood while spending time in his father’s medical clinic in Miami, Florida. He has devoted himself to improving public health through service, clinical care, research, education and entrepreneurship. Caring for patients he considers the greatest honor in his life and served thousands of patients and trained hundreds of residents and medical students as a clinician-educator.

Dr. Murthy has over two decades of perspective improving health in communities across the country and the world. He co-founded Swasthya, a community health partnership in rural India to train women to be health providers and educators. Moreover, he co-founded VISIONS, an HIV AIDS education program in India and the U.S.

Seen as a progressive leader who can use 21st century approaches and technology to modernize the role of Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy focuses efforts on building cross-sector community partnerships to resolve health issues including obesity and tobacco-related disease, reduce the stigma related to mental illness, improve vaccination rates and promote preventative health strategies. Dr. Murthy strongly believes our American nation’s greatest strength comes from its peoples. Improving the health of our peoples means strengthening our communities and our country. Unite Learn Prosper!

Konrad Ng, Director of the Asian Pacific American Center at the Smithsonian Institution, Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President and Monica Pham, Esq., U.S. House of Representatives Senior Policy Advisor celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage Month and the White House Summit on Asian American Pacific Islanders in Washington, D.C.

 

Pulitzer Prize Award Winning Journalist José Antonio Vargas states, “Our Equalities are Tied to Each Other” #EmergingUS #DefineAmerican

China Millennium Council President Mary Ho, Pulitzer Prize Award Winning Journalist José Antonio Vargas and ROC the film Entrepreneur Tom Crane at the University of Rochester Diversity Conference Discuss Social Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for a Modern America #EmergingUS #DefineAmerican

Kenda Gee International Award Winning Documentary of LOST YEARS: A PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE Discourses on Social Equity

 

China Millennium Council President Mary Ho and International Award Winning Documentary Lost Years Fillmmaker Kenda Gee Discuss the Vast and Diverse Diaspora of Chinese Extending to U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand including Europe and the African continent.

LOST YEARS: A PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE is an international award winning epic documentary tracing back over 150 years of the Chinese diaspora covering four generations of racism as revealed through the journey and family story of Chinese Canadian filmmaker Kenda Gee. Traveling with his father Took Gee, they return to China and retrace the path of his grandfather, who sailed to Canada in the summer of 1921, and even earlier over a century ago, his great grandfather. A journey of hope for a myriad of Chinese who quickly encountered discriminatory laws including the head tax levied on new Chinese immigrants to Canada which ultimately deprived them of their rights as citizens. The story begins with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 20th century China circa 1911 towards the end of World War II, recounting painful decades of anti-Chinese racial prejudice in North America. Extending from Vancouver Island and Angel Island, Gee’s journey takes him across Canada and America, retracing the footsteps and experiences of the Chinese immigrants and their modern day descendants. A moving account of their personal stories capture the enormous hardships and obstacles they overcame in order to obtain citizenship in their own new countries of birth and acceptance in a modern diverse global society. www.lostyears.ca

President Obama Urges American Business, Labor and Community Leaders to Support Modernization of U.S. Immigration Policy

President Obama with Vice President Biden, Addresses U.S. Business, Labor and Community Leaders including the National American Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship ACE Delegation champion Modern Immigration Reform in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on October 24, 2013

President Obama invited leaders from the business and labor sectors including community groups who are united around one goal, advancing and modernizing the current U.S. immigration system. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a bill with bipartisan support that addresses “the core challenges of how we create a immigration system that is fair, that’s just, that is true to our traditions as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.”

By modernizing the U.S. legal immigration system, the capability to train future American workers grows exponentially, and in attracting and retaining entrepreneurs with high skill sets from beyond our borders can only enrich the business growth of the U.S., critical to its long term growth and sustainability. It would make sure that everybody plays by the same rules by providing a pathway to earned citizenship for those who are here illegally — one that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes, paying a penalty, getting in line behind everyone who is trying to come here the right way.

More importantly, if the bill was passed and became law, it would grow the U.S. economy by $1.4 trillion over the next two decades while cutting the deficit by nearly $1 trillion. Awesome!

Former Commissioner of the Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Stuart Ishimaru, Director of the Office of Minority & Women Inclusion of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Mary Ho, President of the China Millennium Council Discuss Critical Issues Affecting the Healthcare Reforms for the Asian American Pacific Islander Population, in the East Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Asian American Leadership Heralds Global Business & Humanitarian Community Impact

Social Entrepreneur Pamela Roberts Levitt, China Millennium Council President Mary Ho, and Wegmans Food Markets Senior Vice President Larry Damore & wife Gail Damore Celebrate the Asian American Global Business and Community Leadership in Greater Rochester Upstate New York Region