Commissioners adopt Lunar New Year proclamation, recognizing Centre County APIDA community
The Centre County Commissioners adopted a proclamation for the Lunar New Year during its meeting Tuesday.
The board heard from residents Nalini Krishnankutty and Vicki Fong about the Lunar New Year, a multi-day celebration that began Jan. 22. It’s celebrated by many people of Asian origin from different countries, Krishnankutty said.
For Fong’s family, the Lunar Festival was one of the biggest celebrations of the year. It’s a community celebration and a time to celebrate life and to gather strength to face the fortunes that lie ahead, she said.
“...If you ever tried to do business during that time, you’ll never reach anybody because you get on the train and plane, and you go home and you see your family. You go to the cemetery to honor your ancestors. And it’s the one time there’s no excuse,” she said.
The proclamation is important, Krishnankutty said, because it not only recognizes Centre County residents who are from the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American community and celebrate the Lunar New Year, but it embraces it as a Centre County experience.
“You are declaring that Lunar New Year is a Centre County tradition, which it is, because it’s celebrated by many residents who have made this home either because they immigrated here or they were born here,” Krishnankutty said.
Krishnankutty said they’d love for all of the local governments in Centre County to be proactive, especially with all the anti-Asian hate happening across the nation, as that can happen anywhere. Community outreach is one way to be proactive, she said.
“I say this as an immigrant American who has been here for 35 years, now serving on local government. I know that we all have a role to take proactive steps so that all of our communities can come to us and what you’ve done with this proclamation created that step, created that culture,” said Krishnankutty, who is a member of the State College Borough Council.
More than 20 people were shot — 11 killed — in a shooting Saturday night during a party to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, Calif., according to the New York Times and Washington Post. Fong emotionally alluded to that and thanked the board for the proclamation.
“My father always said in China, if another village started something, your village jumped in,” Fong said. “Given the events of this last weekend, it’s good to know that Centre County is our village. We appreciate it very much.”
Commissioner Amber Concepcion thanked Fong and Krishnankutty for speaking.
“My husband and children are of Pacific Islander Heritage and we’ve always found Centre County to be such a welcoming place as well. I think it just brings so much joy to our community to have celebrations from all of the cultures that make up our communities,” Concepcion said.
Krishnankutty and Fong are founding members of the PanAPIDA Circle, which was created to stand up against anti-Asian hate and to celebrate APIDA. One initiative they’ve done is creating a card on how to report hate bias. With the help of the State College borough, the cards will be translated into the 10 different languages. They’ve also been mentoring students in the Penn State APIDA Caucus.
