Public Employee Press

Strength in diversity
DC 37 celebrates Asian progress

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Asian American union members celebrated the unique heritage they and their families brought from many homelands and staged one of the most colorful events to take place at DC 37 at the union’s Asian Heritage Celebration on May 20.

An impressive array of folkloric dance troupes, made up mainly of young people, performed traditional steps and songs from China, Korea, India, Bangladesh and Thailand.

In addition to the cultural presentations and multi-ethnic cuisine, the committee presented an evening that acknowledged the valuable contributions of Asian New Yorkers in various fields. Among those honored during the program were Dr. Rashid Abedin, assistant commissioner of the New York City Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene; Virginia Eng of the United Federation of Teachers; Chet Szarejko of the Eastern Queens Democratic Club; Renee Lobo of the cable television station ITV and the late Jen-Chung Chang and his son Ti-Hua Chang, the veteran CBS Chanel 2 news reporter.

“The Asian members of this great union family take tremendo us pride in the accomplishments of our community and the contributions we are making,” said Committee Chair Maf Misbah Uddin, who is also treasurer of DC 37 and president of Local 1407. He also stressed the importance of developing political power.

“The area where we are weakest is the political arena. We can do better, and we are starting here with our union,” said Mr. Uddin. He praised Committee Co-chairs Bhagwatie Dwarika, from the DC 37 Education Fund, Leela Merat from Local 375 and Susie Yuen from Local 2627 for their work in planning the evening.

“We applaud our Asian American members for participating in our union and the labor movement,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “The enthusiasm and dedication of our Asian members helps us build a stronger, more pro-active DC 37.”

Ms. Roberts also pointed out the significant contributions made by Dr. Benjamin Chu while he was head of the Health and Hospitals Corp. “Dr. Chu put HHC on the map,” said Ms. Roberts.

In a tribute to the growing political power of the Asian American community, City Council member Robert Jackson and state Sen. Kevin Parker attended the celebration. “I’m glad to see so much diversity here,” said Mr. Jackson, whose father was Chinese.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Dr. Khaled Mohammed, who is commissioner of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board and has established a center that treats hearing-impaired children and provides shelter for sexually abused youth.

“I had several engagements, but I decided that it was much more important to come here to DC 37,” he said. Dr. Mohammed encouraged Asian Americans to become active in their communities. “A small group of people can eventually grow and become much larger and influential,” he said.