Credit: (Taylor Jung/NJ Spotlight News)A person beats a drum while children and adults hold a gold dragon on poles. Boom, boom, boom goes the drum while the dragon undulates in the air to the rhythm, spreading luck and joy to all those surrounding it.
Children stop in their tracks and point in awe — adults do, too. There’s something about the drum’s tempo and the colors of the dragon that’s riveting.
That’s what Lunar New Year is about: coming together to celebrate a new year, ushering in a new season of hope. And that feeling is what AAPI Montclair, an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) advocacy group, wanted to foster at its Lunar New Year celebration on a warm Saturday in Montclair, where upwards of 2,000 people had been expected to attend.
But after three years of rising anti-Asian violence, as well as the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay mass shootings at the start of the two-week-long holiday, coming together meant much more to the organizers and attendees of this event. It was about resilience and being with your community.
“We’re still trying to process what that (trauma) means,” said Jeffrey Chang, advocacy chair of AAPI Montclair. “So to come together as a community is so powerful, because we know that we have each other, we have our community at large. And we’re going to get through this.”
Safety precautions
Leading up to the event, AAPI Montclair worked with state law enforcement officials to ensure that all Lunar New Year celebrations statewide were safeguarded, said Chang. Montclair police were present throughout the event in the township.
Still, not far off the minds of some attendees were last week’s mass shootings.
Jane Yeh, a Korean American who lives in New Jersey, stopped by with her husband and three kids. When asked by NJ Spotlight News how she felt about the holiday against the backdrop of the shootings, she noted that a small part of herself was fearful.
“What if there’s an intruder at a big event like this?” she said. “What are the chances of a mass shooting like that happening in New Jersey? That’s so close to home for us.
“(By) the same token, it makes me all the more aware and all the more grateful for days like today, and also holidays like Lunar New Year where we can celebrate one another.”
State Assemblywoman Ellen Park, the Bergen County Democrat who is New Jersey’s only East Asian state legislator, spoke at the event and said she was devastated when she heard of the mass shootings last week. The shootings raised the importance of talking about gun control and mental health, she said.
“I am hopeful this is not going to be the norm, but I’m already feeling like mass shootings are part of the norm now. So I’m heartbroken, I’m angry. Whatever I can do as a legislator, I’m going to try to fight people having access to (assault weapons),” she said.
A need to be heard
Some AAPI advocates on Twitter have speculated that the older Asian men who carried out the shootings had mental health crises. It has prompted conversations on the social media site about how the trauma of immigration, racism or COVID-19 have weighed down some AAPI elders, who sometimes internalize their feelings.
“If you don’t have that support group, it gets compounded and compounded and festers for years,” Park said.
Making AAPI perspectives more visible is just one way that advocates say the country can combat racism against the community, as well as uplift the successes and surface the struggles it experiences. AAPI Montclair’s goal with its Lunar New Year celebration was to promote understanding of AAPI cultures that celebrate the holiday and to allow for New Jerseyans to be in community after the mass shooting tragedies.
“(We’re) planting the seeds of acceptance and belonging for our children and all future generations,” said Julie Kim of AAPI Montclair, speaking to a crowd of about 200 people.
And public events like Saturday’s are important for visibility — to demonstrate that AAPI are proud and resilient, say advocates.
“We want to just make sure it’s not just one celebration or one event, but that we’re doing kind of work and programs throughout the year,” said Chang. “To make sure the kids feel like they don’t have to be ashamed for who they are, they can be proud of who they are. And also know that our community members always have each other, we always have each other’s backs.”
