On Thursday, May 16, 2013, The 2013 DOJ Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Program was held in the Great Hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building. 

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The theme for this year's program was "Building Leadership: Embracing Cultural Values and Inclusion"  The featured keynote speaker for this year's program was Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, United States Representative for the 8th District of Illinois to the United States House of Representatives, an Iraq War veteran, and former Assistant Secretary of Veteran Affairs.  Remarks were also made by Grande H. Lum, Director of the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Tony West, Acting Associate Attorney General of the United States. 

 

The program began with welcome remarks by Richard Toscano, Director of the Equal Employment Opporunity Staff, Justice Management Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and the presentation of the colors by the Spingarn JROTC Color Guard of Spingarn Senior High School.  This was followed by the national anthem, thrillingly sung by the soprano soloist Catherine Wethington, accompanied by the District Ensemble, comprised of Teresa Kim on the flute, Jinghua Pu on the piano, Jie Hyue Kim on the violin, and Heejung Jung on the cello.

 

Grande H. Lum, Director of the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice, then gave the introductory remarks for the program.  Mr. Lum was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed to a four-year terms as the Director of the Community Relations Service by the United States Senate on June 29, 2012.  Mr. Lum's leadership in the Department is an inspiration to those in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, as well as other minority communities.  The Community Relations Service, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, often becomes involved in important issues or events regarding minority communities as it is the Department's "peacemaker" for community conflicts and tensions arising from differences of race, color, and national origin.  It is the only Federal agency dedicated to assist State and local units of government, private and public organizations, and community groups with preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions, incidents, and civil disorders, and in restoring racial stability and harmony, as well as working with communities to employ strategies to prevent and respond to alleged violent hate crimes committed on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or disability.  In his speech, Mr. Lum included a discussion of Asian-Americans in leadership roles and government service, including the late Daniel K. Inouye, who served as United States Senator for Hawaii from his election in 1962 until his death in 2012.  Mr. Lum also introduced Tony West, Acting Associate Attorney General of the United States, speaking of their first meeting and his subsequent close relationship with Mr. West.

 

Acting Associate Attorney General West gave the opening remarks for the program, as well as introduced the keynote speaker.  Mr. West first spoke on how the program provided "a unique opportunity to honor and reflect upon the accomplishments and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, many of whom arrived in this country as immigrants or children of immigrants and altered the landscape of our Nation's history."  He noted, however, that these accomplishments did not come "without sacrifice or struggle," observing the adversity faced by "the Chinese laborers who connected our coasts with the Transcontinental Railroad, to those Japanese-American patriots who fought - many of whom died - abroad while their families were interned here at home; from our Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander friends who have endured decades of persecution and broken promises; to our South Asian American neighbors who have faced senseless violence and suspicion due only to the color of their skin or the tenants of their faith."  Observing that 2013 marked the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and the 70th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mr. West remarked that "resilience and resolve" had triumped over "hardship and discrimination," but "ongoing struggles" highlighted the importance of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in economic, academic, and social institutions, where these leaders "are working tirelessly each day to create positive change for the AAPI community, their neighbors, and our Country."  Mr. West ended his remarks by introducing the keynote speaker, lauding Congresswoman Duckworth as "one of these leaders, a true trailblazer for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders."

 

Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Representative for the 8th District of Illinois, then gave the keynote remarks for the program.  Congresswoman Duckworth's keynote speech was edifying and uplifting, especially in regards to her discussion of her personal history of overcoming challenges and adversity.  The Congresswoman graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and then received a Master of Arts in International Affairs from George Washington University, while also joining the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 while a graduate student.  She chose to fly helicopters, one of the few combat jobs open to women, and became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992.  In 1996, she enrolled with the Illinois Army National Guard, and in 2004, while working towards a Ph.D in political science at Northern Illinois University, she was deployed to Iraq as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot.  She was one of the first Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  On November 12, 2004, however, her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, and she lost her legs and partial use of her right arm in the explosion.  She was awarded a Purple Heart for her combat injuries.

 

She ruefully joked during her speech that, always a petite woman, she was finally able to add a few inches to her height when she requested her prosthetics.  However, wearing a chic ivory white summer suit jacket and crocheted matching skirt that floated to her knees, her sacrifice in 2004 was clearly visible during program -- she used a wheelchair upon taking the stage, and as she stood for her speech, her fitted prosethetics -- with which she is fully mobile, using a cane -- gleamed, with one leg painted like a flag wrapped around it, with red and blue bars and white stars, and the other painted like green camouflage Army fatigues.

 

Congresswoman Duckworth spent the next year recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  As one of the highest-ranking patients, she quickly became an advocate for her fellow soldiers and testified before Congress about caring for veterans and wounded warriors.  Following her recovery, she became Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.  In 2009, President Obama appointed Congresswoman Duckworth to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs, where she led an initiative to end homelessness among veterans, created the Office of Online Communications to improve accessibility, especially among young veterans, and worked to address the unique challenges that Native American and female veterans face.  Additionally, she declined military medical retirement and has continued to drill as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard, as well as resuming her Ph.D studies at Northern Illinois University and working towards a Ph.D. in Health and Human Services at Capella University.  And last, but not least, among her accomplishments, Congresswoman Duckworth was elected in 2013 as the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress for the State of Illinois.

 

Though simply speaking of her personal history would have been sufficiently enriching for the audience, the Congresswoman's speech reflected her current dedication and drive to service.  She spoke of her continued dedication towards issues affecting veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  As well, noting the long history of Asian immigration to the United States, and the historic contributions as well as travails of Asian-Americans, she spoke of her commitment to immigration reform.

 

Following the keynote speaker, three performers from George Washington University -- Sumedha Jani, Paheli Patel, and Purvina Patel -- gave a graceful classical Indian dance performance that was enthusiastically received by the audience, including Congresswoman Duckworth and the speakers who had left the stage to watch the cultural performance from a better vantage point.  Afterwards, Samuel Go, Chair of DOJ Pan Asia and Senior Litigation Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation, gave the closing remarks.

 

Both prior to and after the event, the speakers, participants, and attendees to the program were encouraged to enjoy an art exhibition at the entrance to the Great Hall presented by DOJ Pan Asia in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.  Many of the attendees explored the exhibit in detail and admiration, even pausing to take photos with a particular work that moved them.  The art exhibition, entitled "China Series," featured a display of paintings and photographs by Lauren Quock, a third-generation Chinese-American artist, who graduated from Wesleyan University in 2004 and is currently working as the Coordinator of the Network on Religion and Justice for Asian Pacific Islander LGBTQ People, while also pursuing a post-baccalaureate certificate in visual arts at the University of California, Berkeley.  In the artist's statement accompanying the exhibit, Ms. Quock told how her grandparents had immigrated to the United States from China in the 1930s and 1940s "with the hope that leaving their homeland would lead to a better life for future generations."  In the spring of 2010, the artist and her sister had taken a two-month trip to southern China, where they traveled to the villages where their grandparents had been born, met a number of relatives for the first time, and immersed themselves in everyday life.  The photographs were taken by Ms. Quock to document the experience and, a year afterwards, she began a series of paintings based on the photographs from her travels.

 

After the program, DOJ Pan Asia hosted a reception in the Green Room of the Great Hall, which featured a veritable mountain of banh mi sandwiches and platters of fruits and desserts.  During the reception, members of DOJ Pan Asia congregated with U.S. Department of Justice leadership, as well as with DOJ Pan Asia's invited guests from the  National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the Asian American Government Executives Network (AAGEN), and the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL). 

 

"It was a tremendous honor to have Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West, Director Grande Lum, and Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth serve as speakers for this year's program."  stated Samuel Go, Chair of DOJ Pan Asia.  "Mr. West continues to be a steadfast supporter of diversity in the Department, as has helped lead the push in making the Department's Diversity Initiative a plan of action.  Mr. Lum continues to be a game-changer in resolving the Nation's community conflicts and tensions through his work with the Community Relations Service.  Finally, Congresswoman Duckworth is a national heroine, demonstrating the immense power of determination and will, from flying combat missions as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Iraq, to spending a year recovering at Walter Reed Hospital as a double amputee, to becoming the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress in Illinois.  We are truly fortunate to have such accomplished and inspirational speakers for this year's program."

 

The 2013 DOJ Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month program was the result of the tireless work of the Equal Employment Opportunity Staff of the Justice Management Division -- in particular, DOJ Pan Asia thanks Director Richard Tocano and Sylvia Price.  However, every year, DOJ Pan Asia is heavily involved in the coordination of the event -- helping to choose the keynote speaker, issuing invitations to guests from organizations from both inside and outside the government that are involved with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, as well as other diversity organizations; organizing a cultural performance and display to be part of the event; and hosting a reception for the keynote speaker, guests, and DOJ Pan Asia's membership.  DOJ Pan Asia's role in the program was a success this year due to the dedicated efforts of four main contributors -- from managing the transit of DOJ Pan Asia's outside guests to the event, to finding the spectacular national anthem performers, to setting up an incredible art exhibit, to picking up the delicious spread for the reception, they were the backbone to creating this year's event.  DOJ Pan Asia's thanks go out to Liza Murcia and Melody Diegor Caprio, DOJ Pan Asia's Special Events Co-Chairs and Event Co-Coordinators; Aditi Sehgal, DOJ Pan Asia's Cultural Performance Coordinator and Reception Co-Coordinator; Lindsey Quock, DOJ Pan Asia's Exhibit Coordinator (and proud sister of the exhibit artist, Lauren Quock); and Branden Ly, DOJ Pan Asia's Outside Guest Coordinator.  DOJ Pan Asia also gives a very special thanks to Mrs. Jeanne Quock, mother of Lindsey and Lauren Quock, who generously transported the canvasses on display in the art exhibit from San Francisco, CA, to Washington, DC, by airplane and spent the night before the event helping Lindsey set up the display in the Great Hall of Main Justice.

 

The event also would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of DOJ Pan Asia's Chair, Samuel Go, and the dedication of the volunteers from DOJ Pan Asia's membership:  Amy Chang Lee, Helaine Cheng, Linda Cheng, Kris Dighe, Craig Lee, Julie Lu, Anh Thu Mai-Windle, and Allie Yang-Green.  Finally, DOJ Pan Asia's reception after the program was made possible by the dues of DOJ Pan Asia's members, as well as the additional generosity of the contributions from many of the Board Members, Board of Advisors, and other members of DOJ Pan Asia - thank you.

 

For further information about this year's event or to get involved in the future planning of other events involving DOJ Pan Asia, please contact Liza S. Murcia [Liza.Murcia@usdoj.gov] or Melody Diegor Caprio [Melody.Caprio@usdoj.gov], Special Events Co-Chairs, DOJ Pan Asia.

 

*Information, quotations, and text for this article was taken by the author fom the biographies provided by the speakers for this and other events, recollection of the speeches at the event, and the written copy of the remarks of Acting Assistant Attorney General Tony West provided on the U.S. Department of Justice's webpage.  Some biographic information was verified through Wikipedia and other internet resources.  Any unattributed similarities between the text of this article and other works is unintentional.