Cherry Hill Sun

Tag: U.S. Sen. Andy Kim

  • ‘Culture, resilience and unity’ at AAPI festival

    May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a time to recognize and honor the diverse cultures and important contributions of those from Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and backgrounds.

    Cherry Hill acknowledged the month with its fifth annual AAPI Festival on May 18 in the West High cafeteria and auditorium. The event kicked off at noon with tables representing area businesses and organizations and various forms of martial arts were on display. 

    Some attendees and demonstrators were engaging in Kendo, a form of modern Japanese martial arts in which opponents don protective gear and duel with bamboo swords. Participants at the festival used blunt wooden sticks. Teachers from area martial arts and karate studios also demonstrated how to break specially made boards and allowed attendees to try for themselves.

    Abigail Twiford/The Sun
    Participants engage in Kendo, a form of Japanese martial arts that features dueling with bamboo swords or sticks, at the Cherry Hill festival.

    One hour into the festival, speeches and introductions were beginning in the West auditorium. Nina Gao is the president of the Asian American Alliance of South Jersey, one of the main organizations behind the annual event.

    “Today, we are celebrating culture, resilience and unity,” Gao noted, “but we must also recognize the challenges that remain.” 

    She went on to discuss the strain immigrant communities have dealt with since January because of a rise in harmful or offensive media portrayals and fear of threats, violence or deportation.

    “We must show up, speak out and support each other,” Gao insisted. “One of the most powerful ways to do that is by voting. If you are eligible, make sure you are registered to vote and request a mail-in ballot.”

    Both Mayor Dave Fleisher and his wife, newly elected Camden County Commissioner Jennifer Cooley Fleisher, were at the festival, as were distinguished guests Moorestown Mayor Quinton Law and Evesham Township Mayor Jaclyn Veasy. 

    “We have mayors from different towns from across South Jersey who believe that treating people with dignity and respect, and with open inclusion and celebrating our diversity, is not something that just happens in a given month,” Fleisher remarked.

    “It is part of who we are as a community, and we embrace it and celebrate it each and every day of the year.”

    Though he was running late, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim and his son, August, were on hand, and during a break between performances, the first Korean American to serve in the Senate addressed the festival audience.

    “When I first started the run for Senate last year, I had people tell me that I was the wrong kind of minority to win statewide,” Kim recalled. “They said that there’s no way that an Asian American could win a statewide seat in New Jersey. And I just found that to be so frustrating. And I said to them, ‘Don’t think that I can only appeal to people who look like me.’”

    The festival also featured 17 performances that represented Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, including traditional and modern dance, musical performances and martial arts demonstrations. Performers of all ages took to the stage in colorful and culturally significant attire. 

    Students from the Cherry Hill Huaxia Chinese School used fans and props in six performances that ranged from traditional dances like “Melody of the Snow Dragon,” “Green Hills in the Distance” and “The Aroma of Tea,” and performed taichi movements in “16 Forms Taichi Boxing.” Their final, non-musical performance, “48 Forms Mulan Single Sword,” combined martial arts with prop swords and dancing.

    Students of the Cherry Hill Huaxia Chinese School perform “Melody of the Snow Dragon.” / Abigail Twiford
    Students of the Cherry Hill Huaxia Chinese School perform “Green Hills in the Distance.” / Abigail Twiford
    Students of the Cherry Hill Huaxia Chinese School perform “The Aroma of Tea.” / Abigail Twiford

    Students of the Cherry Hill Huaxia Chinese School perform “48 Forms Mulan Single Sword.” / Abigail Twiford

    Cherry Hill East students gave two separate performances. The Vietnamese Culture Club featured them in large dragon costumes as they mixed modern and traditional forms of dance and music. And the Filipino Culture Club also featured a mix of styles, as well as tinkling, a Filipino folk dance in which two people hold bamboo poles and tap them rhythmically against the ground as dancers jump or step over and between the moving poles.

    Students from Cherry Hill High School East’s Vietnamese Culture Club dress as dragons and dance to a mix of different musical genres. / Abigail
    Twiford
    Students from Cherry Hill High School East’s Vietnamese Culture Club dress in a variety of styles, both modern and traditional, to showcase the range of Vietnamese culture. / Abigail Twiford

    Students from the Filipino Culture Club at Cherry Hill High School East perform the dance known as tinkling. / Abigail Twiford

    The Reaksmey Sareypheap Khmer Dance Group performed a Khmer classical dance called, “The Robam Neary Chea Chour,” or “ladies in a line,” a dance that displays the beauty and elegance of young women in Cambodian culture. 

    Performers from the Reaksmey Sareypheap Khmer Dance Group perform a traditional Cambodian dance. / Abigail Twiford

    Guests were welcome to stay after the performances to purchase food and learn more about the cultures, businesses and organizations showcased throughout the festival.

  • Kim ‘spreads the word’ on issues raised at town hall

    Sen. Andy Kim held a town hall at Cherry Hill East on April 22 that drew a crowd of more than 300 people.

    The Democratic senator took to the front of the auditorium of his alma mater to address his constituents.

    “This idea (is) that we can gather together as people in this nation and talk through the challenges that are there, recognizing full well that we’re not all going to agree on it,” he said. ” … That we’ll have disagreements and issues and different perspectives here and there, but that we’re able to have this type of conversation and talk through what direction our country should be going.”

    The senator was met with a range of emotions from the crowd. While many applauded or cheered, others yelled, booed or clapped loudly in disagreement with him. Before taking questions, Kim laid out his concerns about President Trump’s actions since he has taken office.

    “First and foremost, with a simple yet profoundly important recognition, is that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is abusing his power,” Kim noted.

    Someone in the crowd then began heckling. Kim stopped his address, walked to the back of the room and spoke directly to the individual. The two briefly discussed a disagreement on the Constitutionality of the president’s actions before Kim returned to finish his introduction and take questions and comments. 

    The town hall took place just under three weeks after the senator and 13 other Democrats joined Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ effort to withhold $8.8 billion in military equipment to Israel. The measure failed, but division over the issue among audience members at Kim’s event was clear. As attendees began asking questions, one woman stood up to thank Kim for his yes vote, saying it showed “moral clarity, care for human life and a willingness to listen to your constituents.”

    Another attendee defended Israel’s actions and expressed concerns about the country not being able to survive in the event of an arms embargo. Kim responded with his belief that there is no way to resolve the war in Gaza with military action alone.

    “I don’t discount the continued threat that Hamas … will very well pose,” he explained. “But again, what we’re seeing right now with this resumption of violence (and a) blockade (of) humanitarian assistance, it’s just going to fuel anger and hate that gives Hamas the ability to be able to regroup and be able to continue to sow their danger to the Israeli people and make it harder to be able to get … all the hostages out.”

    Outside of the Israeli issue, another town hall attendee, Linh Nguyen, addressed the need for federal workers and social services in the midst of government cutbacks.

    “I chose a career in public service, and so many of my co-workers chose a career in public service because we want to serve the public,” she remarked, “and we are not able to do that when we’re being illegally terminated.”

    Other audience members took their time to ask questions about multiple issues, including protections for LGBT individuals, in particular those in the trans community; due process in the wake of the deportation to El Salvador of immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia; and protection of U.S. citizens’ private data.

    Kim continued to take questions for a half hour after the town hall ended.

    “Go out and talk to other people in your own communities, your friends, your families and others, as I am doing as well, trying to make sure we’re spreading the word,” he noted. “The fact that you showed up today, it gives me immense gratitude for you that you’re paying attention.”

  • Legislators press federal agencies on drone sightings

    Legislators who included newly elected U.S. Sen. Andy Kim and Sen. Cory Booker have sent a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – among other agencies – requesting with “urgent concern” an immediate briefing from federal agencies on recent mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey and New York.

    Along with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the letter went to administrator Michael Whitaker of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray on Dec. 11.

    “As you know, since late November, communities in the New York City area and northern New Jersey have reported several incidents of unattributable drone sightings at night, alarming both residents and local law enforcement,” the letter stated. “… In addition to potential privacy concerns raised by these aerial systems, we are also especially concerned about how these drones may harm public safety, especially given recent reports that a medivac helicopter was prevented from transporting a seriously injured patient for care because of the presence of these drones.

    “The potential safety and security risks posed by these drones in civilian areas is especially pertinent considering recent drone incursions at sensitive military sites in and outside of the continental United States over the past year,” the letter added.

    “Protecting civilian infrastructure, safety, and privacy, as well as military assets and personnel, will require a comprehensive response from Congress and the executive branch.”

    Booker and Kim were joined in the letter by U.S. senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer of New York, who requested a federal response no later than Dec. 23. U.S. and New Jersey homeland security officials have told legislators there “is no known threat” from the drones, but as assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin observed, “there was also no explanation given for the increased sightings.”

    “Like most residents, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and I want answers as soon as possible, and we will continue to press federal authorities for additional information.”