We have over 500 signatures since we published the petition to end the Feast of Lanterns in Pacific Grove! Let’s keep the momentum going! Please take a moment to share this petition on your social media and email it to people you know who would support this important cause.
https://www.change.org/End-the-Feast-of-Lanterns-in-Pacific-Grove
Invitation to take action!
1. We need people to attend the City of Pacific Grove City Council meeting on Wednesday 2/16/2022 at 6:00 pm to speak during public comment that the City Council and Mayor should issue no permit for the Feast of Lanterns for any future dates. Currently there is an errata that indicates the City of PG will defer the permit for one year so that there is more time to revise the Feast of Lanterns and deal with the public outrage about the racism in the event. There will be no Feast of Lanterns in 2022 but there could be in 2023 or beyond. We are advocating for the event to be stopped for good. That the harm it has caused cannot be undone by superficial changes to the event and be sweeping racism under the rug.
If you are a previous or current resident of Pacific Grove, then your voice may have a bigger impact and is requested at the meeting. Each speaker is allowed 3 minutes to comment. Anyone who feels called to speak at this meeting is welcome. If you can attend, here are the details.
Pacific Grove City Council Meeting – February 16, 2022 at 6:00 pm PST
The link is posted on the city’s website a couple of days in advance. Public comment is not the first item on the agenda and those who wish to speak on behalf of this movement may have to be flexible and wait for the item to come up on the agenda. Meaning that you may be online for 30 minutes to several hours waiting for your chance to speak. In past meetings they have moved agenda items up so that the public comments could go at the beginning of the meeting. We hope that will happen tomorrow night but want people to know that it might take longer.
www.cityofpacificgrove.org
THIS MEETING WILL BE HELD VIRTUALLY AND IS COMPLIANT WITH THE
GOVERNOR’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS ALLOWING FOR A DEVIATION OF
TELECONFERENCE RULES REQUIRED BY THE BROWN ACT.
JOIN THE ZOOM WEBINAR TO PARTICIPATE LIVE AT:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/209579290
To participate telephonically, call any number below:
888 788 0099 US (Toll-free)
877 853 5247 US (Toll-free)
669 900 9128
669 219 2599
Webinar ID: 209 579 290#
If prompted to enter a participant ID, press #.
Help Line 831-648-3128
MEETING INSTRUCTIONS
The public may also view the meeting on the Peninsula Channel 25.
Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition and helped with this cause. The Feast of Lanterns has issued a public apology. We have responded to their efforts below.
February 15, 2022
Dear Mayor Peake, Councilmembers Amelio, Coletti, McAdams, Poduri, Smith, and Tomlinson,
A message from Michelle Evans, secretary to the Board of the Feast of Lanterns, has circulated among local residents in recent weeks, and it illustrates the challenge that Pacific Grove faces. It enumerates an otherwise laudatory list of benefits that have accrued to her daughter through her participation in the Feast of Lanterns. Yet it makes no mention of the dark aspects of the Feast, the crude yellow face makeup and taping of eyes to make them appear slanted, the ridicule of Chinese culture and the hidden history of the eviction of Chinese from Pacific Grove in 1906. It reflects no awareness or concern about the historic mistreatment of Chinese, and the ongoing harm the Feast of Lanterns causes to people who have made important contributions to Pacific Grove. Contrast the wonderful time Ms. Evans’ daughter has had to the feelings of Arielle Isack, a Chinese woman who grew up in Pacific Grove, then unaware of the cruel treatment of Chinese in her hometown and the uneasiness that the Feast gave rise to every summer, described in her article calling for an end to the Feast published in the Monterey County Weekly on April 29, 2021.
Despite the polite, persistent efforts of Gerry Low-Sabado, a descendant of the Chinese villagers evicted in 1906, to educate the board of the Feast over more than ten years, the Board did not offer any comment until Klarity Coleman spent time with Gerry and realized how offensive the pageant was. Klarity was a previous Queen Topaz, as well as having served on the FOL board for several terms. Superficial changes were made in the makeup and script, but no apology was offered for six decades of offense.
Suddenly, days before the City Council is scheduled to rule on the application for this year’s permit, an apology appears on the Facebook page of the Feast of Lanterns. No apology was made at the time the permit was submitted or when the application was reviewed in the open meeting of the Recreation Board. This timing appears to be solely for the purpose of influencing the City Council to obtain the permit rather than an acknowledgement of the critical issues of racism and gross cultural appropriation.
The elements of a genuine apology include that it be done immediately, that it is directed to those who have suffered the wrongs and that it specifically details what will be done to right the wrongs. An authentic apology starts with reaching out to the victims and listening to their issues. There is no indication that the Feast Board has made any attempt to do so. The Board has not contacted Gerry’s family, nor any recognized Chinese or Asian organization. It has not contacted Klarity Coleman, the former president of the Feast Board and Queen Topaz, nor Carmelita Garcia, former mayor of PG, who have advocated for change and contrition, to request them to assist in facilitating a meaningful discussion with the community.
All of this smacks of a public relations maneuver to offset the growing awareness of the fundamental cruelty of the Feast, the realization that the Feast’s legacy will always be one of exclusion, unresponsiveness to community input, and insensitivity to the harm that it has caused. This insincere apology does nothing to heal the wounds; the lateness in which it was offered and the complete absence of reaching out to those most impacted show a lack of empathy and compassion.
The deep flaws of the Feast of Lanterns are not simply the offensive appropriation of costumes, the only item specifically referenced in the Facebook apology. It is a lack of respect for Chinese people and culture, and an attitude that those factors are of no significance. There is no proposal to devote resources to public education about the role of Chinese in creating the fishing industry in Pacific Grove, of the horrendous treatment of the residents of the Chinese village, of the obscuring of the real history, and the dismissal of Gerry Low-Sabado’s efforts to recognize these issues. The Feast of Lanterns sacrificed the honor of Chinese people so that a tiny segment of the community received the benefits of public engagement, and it hid the offenses against Asians behind a façade of “entertaining events”. The title Feast of Lanterns is tainted and carries historical baggage that can never be erased. It can never express a spirit of diversity, equity or inclusion and the event needs to end.
Kathy Biala, Co-Founder of The Coalition for Asian Justice
Klarity Coleman, (formerly Kaye Coleman) Activist, Feast of Lanterns President 2017-2019, Queen Topaz 1993
Carmelita Garcia, Former Mayor of Pacific Grove
Gloria Dan Yuk-siu Ipson, Co-Founder of The Coalition for Asian Justice
Michael Ipson, Co-Founder of The Coalition for Asian Justice
Lewis Leader, Co-Founder of The Coalition for Asian Justice
Randy Sabado, Co-Founder of The Coalition for Asian Justice
Angie Ngoc Tran, Co-Founder of The Coalition for Asian Justice
**Before you read the public apology from the Feast of Lanterns INC. please note that is was delivered by one of the members of the board but not any member of the executive board. An apology such as this should be presented by the president of the board of directors for the non-profit.
The Feast of Lanterns Board of Directors would like to formally apologize to the AAPI Community.
Our primary goal is to provide a platform for the Pacific Grove youth to gain public speaking skills, develop leadership and confidence, to encourage community service and involvement, to award scholarships and organize entertaining community activities.
It was never our intent to harm anyone however we recognize there was harm caused year after year by the pageant and the use of Chinese costumes and lanterns. We sincerely apologize for the harm caused to the AAPI Community and any others impacted.
We are still committed to our primary goals and are expressing our additional commitment to collaborate to ensure the event going forward is respectful, inclusive, and free of any racism or cultural appropriation.