Real Change with Kindness
We wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who spoke at the PG City Council Meeting on February 16, 2022. We waited for over two hours to give our public comments.
**Please note that Council Member Nick Smith attempted to stop us from being able to give our comments. He should be ashamed for this. Your community and constituents show up to tell you what they think, feel and need. It’s your job as an elected official to listen. You can email Nick Smith at nsmith@cityofpacificgrove.org
Public comment on the FOL begins at 3:34:55. Please take the time to listen to the 90 minutes of comments and notice that no one stood up to defend the feast. 35 people spoke in a diverse coalition of activists who pursued real Change with Kindness. In honor of the late Gerry Low-Sabado. Without her none of this change would have been possible.
https://www.change.org/End-the-Feast-of-Lanterns-in-Pacific-Grove
Our change.org petition has over 500 signatures on it and our circle of activists are so happy that so many people stepped up to support this cause. On Friday afternoon February 18, 2022, KSBW broke the story that the Feast of Lanterns Board of Directors voted unanimously to end the event for good.
https://www.ksbw.com/article/pacific-grove-feast-of-lanterns-to-permanently-end/39140761
https://www.yahoo.com/video/feast-lanterns-scraps-2022-plans-030818815.html
Although this is an important step for the board to take, the President of the feast still offered no authentic apology to the Chinese American community. Instead she focused on saying that no one participated in the event knowing that they were causing harm. This is not true, as Klarity Coleman worked on addressing the issues of racism in the event since 2016. President Christine Gruber was part of the resistance that didn’t even want to admit that racism was a factor in creating change to the events’s story and costumes. She ends her statement saying that the board will work with the community to make another event that lasts for 100 years.
To our coalition, this means that this all white board will change the name of the non-profit and put forth another event that is centered in a white narrative. For example, if you celebrate the birthday of Pacific Grove then you will be celebrating the colonization of the area by white methodists. Be careful PG in how you move forward. Learn from this 100 year old mistake called the feast of lanterns.
We believe it would be best to put all the resources from the old event into the Walk of Remembrance (May 14, 2022) and into public outreach and education about healing and reconciliation. This event was started by Gerry Low-Sabado to celebrate the Chinese fishing village. It has been happening for more than a decade. It is an event that truly honors the Chinese American community and you proudly fill the trees downtown with Chinese lanterns in real celebration of the AAPI community.
Our coalition will continue to work with the City of Pacific Grove and their DEI Task Force in pursuing true healing and reconciliation. This includes an apology to the Chinese American community for the burning and looting of the fishing village and the ongoing racism that the AAPI community has experience in PG, with the feast of lanterns being the biggest example of this racism. That the City of PG makes a commitment that they will never permit of fund this event again and instead use that money towards healing and reconciliation for the community. This includes outreach and public education around these issues.