Since 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been celebrated in May in the United States. Since 2009, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month has also been celebrated in May in the United States.
Fountain of Life seeks to combine the national recognition of mental health and the contributions and influence of AAPI peoples by organizing the Kansas City Asian American Health and Wellness Conference in May 2023. There will be 16 sessions: 5 in Mandarin, 5 in Cantonese, 3 in Korean and 3 in Vietnamese.
Asian Americans have experienced generational trauma from institutional racism stemming from historical experiences such as the government’s use of nearly 15,000 Chinese laborers to build the Transcontinental Railroad between 1863 and 1869, and laws and regulations such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1924 and Executive Order 9006 of 1942 which resulted in the United States forcibly relocating and incarcerating more than 120,000 Japanese individuals in 75 internment and concentration camps. More recently, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a spike in discrimination towards and hate crimes committed against Asians – tragically sometimes resulting in death – sparking the national #StopAsianHate movement. These historical and recent experiences of community and individual trauma make it all the more important for the Asian community to explore mental health honestly and in culturally appropriate and accessible ways.
By submitting a RSVP, you will receive email reminders and correspondences regarding this program from the Asian Chamber. You may unsubscribe at anytime at the bottom of the emails.