Jesse White hosts celebration for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

On Tuesday, May 16, more than 350 people in Chicago attended an event organized by the Illinois Secretary of State Asian American Advisory Council to celebrate 17th annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in Chicago. Every year the event held at the James R. Thompson Center Chicago.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration is one of the awaited celebrations in Chicago area. Ravi Baichwal from ABC7 was the moderator of the event who thanked the community members who have attended this event and he also thanks to the participants, special guests and guest speakers.

The event featured cultural performances by students from the St. Therese Chinese Catholic School in Chicago, who performed the Chinese Lion Dance, as well as the presentation of colors by the Phoenix Military Academy in Chicago.

Ravi Baichwal recites the Pledge of Allegiance and "The Star-Spangled Banner" sung by Yesoe Yoon.

The opening speech was presented by Jesse White, Secretary of State. Speaking on the occasion He said "As Secretary Of State, it's my honor to welcome you to the secretary of state's annual Asian Pacific American heritage month celebration. Today we honor a leader in engineering, a seasoned reporter, a humanitarian and a star baseball player. We salute all of our honorees for the hard work, leadership and standard of excellence they demonstrated in their communities".

Joanie Lum reporter, Fox 32 News Chicago, was honored with the Judge Laura C. Liu Trailblazer Award. Addison Russell from Chicago Cubs honored with the Sportsman of the Year Award. Humanitarian Service award Service Award honored with Bernarda 'Bernie' Wong. Martino Tangkar honored with the Excellence in Leadership Awards.

Smita Shah, president and CEO of SPAAN Tech Inc., received the distinguished leadership award. She also served as the keynote speaker for the event.