THIS LUNAR NEW YEAR IS EXTRA SPECIAL

Today officially marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Celebrated by over 2 billion people worldwide, including Asian and Asian American communities throughout our region, the holiday kicks off a 15-day celebration ringing in the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac, or the Year of the Cat, as celebrated by the Vietnamese community.

As much as the holiday sparks memories of lion dances, the exchanging of red envelopes, or sumptuous meals gathered around the table, the most powerful memory I have from years of childhood celebrations was how the Lunar New Year brought family members from all over the world to celebrate together with my grandparents.

Especially with my mother being the youngest of 10 siblings, the Lunar New Year was always guaranteed to produce a home filled with the voices and laughter of countless cousins and family friends paying a visit, and the aromas of homecooked recipes passed down from my grandfather as we awaited the traditional New Year’s Eve feast.

Now that my wife and I have two young children of our own, I realize that the holiday is much more than the traditions of my youth — plates of oranges adorning every room, leaving lights on all night to ward off bad luck, or preparing new clothes for New Year’s Day.

The Lunar New Year is also about bringing family, and even community, together — to celebrate the year ahead with hope and optimism. I know this same sense of gathering applies for so many Asian and Asian American families who are celebrating this weekend and in the weeks ahead.

We see this reflected in homes, familyowned restaurants and even our local supermarkets, which can serve as gathering spaces and cultural hubs for our community. They are all adorned with fresh flowers, lanterns and other red decor as a way to hope for a healthy and prosperous new year.

Here in the city of San Diego, we are also proud to support and uplift a variety of celebrations through community festivals and fairs from Mira Mesa to City Heights to Downtown San Diego and even in Balboa Park. Each of these celebrations serves not only as opportunities for communities to come together in commemorating the holiday, but also as a highlight of the rich and vibrant cultural diversity that makes San Diego a special place to call home.

After several years of muted, virtual and even canceled celebrations, the return of the holiday this year takes on special significance in reassembling the resiliency of many Asian and Asian American communities that have faced a variety of challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is especially true given how the onset of COVID-19 in 2020 impacted Lunar New Year celebrations that year, giving way to a period where Asian and Asian American communities faced an alarming rise in anti-asian hate, racism and xenophobia. This sparked the Stop AAPI Hate movement globally as a way for our community to find ways to safeguard our loved ones from hate crimes

and violence.

These multifaceted impacts of the pandemic have shown us just how important it is for us to have local governments that not only recognize the cultural impacts of Asian and Asian American communities, but also foster an environment that allows our broader region as a whole to celebrate our differences and thus to inspire greater compassion and understanding.

The city of San Diego has made significant strides in broadening its support for numerous organizations and partners that have a local cultural impact, especially through its Arts and Culture Commission, and the city continues to support several Lunar New Year festivals in the region.

Lunar New Year is now even recognized as an official state holiday by the state of California, thanks to Assembly Bill 2596. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it last fall and cited the importance of seeing one’s own experiences reflected in state holidays.

As the newly elected City Council member serving the diverse communities of District 6, and as only the fourth council member of Asian descent in our city’s history, I look forward to celebrating the Lunar New Year in the weeks ahead — both at City Hall and throughout our communities. Let us take this opportunity to especially recognize its impact in bringing families, communities and San Diego — as a whole — together.

From my family to yours, happy Lunar New Year!