Our Chicago: Town hall explores Chicago's diverse Asian communities
Moderated by Stacey Baca
CHICAGO (WLS) -- ABC 7, Chicago's No. 1 station for news, presented a virtual town hall celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month while exploring the history and contributions of Chicago's diverse Asian community.
ABC 7 Chicago Eyewitness News anchor/reporter Stacey Baca moderated "OUR CHICAGO: Voices of the Community" available on abc7chicago.com, Thursday, May 27, at 2:00 p.m.
Check back later today to watch the entire conversation on-demand.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have played an important role shaping the nation and city of Chicago. The contributions of this rich and diverse community have influenced Chicago's culture significantly, but what drew these first groups from countries like China, Japan, Korea, India and the Philippines to Chicago? And why did they choose the Windy City?
Stacey Baca explores the interesting story of how and why these communities decided to settle in Chicago. Members of Chicago's Asian American and Pacific Islander communities joined the discussion to share how this very diverse group has made its mark in certain neighborhoods, on the local restaurant scene, with small businesses, and by establishing cultural and community centers. How have these enclaves evolved or expanded, and what are the issues of most importance now and for the future?
Guests included the following:
Ben Lau, Chinese American Museum of Chicago
Jean Mishima, Japanese American Historical Society
Dr. Evelyn de Asis Natividad, National Federation of Filipino American Associations
Tejas Shah, Indo-American Center
Yoon Tae Kim, The Korean Cultural Center of Chicago
The virtual town hall was also exclusively streamed live on ABC 7's Facebook Live, YouTube, ABC 7's app, and ABC 7's connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku.
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About ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago
ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago is the No. 1 local news source and most-watched television station in Chicago. With top-rated daily newscasts spanning decades and the largest social media presence in the market with more than 2.3 million Facebook followers, ABC7 Eyewitness News provides breaking news, investigative reporting, weather, politics, traffic and sports in the multiplatform space to Chicago, the suburbs and northwest Indiana. Named Best News Operation by the Associated Press for four consecutive years, the station produces 41 hours of local news weekly and Chicago's only local weekday entertainment talk show, "Windy City LIVE," as well as its highest-rated New Year's Eve special. ABC7's award-winning programs such as "Heart and Soul," "The Ñ Beat" and "Asian Influences" showcase the city's diversity, while being the only Chicago station producing and broadcasting parades representing Chicago's rich cultural history. In addition to producing town halls focused on current social issues, the station has a long and proud tradition of broadcasting political candidate debates keeping Chicago's electorate informed. ABC7's outreach efforts include annual partnerships with the Red Cross for life-saving blood drives and, most recently, spearheading an effort to raise more than $1.5 million for area food pantries.
