ABC7 Chicago celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with half-hour 'Our Chicago: Connecting Cultures'
Watch all four parts of the special below
CHICAGO (WLS) -- ABC7 Chicago is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with vignettes, a series of news stories and a half-hour special "Our Chicago: Connecting Cultures."
Hosted by ABC7 anchors Judy Hsu and Ravi Baichwal, with contributions from reporters Eric Horng and Cate Cauguiran, "Our Chicago: Connecting Cultures" highlights the culture and contributions of Chicago's Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
The Pui Tak Center, a historic landmark in Chinatown built in 1928, served as a backdrop for the special.
Robert Chen
Robert Chen, concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is celebrating his 25th anniversary with the prestigious orchestra. He began playing violin at the age of 3. He immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan in 1973. By 12 years old, he was playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has played solo all over the world and collaborated with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. During the pandemic, he formed a violin quartet with his immediate family. His instrument of choice is a Stradivarius violin made in 1715 by famed craftsman, Antonio Stradivari.
U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi has become perhaps the most influential congressman in Illinois. He started his career as an early adviser to Barack Obama when Obama was running for U.S. Senate. Now, the Indian American congressman, who was born in New Delhi and educated at Harvard Law School, sits on some of the most important committees in the House, including the Intelligence Committee and as co-chair of the Committee on Strategic Competition between the U.S. and China. Ravi Baichwal met with the congressman in his home district in Schaumburg and walked through the community, talking to Krishnamoorthi about his life and career.
Ameya Performing Arts
Ameya Performing Arts is a Bollywood dance company founded by seven Indian women in 2016. These women blend classical and modern styles of dance to create pieces that celebrate movement, boundless spirit and Indian culture.
Halau i Ka Pono
Halau i Ka Pono is a Hawaiian dance school and Zen Center in Oak Park. June Ryushin Tanoue, a trained Hula Master who grew up in Hawaii, has danced Hula since she was 6 years old. In the early 2000s, she made her way to Chicago to work for a nonprofit, but decided to use her time to open a Hula dancing school. After more than 20 years of teaching, she hopes through her students the legacy of Hula dancing can remain alive in Hawaii, in Chicago and everywhere.
Northwestern doctors give care to a remote village in the Philippines
Many Filipino American doctors and nurses from Northwestern Memorial Hospital have made multiple visits to the rural town of Salcedo, Philippines, over the last year to perform gynecologic surgery, deliver babies, and see patients at Salcedo Doctors' Hospital. Their primary goal is to establish a cervical cancer screening program and promote vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is responsible for more than nine of every 10 cases of cervical cancer worldwide. In the Philippines, cervical cancer is the No. 1 cause of death from a gynecologic cancer for women and less than 5% of the population has been fully protected from HPV.
Konbini and Kanpai - Japanese community in Wrigleyville
Wrigleyville has a long, rich history with Chicago's Japanese American community. Now a new Wrigleyville business called Konbini and Kanpai, which sells spirits and food inspired by Japan's famous convenience stores, adds a new chapter to that story.
Aurea de Guzman, The 'Chilipino'
Chicago nurse by day and pepper connoisseur the rest of the time, Aurea de Guzman loves creating hot sauce and other spicy creations. The self-titled "Chilipino" was featured on Hulu's "Superhot: The Spicy World of Pepper People" from her pepper garden, which she grows in Chicago. From this garden, she has bred dozens of unique pepper species. She created her own "Blazin' Asian" hot sauce and is the co-owner of Grumpy Spice LLC, a company she founded with a fellow pepper grower she met through the Hulu documentary. With a growing following of more than 47,000 followers on Instagram, de Guzman is able to share with the world her love for gardening and her love for hot peppers.
You can follow her on Instagram @chilipino_pepper_co.
