May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Jewish American Heritage and Mental Health month and they deserve to be celebrated and understood.
In recent history, it begins with the United Kingdom giving up control of Hong Kong in 1997 to China and that the Hong Kong people were promised to have similar freedoms until 2047, but those freedoms were slowly eroded, leading up to the 2019-2020 pro-democracy protests advocating for their civil rights.
Supporting international democracy includes the United States supporting Taiwan and the current freedoms their people enjoy, and making sure this Indo-Pacific region of the Taiwan strait can support continued trade with the U.S. and peace with China and our international allies in Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Guam, etc.
For Jewish American Heritage Month, I support our Jewish and Muslim neighbors, and our politicians need to address gun violence, racism, and white supremacy, and help support security at public spaces and places of worship, including addressing recent attacks at a synagogue in Bloomfield, Michigan, and at a mosque in San Diego, California.
In addition, I support the advocacy of Jewish Voice for Peace and the Council on American-Islamic Relations and their American views working toward peace and social justice. Advocating for rights includes mental health support, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness suggests that people share their struggles with mental health to help educate others and erase the stigma of mental illness, and if you are in crisis to call or text 988.
Finally, since June will be Pride month, I want to encourage people to be an ally and support our local Stark Pride being held on June 13 at Centennial Plaza in Canton.
Nancy Dollard, Lake Township
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Support diversity efforts in May and June | Letter
Reporting by The Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
