APAH/AAPI Heritage Month 2024

The Wakefield Human Rights Commission invites you to a month of commemorative events to celebrate the spirit and richness of different cultures.

Lion Dance Performance

Saturday, May 4, 2024, 12:30p.m.
Lion Dancers kick off the month on the Library's front plaza (345 Main Street). Experience a performance, learn about the tradition, interact with the "lions," and receive a "lucky coin" (focus on Chinese culture).

Feature Film at the Americal Civic Center

Saturday, May 18, 2024 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Yes, there will be popcorn! Watch Anime at the Americal Civic Center, located at 467 Main Street (focus on Japanese culture). Enjoy an afternoon viewing of several anime films and receive a gift of origami.

Mini Film Festival

Thursdays at 7 p.m.: Feature movie nights at the WCAT studio, 24 Hemlock Road (Wakefield Memorial High School)**  
To view the Thursday night movies by Zoom, log in as an attendee.
  • May 16 Whale Rider (focus on Maori culture).  Discover the myth and mystery of a New Zealand culture. Pai, an 11-year-old girl, believes she is destined to be the new chief of the Whangara people, but her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny and prove herself by riding on the back of a whale.
  • May 23 Bollywood Beats (focus on Indian culture). Be thoroughly entertained by the lively music and dance of Bollywood, transported to Los Angeles. Life does not seem to be going according to plan for Raj until he meets a woman who suggests he start a dance class for Indian women. Raj reluctantly accepts the proposal since it will be a way for him to pursue his love of dance. His class begins to grow beyond the group of women, but he soon must choose between them and a chance of a lifetime.
  • May 30th Tehran Blues (focus on Iranian culture). View a delightful and humorous intertwining of music and stories told by Erfan, a poet and musician. He guides us through Tehran from his small car, where the contrast between the tradition-bound and the culturally rich Iran emerges along the way. Each episode is preceded by a piece of music introduced and performed in its entirety by talented local musicians.
**Park in the lot above the HS Field House or along Hemlock Road. Follow the signs to the studio.
 
We greatly appreciate the support of the Beebe Library, the Americal Civic Center, and especially WCAT. For more information, contact the WHRC at whrc@wakefield.ma.us.