Celebrating Asian Heritage Month 2022

The Merivale Vision Care family strongly believes in equity for everyone, and we love learning how people from all walks of life celebrate their culture. Asian Heritage Month is all May long, and to celebrate we would like to shine the light on important and informative resources and businesses from the Asian community.

The Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice stands behind equity, fair treatment for all, and a world where no one should fear experiencing violence in everyday life. The original Chinese Canadian National Council was founded in 1980, after successful nationwide protests against a TV show that falsely depicted Chinese Canadian students in universities as foreigners. Four decades later still lives a group committed to community activism to fight for equality and human rights. The Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice’s main project is Empowering, Engaging, and Equipping Canadians to Combat Anti-Asian Racism through Online Resources and Social Media. You can visit the Council’s website for some great resources to learn about how to advocate for equity and justice for everyone in Canada.

The Asian Heritage Foundation is also celebrating Asian Heritage Month with amazing events all month long. A sampling of the upcoming events includes an Asian Youth Mental Health Summit to take place on May 18^th, an Asian Women Mental Health Summit on May 20^th, as well as a Korean Cultural Heritage Festival on May 28^th. Visit the Asian Heritage Foundation online and click on the event that interests you to see how you can participate.

Why not make May the month you support local Asian-owned businesses in Ottawa? There are so many delicious restaurants, bakeries, shops, and galleries to visit right here in our community. Some of our favourite Asian-owned businesses include DAO Café and Moo Shu Ice Cream & Kitchen for desserts and cold treats. We love Sushi Sama for fresh hand rolls and sashimi, and Sea King Seafood Restaurant for delicious traditional Chinese dishes served family-style. Check out the Ottawa Art Gallery to attend the ground-breaking Landscape, Loss and Legacy exhibition, curated by Don Kwan, Megan Ho and Catherine Sinclair. Don Kwan is a queer third-generation Chinese Canadian artist whose work explores place, identity, representation, and family memory across time. Visit the multitude of amazing shops and restaurants in Ottawa’s Chinatown for more amazing experiences.

We hope that you will check out some of these amazing businesses, resources, and events. We will be! We are all our best when we include, celebrate, honour, and elevate the rich diversity in our community.