PHILADELPHIA- On May 25, 2023, At-Large Councilmember Jim Harrity (D) introduced a resolution on behalf of himself and first District, Councilmember Mark Squilla (D), recognizing a Mural Arts Philadelphia, Porch Light five-part series in partnership with the Mayor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and the Managing Director’s Office. of AAPI murals celebrating the contributions, experiences, adaptability, and hope for the future of AAPI community.在市议会公开评论环节中，数位AAPI社区成员发表了讲话，表示支持这些壁画，并将它们称作一个可以展现唐人街丰富文化历史的机会，也将其比作建立社区间对话、信任和促进相互理解的催化剂。
Several members of the AAPI community spoke out in support of the Murals during the public comment portion of the City Council meeting, describing them as an opportunity not only to highlight Chinatown’s rich cultural history but as a catalyst for building dialogue, trust and understanding between communities. “我是一位菲律宾裔美国人、亚裔美国人，也是一位费城人，对此我感到无比自豪。1976年，我的父亲、哥哥和我一起移民到了这个国家；这个充满兄弟之爱和姐妹之情的城市张开双臂欢迎我们，”市长亚太裔美国人事务委员会委员鲁本·大卫（Ruben David）说道。
“I am a proud Filipino-American, Asian-American, and Philadelphian. My father immigrated to this nation of immigrants with my brother and me in 1976; this City of brotherly love and sisterly affection welcomed us with open arms,” said Ruben David, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.
“ This is a city of Murals, and mural arts are a universal expression embracing different cultures, heritages, customs, and traditions of diverse communities showcased in public spaces and neighborhoods to remind us of our connection to each other and our histories.”
“当费城市政府于2020年3月首次聘请我担任移民事务办公室的多元文化事务主任时，除了推动我们的COVID紧急响应外，我所参与的第一个项目是支持市长亚太裔美国人事务委员会的努力，促成唐人街12th和Vine街区域标志性壁画的更换，”市政公共参与办公室执行主任，亚太裔社群成员Romana Lee-Akiyama说道。
“When the City of Philadelphia first hired me in March 2020 to serve as the Director of Multicultural Affairs within the Office of Immigrant Affairs, one of the first projects that I worked on, in addition to our COVID emergency response, was supporting the efforts of the Mayor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs to advocate for the replacement of an iconic mural in Chinatown at 12th and Vine Streets that had been displaced by neighborhood development,” said Romana Lee-Akiyama executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Public Engagement, and member of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. “多亏了Jane Golden和Porch Light计划的工作人员合作，我们为此制定了一个计划，不仅在唐人街新增了最著名、最显眼的壁画，还计划在费城的几个社区共增加四幅额外的壁画，为我们城市不断增长的亚太裔人群发声。”
“Thanks to the partnership of Jane Golden and the Porch Light Program staff, we were able to lay out a plan that not only replaced the most visible and well-known mural in Chinatown but added four additional murals in multiple Philadelphia neighborhoods that give voice to the growing presence of Asian and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander individuals, families, organizations and businesses throughout our city.”这个系列的第一和第二幅壁画已经完成；第三幅计划在今年完成，地点位于费城西北部的奥尔尼区（Olney Section）。最后两幅计划在2024年完成。
The first two murals in the five-part series are already painted; the Third is planned for this year in the Olney Section of Philadelphia in the North West. The last two are scheduled for 2024.
本报记者拍摄Photographed by Metro Chinese
第一幅壁画藏身于南费城Tasker-Morris地铁站附近的一个中产阶级社区里，位于一家名为Hardena的印度尼西亚餐厅上。这里的每个社区居民都对它赞不绝口，包括一位名叫罗拉（Lola）的菲律宾老太太，她花了将近15分钟讲述她最喜欢的美食以及表达她对Widjojo家族的自豪。
The first mural is tucked away in a middle-class neighborhood off the Tasker-Morris subway stop in South Philly, on an Indonesian Restaurant called Hardena which everyone in the community raved about, including a little old Filipino lady who told me to call her Lola (roughly translated as Grandma), who spent nearly 15 minutes talking about her favorite dishes and how proud she was of the Widjojo family for their success.
The mural titled Unity in Diversity by Winnie Sidharta is focused on the Indonesian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese immigrant experiences with traditional Southeast Asian art, designs, and a depiction of life in Philadelphia.
“This mural series plays a role in lifting the contributions, experiences, and presence of our growing AAPI community, which now makes up over 8.2 percent of our City’s population,” said Lee-Akiyama. “We hope that by highlighting and celebrating those who don’t always have a seat at the table or are stereotyped or misrepresented, we are working to shift the narrative and create actual opportunities for democratic dialogue and experiences.”
本报记者拍摄Photographed by Metro Chinese
第二幅壁画位于一家越南餐厅的二楼，地址为221 N. 11th Street，在2023年5月10日举行了落成典礼。吉娜·金（Gina Kim）创作的“We Dreamt an Orchard this way”，通过亚太裔的视角讲述了通过艰苦努力建立社区的故事，同时也让游客有机会了解社区的娱乐和生活方式。
The Second Mural is located on the second story of Vietnam Restaurant at 221 N. 11th Street and was dedicated on May 10, 2023. We Dreamt an Orchard this way by Gina Kim tells the story of the hard work it takes to build community through an AAPI perspective, but it also gives the viewer permission to be playful and enjoy life as part of that process.
本报记者拍摄Photographed by Metro Chinese
它聚焦于唐人街，作为亚裔美国文化的中心和象征，呈现出不同的场景和社区，构建了一个多彩世界，让游客一次次往返，每次都有发现。
It focuses on Chinatown as a hub and symbol of Asian American culture with a mixture of scenes, colors, and community. It builds a world that keeps the viewer coming back to discover there is always more you didn’t notice the last time you saw it.第三幅壁画将位于费城西北部的奥尔尼社区（Olney neighborhood），地址为5957 N. 5th Street的Fern Rock硬件商店上。
The third in the series will be in the Olney neighborhood in NW Philly on Fern Rock Hardware Store at 5957 N. 5th Street.
It will focus on the solidarity between the Asian and Black communities. These two communities have struggled with White Supremacist gaslighting via immigration and economic policies that have historically pitted these communities against one another, cloaking the White Supremacist goal of suppressing both communities by pushing a narrative of Black-Asian hostility.
白人至上主义创造了在贫困的黑人、棕色和AAPI社区中看到的压迫结构；它建立并培育了模范少数族裔的神话，就像基督教民族主义一样，它是白人至上主义的分支，推动了围绕COVID-19的仇外和种族主义观点，这幅壁画将通过聚焦这些社区代代相传的团结精神来对抗这种煽动。
White supremacy created the structures of oppression seen in poor black, brown, and AAPI communities; it built and fostered the myth of the model minority, just like Christian Nationalism, an offshoot of White Supremacy that drove the xenophobic and racist views around COVID-19, this mural will combat this gaslighting by focusing on the solidarity these communities have shared through the generations. “我们现在正处于一个时刻，可以讲述一个不仅聚焦于亚太裔、其他移民和有色人种社区被当做替罪羊的历史，而且讲述我们团结一心、动员起来并要求改变的历史”Stop AAPI Hate的联合创始人辛西娅·崔（Cynthia Choi）说道。
“We’re in a moment for us to tell a different history that doesn’t just focus on how Asians, other immigrants, and communities of color have been scapegoated, but the other side of this history of us coming together to mobilize and demand change, the history of our solidarity,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate.这个系列的另外两幅壁画计划在2024年完成。
“The five murals are meant to be in conversation with each other,” said Lee-Akiyama. “It’s important to note that the backdrop of all of these efforts to create art and tell stories of our diverse community members, Asian Americans in Philadelphia and across the country were fighting another virus besides COVID-19; they were fighting the virus of hate.
费城人权委员会表示，2019年至2021年期间，影响亚裔人的报告仇恨和偏见事件的比例增长了505%。
The percentage of reported hate and bias incidents impacting persons of Asian descent in Philadelphia rose by 505% between 2019 and 2021, according to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.
