By Nigel Whan, AsAmNews Intern
Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-SF) praised the new executive director of the Chinese Media and Arts Collaborative, Thursday in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
The former Speaker of the House said Joanne Lee is “going to be dazzling.” Pelosi is one of CMAC’s highest-profile supporters- successfully requesting $2.5 million of federal Community Project Funding to CMAC in 2022.
CMAC runs Edge on the Square, an arts center located at the corner of Grant and Clay in San Francisco bought and renovated with state funding to the tune of $26.5 million, according to the SF Examiner.
Pelosi personally thanked some of CMAC’s leaders, continuing to call the BIPOC organization “a hub of culture in our community.”
“CMAC’s efforts are indispensable” according to Pelosi, as it’s key to revitalizing Chinatown after the toll COVID-19 took on AAPI families and businesses.
She praised the arts for making us “forget our differences—we laugh together, we’re inspired together, we cry together, we find our common ground. No matter what our political thinking may be.”
“Community has the word unity right in it,” according to Pelosi, unity which she congratulated CMAC for supporting.
In her own speech, Lee said it feels like coming home to be leading CMAC since she previously was part of CMAC’s arts commission. Tasked with getting Edge on the Square off the ground for its official 2026 opening, she sees “immense opportunity here in this ever-changing world.”
Lee mentioned the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and banning affirmative action as two of those great changes in American politics affecting AAPIs.
She announced that Edge on the Square will use three powers to make social change from its location in Chinatown, the powers of art, place and community.
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