Well, how many was one one rule surrounded
by symbols and culture? Hello,
Mimi luang. Represents potential
my parents came in 1975
so it wasn't by choice.
She is the owner of Trung on gifts in Denver.
Her family became successful in business
after fleeing the war with
basically nothing. They knew
they cannot go back to Vietnam.
They won't, they are.
They won't be able to leave.
So why don't they start a new future?
What they started? Was
a movement trogan gifts sits
in the Far East Center,
a shopping area at the corner
of Federal and Alameda,
created by Mimi's family decades ago.
A place that Mimi believes the
Asian American Pacific Islander
community calls its own.
A lot of Asian families decide to just
come here because this is where they
can make a living and they know that
the Asian community will come together.
Like they did for something
historic on April 16th,
Joey Hawk is with a group called
Colorado Asian Pacific United who helped
organize something 142 years overdue.
The city of Denver will make an
official apology to the Chinese
immigrants and their descendants for
its role in the anti Chinese riot
that occurred on October 31st, 1880.
The racial violence is depicted
in an illustration from 1881.
Man died. Hundreds of people injured.
By an angry white mob in
an area well known today?
Yeah, so lower downtown
right now is Coors Field.
Is Wazee St some parts of 16th St
places that we're all really used
to going out and grabbing drinks at.
So if you walk down lower downtown,
there truly is no evidence that
there used to be a Chinatown
except for an ill conceived plaque
that Joey says is in the wrong place.
It's important to note that this plaque,
although with good intentions,
gives a very one sided and narrow
view of what had happened. Hence
the apology.
Aye Michael B Hancock Mayor of
the city and County of Denver.
By virtue of the authority vested in me.
And I'll be half of our city,
do hereby sincerely apologize to
the early Chinese immigrants and
their descendants.
It's important to note
that an apology in itself is
empty unless it comes with action
as a. You know Asian American
and born and raised in Colorado?
I feel like this is just the
beginning of history starting.
Mimi wants the Far East center
and the surrounding area.
Now it just merges out from
Alameda to Mississippi and federal
to be officially recognized by
the city as Little Saigon Denver.
Now we are here and our
voices are getting heard.
It's important that we have these ethnic
enclaves that provide a safe space for
different communities of color and the
Far East center has been one for decades.
A safe space for the new
Asians coming to Colorado.
The mountain here we drive.
We go to Rocky Mountain we
drive but when there we have
to climb no car, no nothing.
Suba works at the Asian
Pacific Development Center,
an organization helping immigrant families.
No, it's not yellow. It's black.
Adjust to life here like Subah had
to after fleeing oppression in Burma.
Coming to Colorado,
it's very difficult because
I don't understand language and
then I used to live in jungle.
Now she and other refugees live in Aurora,
learning to break the language barrier,
it's effects, ability for finding
good jobs, and quality healthcare.
Affects the ability to build a new beginning
and happy to come here. It's freedoms here.
So is the support from people like
Mimi and a growing Asian community.
And now though. We have that connection.
I think the refugees or the immigrants
that come here will have a better and
easier way of like starting their new life
with photojournalist Mark Solena.
OK Nelson Garcia 9 news.