Akron’s Karen community rang in the new year Saturday with dancing, music and plenty of food.
This year marked the 17th celebration of the event, which is hosted by the Karen Community of Akron. Guests filled the auditorium at North High School, where the stage was decorated in red, white and blue bunting. The colors correspond to the flag of the Karen National Union — several were spread across the stage.
The new year traditionally signifies the end of the rice harvest for the Karen people, many of whom hail from Myanmar (formerly Burma). A decades-long conflict with the country’s government has led to the displacement of many Karen people, most notably to neighboring Thailand and the United States.
Karen Community of Akron Chairman Ajino Wah said there are 2,000 to 2,500 Karen people in Akron.
At a traditional new year celebration, Wah said, the people in the village would all come together and share their crops and food to mark the end of another season. They would then receive a blessing from a village elder for future success.
People of all ages participated in the new year celebration, from adults who came to the United States as refugees to school children and high school students who were born in the states.
A chance to share, show off Karen culture
The event gives the older generation a chance to share Karen traditions with young people, Wah said.
“We want to make sure they see the value behind the culture, language [and] the place they came from,” Wah said.
This was the second year 18-year-old Kimmy Htoo danced at the Karen New Year celebration. Wearing a glittering outfit of red, black and yellow, Htoo and others her age performed a traditional don dance.
For Htoo, participating in the new year celebration “means a lot” because she gets “to show off our culture to other people.”
The event featured several dance and musical numbers as well as speeches, a ceremony honoring recent high school graduates and a short performance that commemorated the journey of Karen people to the United States.
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik also gave a speech, highlighting his background as the son of a Pakistani father and an Irish mother. Malik is the first person of color to serve as mayor of Akron.
“Sometimes in the United States we face challenges. And sometimes we are more inclusive and sometimes we are less inclusive. But we are celebrating 200 years as a community, and as I look forward to the future, it is a community that is as inclusive as possible,” Malik said.
After the ceremony concluded, the crowd dispersed to the cafeteria for another important part of the Karen New Year: food. All of it was made by the community. Tables were piled with large aluminum pans filled with rice porridge, pork curry, noodles, egg rolls, Thai eggplant and sticky rice balls with coconut. At the end of the tables, a large cooler was filled with cooked rice. Another pan held a dark red chili paste not for the faint of heart.
“Not that much,” volunteer Donna Victor said when asked how much to try of the chili paste. “Just feel the taste if you never tried it.”
Victor moved to Akron in 2010 and has helped with the new year preparations every year since then.
“The thing that important to me is, I want our new generation to know about this,” she said. “This is our Karen New Year: how we celebrate it, how do we decorate, how do we eat food together.”
For Hsa Win, a Karen Community of Akron board member, the new year event was also a chance for Americans to learn more about Karen culture and the Karen people who also call Akron home. He said some of his American friends attended and brought friends of their own.
“I want to make sure the Karen people are visible and their voices are heard,” Win said. “And a lot of people … they had no idea about the Karen people. Today, I feel like we are able to share about our culture and our history with them.”
