We're starting a Book Club!!! Nessa, our Talent and Community Engagement Officer is kicking things off this month with a book by William Wei titled Asians in Colorado: A History of Persecution and Perseverance in the Centennial State (just in time for our APIDA month celebration). We will meet at our new office space located at 2366 W 1st Street and this book will be discussed over the course of three months. Our first gathering will be from noon to 1:30pm on Saturday, April 26th. Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch.

Books may be purchased online, we've included a link to Barnes & Noble though there may be other online options. We also encourage you to check out a copy at the Loveland Public Library. We're excited about this new activity and hope you'll join us. Below is a brief description of the book taken from the B&N website.

Providing the most comprehensive examination to date of Asians in the Centennial State, William Wei addresses a wide range of experiences, from anti-Chinese riots in late nineteenth-century Denver to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans at the Amache concentration camp to the more recent influx of Southeast Asian refugees and South Asian tech professionals. Drawing on a wealth of historical sources, Wei reconstructs what life was like for the early Chinese and Japanese pioneers, and he pays special attention to the different challenges faced by those in urban versus rural areas. The result is a groundbreaking approach that helps us better understand how Asians survived—and thrived—in an often-hostile environment.

Offering a fresh perspective on how cycles of persecution are repeated, Wei reveals how the treatment of Asian Americans resonates with the experiences of other marginalized groups in American society. His study sheds light not only on the Asian American experience but also on the development of Colorado and the greater American West.