DEI means recognizing the intrinsic humanity in everyone.

Our Newsletter brings you updates of efforts to support

diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our town.



Vol. 2 No. 2 January 27, 2025

This is a special newsletter for some notable last week of January events.

Some brief history: In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act became U.S. law, restricting immigration from China, despite the fact that Chinese labor beginning in the 1850s built the railroads that enhanced American prosperity. The Act, not repealed until 1943, also created an apartheid-like pass law system and barred Chinese immigrants from gaining citizenship.

However, in 1898, it was a young Chinese man named Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, who successfully brought a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that affirmed the constitutional guarantee of birthright American citizenship contained in the Fourteenth Amendment. Read more here and here.

Today, all Philipstown is proud to celebrate the Lunar New Year traditions that so enrich our multicultural community and nation. This celebration encompasses Americans from China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Tibet, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and more. Read below for some news of observances.

News from the Haldane Central School District

The Haldane PTA EDI Committee is sharing traditions from across Asia with students and families and planning activities for the Year of the Snake.

News from the Butterfield Library

On Friday, January 31, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m., a new film and discussion series will begin at the Butterfield Library: Reel Talk.

Take part in an engaging conversation after the film on this impactful and challenging piece of cinema. Refreshments provided!

The first film to be shown is White Dog, a gripping film about a dog trained to attack Black people.



See the trailer here. Register here.

Two events for Lunar New Year take place this week at the Library.

On Tuesday, January 28 at 6 p.m., Family Science NIght presents a Lunar New Year Craft.

Register here. (Note: There is currently a waiting list for this event.)

And on Wednesday, January 29 at 2 p.m. there will be a Lunar New Year Storytime and Craft.

Register here.

On Saturday, February 1, at 2 p.m. enjoy a compelling talk from author Jodi Fernandez about her memoir of growing up in the Bronx. Fernandez shares what’s she learned about how to rise above the circumstances set by our birth. Register here.

REMINDER: The Haldane EDI Committee of the Haldane PTA has chosen to read A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall, an American author living in Jerusalem. Visit his website here. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in 2024. The Committee will be meeting to discuss the book in early February.

All members of the Phillipstown DEI Committee and Haldane community are welcome. To join the discussion, please contact EDI@haldanepta.org. 

About the Philipstown DEI Committee

Our informal group was formed in response to a racist incident at a library event in 2021. Members representing the Garrison Union Free School District, the Haldane PTA EDI Committee, Butterfield Library, and the Desmond-Fish Public Library developed a community-wide survey, the results of which can be read here. The two school districts and the two public libraries have also been joined by the Manitou School and many other community organizations. All are welcome to be part of the effort. Please contact philipstowndei@gmail.com

Our Mission Statement

The mission of the Philipstown DEI Committee is to raise awareness

and foster learning and sharing opportunities that promote

community-wide engagement.  By working together across institutions, we strive to ensure that all Philipstown community members are represented, acknowledged, and valued.

Future Plans

We invite you to join our Zoom meetings that are held the last Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m. The next meeting is Tuesday, january 28, at 4:30 p.m. To obtain a link to the meetings, email japicello@gufs.org.

To sign up for the Newsletter mailing list,

please visit our Website

Our goal is to share future newsletters in Spanish also; thank you for your patience.

Compartiremos futuros boletines en español; gracias por su paciencia.

La diversidad, la equidad y la inclusión son objetivos muy importantes.