Rep. Amy Arata was recently honored with a Friend of the Cambodian Community Award from Khmer Maine, a nonprofit based in Portland that focuses on building a “thriving, vibrant and visible” Cambodian community in Maine.
The occasion was the first of what the organizations hopes will become an annual event: a dinner to celebrate Maine’s Cambodian community and its culture, and to recognize supportive allies and partner organizations. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and the Immigrants’ Rights Coalition of Maine were among those honored along with Arata.
Representative Arata was recognized in particular for having sponsored a joint resolution this legislative session that marked the May 20 Cambodian National Day of Remembrance. The resolution recalled the brutality of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime and commended the courage and resiliency of Cambodian refugees and the contributions to American society of Cambodians and Cambodian Americans.
“One of the worst human tragedies in the modern era,” the resolution noted, the Cambodian genocide of 1975-79 saw the murder, torture, forced relocation and internment of millions of Cambodians. Arata herself learned about the genocide through college friends from Cambodia and thought the history should be more widely known, she told NGX. She reached out to Khmer Maine as she worked on the resolution, and members of the Cambodian community, including survivors, joined her at the State House when it was adopted.
At the August 30 dinner, Khmer Maine also honored Secretary of State Shenna Bellows with a Friend of the Cambodian Community Award, citing her outreach to the Cambodian community and support for civic engagement and voting. Receiving the Outstanding Community Partner Award was the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, a network of more than 100 organizations reflecting diverse ethnic communities, like Khmer Maine, that works to improve legal, social, and economic conditions for immigrants across Maine.
— Joanne Cole
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