By ALFREDO ALVARADO

"District Council 37 is a family, and it's wonderful to be here with the Asian part of our family," said Executive Director Lillian Roberts, the keynote speaker at the annual Asian Heritage Celebration at union headquarters on May 29.

The celebration featured a buffet of delicious Asian cuisine, along with a distinguished list of prominent Asian American guest speakers and a procession of colorful dance troupes like the Nritya Kala Kendra Dance Academy from Queens, Chun-Nuan Lili and the Anil Kumar Group, which performed traditional Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi dances.

The event also showcased union members' tremendous pride in the accomplishments of the Asian communities of New York City, which have grown from 2 percent of the population in 1970 to 10 percent in the 2000 census. However, many participants and speakers pointed out the struggle against ethnic discrimination is not over and called for an effort to build political power commensurate with their growing numbers.

Among the evening's honorees were Morshed Alam, vice president of School Board 29, Civil Court Judge Doris Ling-Cohen and John C. Liu, the only Asian American in the New York City Council. Both expressed their appreciation for the support they received from DC 37 in their election campaigns.

"I'm in the council in large part because of the efforts of DC 37," said Mr. Liu, "It wasn't just the phone banks, but DC 37 folks helped educate me about the entire process as well."

Judge Ling-Cohen spoke about her working-class upbringing and the importance of belonging to a union. Her father worked in a laundry and her mother was a member of the ladies' garment workers union. "I saw the difference that being in a union made in our lives," she said.

Donald Young, president of the Chinese American Association of NY was also honored and in his speech he stressed the necessity of Asian Americans becoming more active in public life. "We have to participate in the labor movement," he told the audience. "I want to see an Asian version of Lillian Roberts."

The masters of ceremonies for the evening were DC 37 Asian Heritage Committee co-chairs Maf Misbah Uddin and Sabiha Khan. The committee also honored the following individuals for their years of service: Bhagwatie Bhanu Dwarika from the Education Fund; Ahmed Shakir, the secretary of Local 375; V.H. Advani, vice president of the Retirees Association; You-Sun (Frederic) Liu from Local 2627; Mathew Joseph, president of Local 1757; Jon Ng of Local 1549; Ms. Khan of Local 375; Mr. Uddin, president of Local 1407; Rajiv Gowda and Uma Kutwal of Local 375; and Lal Motwani, president of the Global Organization for People of Indian Origin.