Bryan Stalder
Contributor

Northeast is proud of our “International Marketplace.” We are a neighborhood of many languages, where a single block on Independence Avenue can take you from the highlands of Vietnam to the markets of Somalia. As I stood on the edge of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. this past March, the air was thick with the scent of cherry blossoms. 

Standing beneath the pink canopy of the cherry trees, I realized that this iconic American scene is, at its heart, a story of immigration and intersection—one that belongs to all of us as we celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month and look toward America’s 250th Anniversary in 2026.

During my recent visit, I stood in front of a massive, weathered structure known as the Japanese Stone Lantern. Carved in 1651—making it over a century older than the United States itself—this 4,000-pound granite monument once stood in a temple in Tokyo.

It was gifted to the U.S. in 1954 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first peace treaty between our two nations. Every year, during the Cherry Blossom Festival, a “Cherry Blossom Princess” ceremonially lights the lantern. Standing at the Japanese Stone Lantern, I thought about the many “lanterns” we have in the Northeast—the cultural traditions, the family recipes, and the stories our neighbors brought here from across the ocean to light up our own community.

The theme for this year’s AANHPI Month is “Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together.” It’s a fitting bridge to the upcoming United States Semiquincentennial (the 250th birthday of our country).

Often, when we think of “American History,” we think of the 13 colonies. But the cherry blossoms remind us that the American story is a “tapestry,” as the late Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta once said. The trees were a gift from Japan, but they were planted and cared for by Americans of all backgrounds. They represent a “healed wound” and a promise of peace that followed one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

For our readers in Northeast, seeing yourself in the history of the U.S. doesn’t require a direct Colonial or European lineage. It requires recognizing that the beauty of this country is built on cross-cultural gifts. Whether it’s Somali community members building businesses in former Italian storefronts, Southeast Asian gardens blooming in urban lots or a Mexican restaurant repurposing an old “Chinese Takeout pole sign” where a Burger King once operated, we are constantly “gifting” our culture to the American landscape, just as the city of Tokyo did in 1912.

While Northeast may not have a large Japanese-American population, we all share the same spirit felt at the Tidal Basin: Resilience and Renewal. The cherry blossoms only bloom for a short window, but the roots of those trees—and the stone of that lantern—are permanent.

As you walk through our neighborhood this May, look at the diverse faces of our young soccer players or the entrepreneurs on the NEKC Chamber’s International Marketplace. We are the living embodiment of the “Power in Unity.” We aren’t just witnesses to American history; we are the ones writing its next 250 years.