International Mother Language Day
and Bangladesh community
Cleveland City Hall Rotunda February 24, 2023
International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on February 21 to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, February 21 is the anniversary of the day when the people of Bangladesh (then East Bengal of Pakistan) fought for recognition for the Bengali language. It was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 and is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world."
A ceremony was held in the Rotunda of Cleveland City Hall on February 24, 2023 to commemorate and educate.
This first video is the welcome introduction of the first annual International Mother Language Day in Cleveland Ohio USA.
Chia-Min Chen is the Asian Liaison for the City of Cleveland and she welcomed the crowd and said that Cleveland was the first city in the country to have a community relations board. She also said that every 2 weeks, a language disappears.
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Tariq Islam and Chia-Min Chen
She introduced Tariq Islam from the Advisory Board and he explained the day.
Tariq Islam
They then introduced Samia Alam who led the singing of the US national anthem.
Samia Alam leads the US National Anthem
Next, Myiesha Alam gave a brief history of International Mother Language Day and spoke of the importance of the Bangla language.
Myiesha Alam
Next, a chorus consisting of Bilkis Banu, Nazneen Khan, Manabendra Dey, Simly Barua, Shawli Khandoker, Marzan Wahab, Zahidul Wahab, Manashi Roy, Sheikh Ahmad Sakib, Lalon Noor, Kothon Noor, Tamanna Rahman, Mesbah Mannan, Sanika Mahdiya and Nehali Dey performed traditional Bangladeshi songs interrupted by a conversation between a father and son about the importance and history of International Mother Language Day.
Bangladeshi Chorus
Father and Son conversation
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Next came a song and dance. The song is sung by Manashi Roy and the dance performed by Nehali Dey.
Nehali Dey
The chorus sang another song as the Father-Son conversation continued.
Next, this song was sung by Simly Barua and the dance performed by Tamanna Rahman and Sanika Mahdiya.
