Bangladeshi Community celebrates Mother Tongue Day in Bronx

The United Bronx Bangladeshi Community has celebrated Mother Tongue Day.

This was disclosed by Council Member Amanda Fariás via her Twitter handle on Tuesday February 21, 2023.

“I was happy to join the United Bronx Bangladeshi Community last night for a #MotherLanguageDay celebration!” Fariás said.

She added, “It was great to see people excited to learn about the resolution and I even got a mini lesson in Bangla. I am so lucky to represent a vibrant Bangladeshi community and I look forward to continuing to work together. Thank you to Mamun Islam and Mazeda Uddin for all your work.”

Bangla is the native language of many of my neighbors in Parkchester, and as an Afro-Latina the need to celebrate and protect one’s mother language and cultural history deeply resonates with me.

It is critical that we all prioritize the diversity of our City’s language’s for our next generation of New Yorkers and continue the fight against the inherited impact of colonialism on our shared communities.

UNESCO maintains that “Mother language-based education is essential to get learners climate-ready!

“When we learn in our mother tongue, we are able to better understand the world around us and care for our world.”

While calling on countries to implement mother language-based education, UNESCO states that more than 6,700 languages are spoken worldwide but “at least 40% are threatened with extinction”.

It added that “The classroom has a vital role to play in keeping them alive!”