The AANHPI community is vast and diverse with a multitude of cultures, religions, histories, languages, and lived experiences. Celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month with us!
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Awareness Month began as a week-long celebration first acknowledged nationally through a resolution signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. AANHPI Awareness Month was officially established in 1992 with events taking place throughout the month of May. May was chosen to commemorate the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 and the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the United States in 1843.
The AANHPI community is vast and diverse with a multitude of cultures, religions, histories, languages, and lived experiences. The term “Asian American” was first used by activist couple Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka who wanted to unite people of Asian descent to be a force of change against the inequities their respective communities faced.
As a federally qualified health center, we acknowledge the historic and ongoing gaps in healthcare research focused on AANHPI populations. At the Institute for EDI, it is important that AANHPI patients, staff, and community members are supported, lifted up, and heard. Your voice, your culture, your individual identity is valued here. Join us in working towards racial equity for our AANHPI communities, not just in May, but throughout the year.
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center: https://apa.si.edu
Asian Pacific American Center Learning Lab: https://learninglab.si.edu/org/apac
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (History Channel): Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month - Dates, Quotes | HISTORY
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (Library of Congress): History and Overview - Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: A Commemorative Observances Legal Research Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congress (loc.gov)
History of Month (United State Senate): U.S. Senate: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Why there's an 'impulse' to erase the experience of Asian Americans: Why there’s an ‘impulse’ to erase the experience of Asian Americans (youtube.com)
How the Model Minority Myth Keeps Asian Americans Out of Management: How The Model Minority Myth Keeps Asian Americans Out Of Management (youtube.com)
Understanding the history of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Understanding the history of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (youtube.com)
Are You "AAPI" or "Asian American"? It's Complicated: Are You “AAPI” or “Asian American”? It's Complicated. | A People's History of Asian America (youtube.com)
Asian Americans Have A Long History of Activism in the US: Asian Americans Have A Long History Of Activism In The US (youtube.com)
Asian American Identity: Things You Might Not Know: Asian American Identity: Things You Might Not Know | Clarified | Very Local (youtube.com)
LGBTQ Asian American-Pacific Islander Resource: lgbtqtheme-asianpacific.pdf (nps.gov)
Where to Learn the Queer Asian American History You Absolutely Missed in School: Where to Learn the Queer Asian American History You Absolutely Missed in School - Densho: Japanese American Incarceration and Japanese Internment
Local Resources and Events
Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American Heritage Month | Adele H. Stamp Student Union (umd.edu)
Importance of the Plum Blossom
Nature, trees, and flowers hold special meaning and reverence. This month, we are highlighting the plum blossoms. Plum blossoms carry a sweet floral fragrance that matches beautifully with their delicate petals. It is thought that plum blossoms originated in Southern China over 3,000 years ago and now are prevalent throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Tibet. Plum blossoms have appeared in art works and gardens for hundreds of years, often representing renewal.
Explore the video links below featuring these groundbreaking AANHPI leaders!
Lead like... Jenifer Rajkumar
Fight like... Amanda Nguyen
Dream like... Naomi Osaka
Sing like... Michelle Zauner
Build like... Nadya Okamoto
Challenge like... Yuri Kochiyama
Believe like... Kevin Aipopo
Write like... Amy Sueyoshi
Inspire like... Grace Lee Boggs
Think like... Chien-Shiung Wu
Educate like... Channapha Khamvongsa
Jenifer Rajkumar: Jenifer was the First Indian-American woman elected to a New York State office and has served in the New York State Assembly. She wants to inspire other South Asian Women that they “can be great.” She has worked to make Diwali a school holiday in 2023.
Video: How Indian Values Have Shaped Her Legacy - Jennifer Rajkumar #Jenniferrajkumar #southasian - YouTube
Amanda Nguyen: Amanda Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American changemaker with dreams of becoming an astronaut. She proposed and drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act which passed in Congress in 2016. In 2018, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and today continues her advocacy efforts and scientific endeavors.
Video: Amanda Nguyen, Civil Rights Activist and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee | MAKERS (youtube.com)
Naomi Osaka: Naomi Osaka is a Japanese, Haitian-American professional tennis player and mental health advocate. She is the first Asian player to be ranked Number 1 in the World in singles from the Women’s Tennis Association. Naomi believes in spreading awareness about mental health in sports and pregnancy.
Michelle Zauner: Michelle is a Korean American author and musician. Her alternative pop band is called, Japanese Breakfast. Michelle’s autobiography, “Crying in H Mart” chronicles her journey as a caretaker during her mother’s illness and grappling with feeling the loss of her culture after her mom’s passing.
Video: Michelle Zauner's Brief But Spectacular take on making the ordinary beautiful (youtube.com)
Nadya Okamoto: Nadya Okamoto believes in ending the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding periods. She has dedicated years to education surrounding period poverty. Nadya is an advocate against the “tampon tax” and founder of the gender inclusive, sustainable, brand, August.
Yuri Kochiyama: Yuri Kochiyama was a Japanese-American activist who built bridges across movements. Her forced imprisonment in an internment camp during WWII and racism she experienced in the workplace influenced her activism. While raising six children, Yuri, was a part of school and workplace reform, the Revolutionary Action Movement, and working with Malcolm X.
Videos: The Revolutionary Impact of Yuri Kochiyama (youtube.com)
Kevin Aipopo: Kevin is a Black, Indigenous, Queer, Trans, Samoan storyteller and artist, using their immense talents to connect and advocate. They speak about the intersection of identities, oppression, and environmental justice. Kevin leads an environmental justice movement called, “350 Pacific”, highlighting the incredible impact of climate change on the Pacific Islander community.
Video: Reclaiming Indigeneity: Pacific Islander Stories of Healing (youtube.com)
Amy Sueyoshi: Amy Sueyoshi is a queer, Japanese American scholar and currently acts as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at San Francisco State University. She is a historian, advocate, and champion for queer people of color in the academic setting and beyond. Amy Sueyoshi served as the San Francisco Pride Grand Marshal in 2017.
Video: SF Pride 2017 Grand Marshal (Board of Directors selection) Amy Sueyoshi (youtube.com)
Grace Lee Boggs: Chinese American Human Rights Activist who was involved in the Women’s Movement, Black Power Movement, housing rights, and the AAPI Movement, particularly for the youth in Detroit. “We are the leaders we’ve been looking for”.
Video: Grace Lee Boggs' Lasting Impact: AAPI Activism Then and Now (youtube.com)
Chien-Shiung Wu: Chien-Shiung Wu was born and China, spending her childhood and teenage years there. In 1940, she received her PhD from The University of California Berkeley. Chien-Shiung was the first woman to teach in Princeton’s Physics Department. Starting in 1944, she was a Senior Scientist for the Manhattan Project and is considered a world-renowned nuclear physicist.
Video: The career of Chien-Shiung Wu, the ‘First Lady of Physics’ (youtube.com)
Channapha Khamvongsa: Channapha Khamvongsa is a Lao American leader who raises awareness about the US bombings of Laos during the Vietnam War in which over 2 million tons were dropped. She founded the nonprofit, Legacies of War, which works to educate and remove UXOs. Channapha’s work influenced President Obama to visit Laos in 2016.
Video: America's Secret War in Laos Uncovered | ABC News (youtube.com)
Visit The Institute for EDI's Anti-Racism Resources page here: Anti-Racism Resources | Chase Brexton Health Care
