ET is breaking down the history of AAPI Heritage Month, as well as ways to celebrate and support the community.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The month-long celebration is a chance to acknowledge the historic achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and to highlight their undeniable impact on American history.
Game-changers like Jeanie Jew, Grace Lee Boggs, Yuji Ichioka and George Takei are some of the names we learn more about each May. The celebration that is now known as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month started when these politicians, activists and actors began fighting for recognition and representation, at a national level.
The Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC), the premier organization representing Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) employees in the Federal and District of Columbia governments, announced this year's theme as: "Advancing Leaders Through Opportunity."
This year's theme is a continuation of the "Advancing Leaders" theme series which began in 2021. The theme further highlights FAPAC's efforts in advancing leaders in the Federal and DC government.
How It Started
Asian Pacific Heritage Week
Former congressional staffer Jeanie Jew first approached Rep. Frank Horton about the idea of designating a month to recognize Asian Pacific Americans, following the United States' bicentennial celebration in 1976. In June 1977, Horton and Rep. Norman Y. Mineta introduced a resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives to proclaim the first 10 days of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Week. A month later, a similar bill was introduced in the Senate by former U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga. President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution for the celebration on Oct. 5, 1978. In 1990, George H.W. Bush signed a bill passed by Congress to extend Asian American Heritage Week to a month. On May 14, 1991, a public law was passed unanimously by Congress and then signed by Bush, proclaiming May 1991 and May 1992 as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Months. By 1992, May was officially designated as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Why May?
May is significant to the AAPI community for two reasons. On May 7, 1843, the first Japanese immigrant arrived in the United States. More than 20 years later, on May 10, 1869, the first transcontinental railroad was completed, a project more than 20,000 Chinese workers participated in.
History of Asians in the United States
The first Asians documented in the Americas arrived in 1587, when Filipinos landed in California. Almost 200 years later, the first Chinese immigrants arrived in Hawaii, with the first official Japanese U.S. immigrant arriving in California at the height of the gold rush in 1843. Immigrants continued to come from the Asian continent and the Pacific Islands through 1920 when the first Samoans were documented in Hawaii.
Combating Anti-Asian Racism
With the rise in anti-Asian racism since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, uplifting AAPI voices and stories has become especially important.
As a response to the rise in anti-Asian violence, the AAPI Equity Alliance, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University launched the Stop AAPI Hate coalition on March 19, 2020. The coalition tracks and responds to violence, hate, harassment, discrimination, shunning and bullying of AAPI people.
In January 2021, the White House released a "Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States," acknowledging their role in furthering xenophobic sentiments and proposing ways to prevent discrimination, harassment, bullying and hate crimes against AAPI individuals.
Then, in April 2023, the White House released a proclamation of this year's AAPI Heritage Month.
"Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPIs) represent us at every level of government, including Vice President Kamala Harris," the proclamation read in part. "... From historic Oscar-winning performances in film to achievements across business, culture, sports, and civil rights, AA and NHPIs shape and strengthen the fabric of this Nation."
"Despite the immeasurable ways AA and NHPIs enrich this country, we continue to see persistent racism, harassment, and hate crimes against these communities," the proclamation continued. "... Hate must have no safe harbor in America, and every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect."
How to Celebrate
Celebrations Across the Country
AAPI communities across the country are celebrating the month with several events including art exhibits, concerts and educational programs.
What to Watch
Asian Americans on PBS
Asian Americans is a five-hour film series that delivers a bold, fresh perspective on a history that matters today, more than ever.
Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad.
PEN15 is middle school as it really happened. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle star in this adult comedy, playing versions of themselves as 13-year-old outcasts in the year 2000.
After a traumatic year, an Indian-American teen just wants to spruce up her social status in the Mindy Kaling-produced comedy series on Netflix. But friends, family and feelings won’t make it easy on her.
Premiering during APPI Month -- May 18 -- Xo, Kitty follows Kitty Covey (Anna Cathcart), Lara Jean's younger sister, in the To All she Boys I've Loved Before spin-off, as she embarks on a thrilling adventure of her own. In this new love story, Kitty travels to an international boarding school in Seoul to reunite with her long-distance boyfriend. Along the way, she discovers more about her mother's experiences at the same school years before and her heritage, which leads to a journey of self-discovery.
Through a series of flashbacks, four young Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their past. This search will help them understand their difficult mother-daughter relationships.
Books to Read
My Life: Growing Up Asian in America by CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)
From MTV Books, My Life: Growing Up Asian in America is a collection of personal essays, poetry and illustrations gathered and edited by CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) and will be released on May 10. The various essays explore identity, representation and courage across the Asian American community, will feature an introduction from former MTV News correspondent SuChin Pak, as well as stories by Reddit CEO Ellen K. Pao, author Melissa de la Cruz, MTV News’ Yoonj Kim and journalist Amna Nawaz, among others.
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America.
Interior Chinatown: A Novel by Charles Yu
After stumbling into the spotlight, Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he’s ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family. It's infinitely inventive and deeply personal, exploring the themes of pop culture, assimilation, and immigration.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters -- strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis -- survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. Pachinko was recently adapted into an Apple TV+ series.
How to Support
What to Shop
Shopping from these Asian-founded brands is a great opportunity to support Asian business owners who have experienced financial setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic and further persecution caused by the rise of violence against the AAPI community.
One of the original beauty gurus on YouTube, Vietnamese American Michelle Phan's radiance-boosting makeup brand, Em Cosmetics, is a favorite among fans and influencers.
Philippines-born Isadora Alvarez founded Los Angeles-based sustainable fashion company Back Beat Co., known for its comfortable, laidback-style clothing. The brand uses fabrics that are either recycled or sustainably farmed.
The Los Angeles-based designer's "lady clothes for cool girls" are inspired by her childhood travels to Shanghai and British Hong Kong. Mak's designs are produced in Shanghai and many are made from deadstock fabric.
Where to Donate
Stop AAPI Hate is a nonprofit social organization that runs the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center, which tracks incidents of discrimination, hate and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S.
API Women Lead's #ImReady Movement aims to strengthen the progressive political and social platforms of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the U.S. through the leadership of self-identified AAPI women and girls. "Our goal is to challenge and help end the intersections of violence against and within our communities. We do this work in solidarity with other communities of color," a statement on the organization's website reads.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Asian Americans Advancing Justice's mission is to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.
Gold House unifies the world's largest populace to enable more authentic multicultural representation and societal equity.
This new alliance is comprised of more than 50 of the most influential Millennial and Gen-Z AAPI women in entertainment, media and social media, including Teen Wolf actress Arden Cho, Toy Story 4 actress Ally Maki, YouTubers Michelle Phan, Wengie, Jenn Im and CNN contributor XiXi Yang.
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the U.S., which celebrates the contributions and influences of the Asian community. To capture the current state of representation in entertainment, ET Online will be spotlighting Asian performers and projects all month long.
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