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Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month honors and commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. It was first introduced in 1977 as a week-long event, and it was later extended to a month-long celebration in 1990.

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AAPI Heritage Month is an important time to celebrate the achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States and educate others about AAPI culture and history.

"When you learn something from people, or from a culture, you accept it as a gift, and it is your lifelong commitment to preserve it and build on it."― Yo-Yo Ma Click To Tweet

When is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month?

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is celebrated in May. This month is dedicated to celebrating the cultures, traditions, and histories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. During this month, we reflect on the tremendous contributions that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made and also remember the challenges that they have faced and continue to face. We celebrate their resilience and strength, and we reaffirm our commitment to standing with them.

Free bonus: Download the 11 Diversity & Inclusion Statistics That Will Change How You Do Business. If your leadership team or key stakeholders need a bit of a nudge, this fact sheet showcases some of the most compelling D&I statistics around.

How do you celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at work?

1 Educate coworkers and colleagues about AAPI culture and history. This can be done through lunch and learns or presentations.

2 Share your own AAPI culture with your coworkers. This can be done through food, music, dance, or art.

3 Recognize AAPI achievements in your workplace. This can be done through awards ceremonies, recognition programs, or articles in the company newsletter. This is a great way to promote inclusion and diversity in the workplace which will also increase AAPI employee satisfaction and retention.

4 Support AAPI charities or causes during AAPI Heritage Month. This can include donating money or time to organizations that support AAPI individuals and communities.

5 Attend AAPI cultural events in your community. This can be done as a group or as an individual.

What's a better way to commemorate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month than to participate in a charitable initiative that aims at stopping AAPI hate and promoting acceptance and tolerance? Check out Caroo that offers premium gifts sourced from AAPI-founded companies.

With every corporate gift delivered, you'll be supporting AAPI businesses, strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion at work as well as donating to Feeding America.

We have compiled a list of 12 ideas and activities for celebrating AAPI Month in the workplace. These activities are engaging and fun, promote employee engagement and happiness, and also allow colleagues to learn more about the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders throughout history.
So, let's take a look at the 12 best ideas and activities for celebrating AAPI Heritage Month at work! Want to become a better professional in just 5 minutes?
7 Ideas for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

1) Learn about AAPI History & Culture with Trivia

A fun way to learn about AAPI history and culture is through trivia games. Trivia can be used as a great icebreaker or a team building activity for work. It can also be used to start a conversation about AAPI heritage and culture.

How this idea supports AAPI Heritage Month: Whether it's about the first Japanese immigrants, Chinese immigrants, or Pacific heritage in general, this game is a great opportunity to educate team members about the many different Asian American and Pacific Islander traditions, cultures, and prominent figures. It can be played in person or online.

How to get started: Enjoy this fun and interactive Virtual AAPI Trivia.

Pro-Tip: Back in the office? You can also print out these AAPI Trivia Activities to play in-person with your coworkers.

2) Virtual Museum Tour

Looking for something different to do this AAPI heritage month? How about taking a virtual museum tour to learn about AAPI history? Several museums around the country offer online tours, and many of them have exhibits specifically devoted to AAPI history and culture. So take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn more about the AAPI experience.

How this idea supports AAPI Heritage Month: This is a great way to celebrate Asian Americans' and Pacific Islanders' heritage at work, or from home. You can learn about the contributions of AAPI Americans to the arts, sciences, politics, and more.

How to get started: Take advantage of this unique Virtual Museum Tour to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

3) Stock Your Kitchen With AAPI Founded Snack Brands

AAPI Month is the perfect time to celebrate AAPI-owned businesses - and what's a better way to do that than by stocking your workplace kitchen with snacks from various AAPI snack brands? Not only will you be supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned enterprises, but you'll also be getting some delicious Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and many other snacks and food that are inspired by Asian cultures.

How this idea supports AAPI Heritage Month: This gesture sends a message of inclusion to AAPI employees and colleagues, letting them know that they are valued and considered part of the company. In addition, by stocking the shelves with AAPI snacks, you are creating an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to try new things and learn more about different cultures.

How to get started: Promote inclusion, diversity, and wellness while enjoying delicious snacks with this Snack box.

4) Support AAPI Founded Businesses In Your Community

One way to support the AAPI community is by purchasing from AAPI-owned businesses. When you shop at or buy from AAPI businesses, you're not only supporting the business owner, but also the employees and their families. This helps promote AAPI entrepreneurship and economic growth.

How this idea supports AAPI Heritage Month: When you encourage AAPI businesses, you show your support for the hard-working entrepreneurs who have committed to serving their community. You also send a message that diversity is important to you and that you value cultural experiences.

How to get started: Feel good about snacking while also giving back to AAPI-led businesses and non-profit organizations such as Stop AAPI Hate, Feeding America, The Trevor Project, Equal Justice Initiative, and Girls Who Code with this employee care package.

5) Promote any events happening in May for employees to attend

There may be events in your area that are being hosted where you can attend and learn more about AAPI culture and heritage. Promote these events to your employees so they are aware of what is happening in the community. If you have any AAPI employees, see if they would be interested in leading a discussion or giving a presentation on their culture and heritage.

Pro-Tip: You can promote these events on your company's Slack account or create a dedicated AAPI Heritage Month channel where employees can post about in-person or virtual events they are attending.

How this idea supports AAPI Heritage Month: This is a great way to get everyone involved and learn more about the AAPI community. Having AAPI employees, coworkers or colleagues lead discussions or give presentations about AAPI heritage month will educate others about AAPI contributions and influential figures who have made an impact in American history.'

How to get started: Check out some of the events that are taking place in your city. Here's how AAPI Heritage Month is being celebrated in Los Angeles this year.

6) Host A Culture Day

AAPI Heritage Month is a great time to learn more about the many diverse cultures and traditions that make up the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Host a culture day at your workplace where everyone can come together and celebrate AAPI Heritage Month. Have employees participate in activities such as sharing their favorite traditional music, or even teaching others how to do traditional dances.

How this idea supports AAPI Heritage Month: This will allow employees to connect with each other through cultural exchange and understanding. It's also an opportunity for employees to learn more about different cultures while having some fun!

How to get started: Discuss the different activities you want to include, recruit staff members to help organize and lead the event, and advertise it within your company.

7) Offer Professional Development Opportunities

AAPI Heritage Month is an excellent time for businesses to offer professional development opportunities geared towards AAPI employees. This includes workshops on leadership skills as well as career-specific training such as resume-building and interview techniques. Offering these kinds of resources will give AAPI employees the chance to grow their skillset and be better equipped for future job opportunities.

How this idea supports AAPI Heritage Month: Professional development workshops are a great way to show AAPI employees that your company is invested in their success and provide them with the necessary tools and resources to reach their goals.

How to get started: Research different professional development programs that fit the needs of your organization and budget. and plan out when these workshops will take place, what topics they should cover, and how long each session will be.

5 Activities for Asian American and Pacific IslanderHeritage Month

8) Learn to cook a new cuisine

One of the best ways to learn about a new culture is through its food. A great way to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month is by learning to cook a new cuisine. You can find recipes online or in cookbooks written by AAPI authors. If you have any AAPI friends or coworkers, ask them for their favorite recipes and cooking tips.

How this activity supports AAPI Heritage Month: This is a great way to promote cultural awareness and understanding through food. By learning to cook a new cuisine, you will be able to learn more about the culture and traditions behind it.

How to get started: Check out these interactive virtual Thai cooking and dumpling making classes.

9) Celebrate AAPI Art

During AAPI Heritage Month, take some time to celebrate Asian art and artists. You can visit your local museum or art gallery, or look online to find virtual museums or exhibitions of Asian art.

How this activity supports AAPI Heritage Month: In-person and online exhibitions showcase the beauty and diversity of Asian art, from ancient sculptures to contemporary installations. This is an excellent activity to celebrate AAPI Heritage month with colleagues, promote team engagement, boost AAPI employees' morale and motivate them.

How to get started: Whether you're looking for a quick cultural fix or a deeper dive into the history and meaning of AAP, the Virtual Museum Storytelling Tour about Asian art has got you covered.

10) Choose a book club book celebrating an author with AAPI Heritage

This AAPI Heritage Month, why not select a book club book that celebrates an author with AAPI heritage? There are many great books written by AAPI authors that you can choose from. This is a great way to learn about new cultures and perspectives and to promote AAPI Heritage Month.

How this activity supports AAPI Heritage Month: Doing so is a great way to learn more about the AAPI experience and to show solidarity with the AAPI community. There are many fantastic AAPI authors out there, so you're sure to find a book that everyone in your book club will enjoy.

How to get started: These are just a few of the wonderful AAPI-themed books out there. So whether you're looking for a heartwarming story or an insightful exploration of culture and identity, there's sure to be a book to celebrate AAPI heritage month!

Here are some potential literary options you and your coworkers can choose from:

11) Listen to innovative Asian American podcasts

This AAPI Heritage Month, listen to some innovative Asian American podcasts. There are many great podcasts out there that feature AAPI voices and stories. This is a great way to expand your knowledge about the AAPI community.

How this activity supports AAPI Heritage Month: Listening to these podcasts can help you familiarize yourself with the AAPI community and its many perspectives. In addition, it's a great way to support AAPI creators and amplify AAPI voices.

12) Donate to a community-enrichment organization to support Asian And Pacific Islander People

One great way to support AAPI Heritage Month is to donate to a community-enrichment organization that supports Asian and Pacific Islander people. There are many great organizations out there that work to promote cultural understanding and appreciation.

How this activity supports AAPI Heritage Month: By donating to an organization that supports Asian American and Pacific Islander people, you are giving back and showing your support for this community. You'll also be helping them preserve their culture by promoting it within society as well.

How to get started: These are just two of the many great organizations that you can support during AAPI Heritage Month.

EPIC is an organization that supports social justice through culture-based activism, leadership development, and research. It's committed to promoting the voices of Pacific Islander leaders as well as anyone who is interested in social justice through culture-centered advocacy, leadership development, and research.

The Asian Mental Health Collective is a non-profit mental health organization that provides resources, support, and advocacy for the AAPI community. It aims to address the unique mental health needs of AAPI people and to break down the barriers that prevent them from seeking help.

How to get started: Asian American podcasts
People Also Ask These Questions About Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month At Work

1) What does AAPI stand for in AAPI Heritage Month?

A: AAPI stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander. AAPI Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the culture, traditions, and history of Asian American and Pacific Islander people.

2) What are the benefits of celebrating AAPI Heritage Month at work?

A: The benefits of celebrating AAPI Heritage Month at work are many. It can help promote cultural understanding and appreciation. It's a great way to show support for the AAPI community, and it can also be a great opportunity to learn more about the AAPI culture and traditions and expand your knowledge about the AAPI community.

3) How do you celebrate AAPI Heritage Month at work virtually?

A: There are a few ways in which you can celebrate AAPI Heritage Month at work virtually. One way is to host a virtual celebration or event. Another way to commemorate the month is to create dedicated content related to AAPI topics. This could be anything from blog posts and articles to webinars and podcasts. Whatever you do, make sure it's something that your employees will appreciate and find value in.

4) What kind of activities can you plan for AAPI Heritage Month at work?

A: You can plan several activities for AAPI Heritage Month at work. You can feature an AAPI employee or contractor in your company newsletter or blog, share statistics about Asian American businesses in your industry, invite an expert on Asian American history or culture to give lunch talks, screen a documentary about an important event in Asian American history or organize a field trip to an Asian American art museum or historical site.

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12 Best AAPI Heritage Month Ideas & Activities For Work [May 2022]

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Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month honors and commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. It was first introduced in 1977 as a week-long event, and it was later extended to a month-long celebration in 1990.

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https://news.fordham.edu/event/aapi-heritage-month-movie-nights/2023-04-26/

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Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with us as we watch different movies each week reflecting experiences within the AAPI community! Join us for movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Wind & The Reckoning, and Moana.

This event is open to students.

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Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with us as we watch different movies each week reflecting experiences within the AAPI community! Join us for movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Wind & The Reckoning, and Moana.

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https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/books-podcasts-movies-asian-american-pacific-islander-heritage-month/

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May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which means that there is no better time to explore the works of AAPI authors, directors, and creatives. We've compiled an assortment of books, movies, and podcasts to celebrate the contributions of AAPI creators this May and beyond.

Books:

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

In The Namesake, an Indian-American man named Gogol struggles to find his identity between his immigrant parents' culture and his American culture. After legally changing his name to appear more Americanized, Gogol develops a new appreciation for his culture and the meaning behind his namesake. Also worth a watch is Mira Nair's film adaptation of The Namesake.

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka, is the story of a group of regulars who use a local university pool for their daily exercise routine. One day a significant crack shows up in the pool, causing the facility to be shut down for repairs, and their daily routine is thrown out of whack. The story highlights the significance of the mundane and the way it shapes who we are.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

In The Kite Runner we learn about a young Sunni Muslim boy growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, through wartime and the rise of the Taliban regime. This page-turner gives insight into the struggles of refugees and the loss of adolescence that children living through traumatic events experience.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club follows four Chinese American immigrant families in San Francisco who start a club for playing the Chinese game of mahjong, bonding over their shared heritage and sharing stories from the past. This bestseller is a heartfelt journey of reconnecting to family roots and navigating mixed cultures while honoring your heritage.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

This memoir is an expansion of Michelle Zauner's New Yorker essay detailing her experience growing up as one of the few Asian kids in her town, and her journey toward connecting to her Korean heritage after her mother's death. This book is an honest depiction of grief and the internal struggles of finding your place in your culture.

Black Ice Matter by Gina Cole

Black Ice Matter is a collection of short stories following the lives of South Pacific Islanders. Gina Cole uses the themes of extreme heat and cold in the South Pacific to tell stories of the unusual lives of characters ranging from a glaciology researcher to a child making popular children's toys in a sweatshop.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Everything I Never Told You is the debut novel of the author of Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng. The story is centered around a mixed-race Chinese-American family grappling with the loss of their middle child. As the family desperately searches for answers about their child's death, the author reveals the complexities of their family dynamic and how they've navigated divisions of culture within a household.

Podcasts:

The Brown Burndown

The Brown Burndown covers Indian and Indian-American representation in pop culture from the eyes of two Desi friends. In this podcast, they discuss everything that filmmakers get wrong when portraying Indian characters and the harmful stereotypes that continue to live on in the media.

AsianBossGirl

AsianBossGirl is a weekly podcast hosted by three Asian American women with business expertise in finance, technology, and media. On this podcast, the three have candid conversations about pop culture, work-life, dating, and life in LA from an empowered Asian American POV. This podcast is a must if you're looking for inspirational content or a casual chat with the girls.

Long Distance

Long Distance shares personal narratives documenting the Filipino diaspora and stories of young Filipino people finding their identities and tracing their roots. What started as a passion project for host Paola Mardo has turned into a commitment to document and report stories from Filipino-American communities to preserve their history.

Feeling Asian

Hosted by comedians Youngmi Mayer and Brian Park, Feeling Asian is a lighthearted podcast about venting with your friends. Every week, the duo invites a new guest to participate in an unfiltered conversation on topics ranging anywhere from dating to career journeys and anything in between.

They call Us Bruce

They Call Us Bruce tackles discussions about the Asian American experience, especially in regard to representation in media, from the POV of two Asian American men. In this podcast, the pair often invite guests from the film industry to discuss their experience as Asian American creatives and their thought process behind their roles in major Asian American films.

Movies:

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Everyone is buzzing about the new hit film Everything Everywhere All at Once -and for good reason. This sci-fi/action hybrid has captivated audiences by combining the mundane aspects of everyday life with the outright bizarre. In the film, a Chinese immigrant finds herself swept up in a multi-universe adventure to save the world and explore her life in alternate realities.

The White Tiger

This film is the story of a driver for a wealthy Indian family as he escapes generational poverty and begins his career as an entrepreneur. The film speaks to the class divisions in India and the difficulties of escaping poverty when odds are stacked against you.

Turning Red

This animation follows Mei Lee, a 13-year-old girl who has developed an unusual superpower as she goes through the highs and lows of puberty. Turning Red is Pixar's first feature film directed by an Asian woman and the storyline takes care to honor and celebrate the experience of growing up in an Asian household.

Tigertail is a multigenerational drama that follows a Taiwanese man who immigrated to the United States in search of new opportunities. This heartwarming tale details the bittersweet reality that many immigrants face as they forge a new life while missing their loved ones and life back home.

This popular Disney film goes against the typical Disney princess archetype by featuring a headstrong female lead who goes off on a journey to save her family rather than falling in love with a prince. Moana is also the first Disney animation whose characters and storyline are based on the culture and history of the Polynesian Islands.

After surviving a disaster at sea, Pi Patel finds himself stuck on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger and various other zoo animals as his companions. As he fights to survive, he develops a unique friendship with the tiger that motivates him to continue persevering in the hope of being rescued.

These are just a few of the many ways you can honor and celebrate the influence and contribution that American Asian and Pacific Islanders have had on the United States. Hopefully, you can take the time to appreciate these finds and explore more works from talented AAPI creatives this month. Let us know if we missed any of your favorites in the Comment section.

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Books, Podcasts, and Movies to Explore for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month | Hey BU

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May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which means that there is no better time to explore the works of AAPI authors, directors, and creatives. We've compiled an assortment of books, movies, and podcasts to celebrate the contributions of AAPI creators this May and beyond.

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https://edsitement.neh.gov/teachers-guides/asian-american-and-pacific-islander-heritage-and-history-us

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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage and History in the U.S.

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This Teacher’s Guide offers a collection of lessons and resources for K-12 social studies, literature, and arts classrooms that center around the experiences, achievements, and perspectives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across U.S. history.

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Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month | All About the Holidays | PBS LearningMedia

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In the United States, May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. Many people use the month to honor the accomplishments of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States while celebrating their diverse heritages.

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AAPI Heritage Month Resource Guide | WeTeachNYC

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This document is a compilation of resources to support classroom discussions on Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

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https://www.care.com/c/teach-kids-asian-american-pacific-islander-heritage-month/

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AAPI Heritage Month for kids: 9 fun activities for learning and celebrating

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Teach kids the importance of Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month with these engaging and meaningful books, movies and other creative ideas and activities.

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https://www.localpassportfamily.com/2022/05/20-aapi-month-activities.html

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This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you click my link but does not change your price. See my affiliate policy here.

Happy May! Happy Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander month (AAPI month)! Our family is so excited to learn, immerse, and celebrate AAPI month and we hope you are, too. I compiled this big list of 20+ AAPI month activities for how you can honor the month and educate yourself and your children while having lots of fun. I hope it's helpful!

If you'd like a more structured guide, you can check out this AAPI Month learning packet right here, which includes 20 mini lessons, coloring sheets, art projects, and more.

I hope you have a wonderful AAPI heritage month experience the joy and diversity of these many cultures and communities!

Learn - AAPI Month Facts

Asian Americans have long experienced oppression as well as joy in ways both quiet and loud. Take some time this month to learn about the history of Asian Americans in the US, as well as about accomplishments, peoples, cultures, racism, model minority myth, and much more. Learn about continued racial and generational inequality, and also everyday joy. Also, learn about US aggressions, colonialism, and stolen kingdoms, including in places like Hawai'i.

Here are some wonderful resources to learn AAPI month facts and information:

You can also learn antiracist vocabulary, about racist policies, about the Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander diasporas, and so much more.

Read Books Centering AAPI Characters & Experiences

Picture books are a wonderful way to introduce cultures, holidays, peoples, and experiences. They're even great for older elementary children to hear and to launch a deeper discussion. There are a plethora of fantastic picture books representing a variety of backgrounds. In addition to the picture books, chapter books are great for kids to read on their own as they get older or for families to read together as a read aloud.

Here are some terrific book lists:

Highlight AAPI Heroes

While it's incredibly important to learn the history and to continue in activism, it's also radically important to celebrate AANHPI joy and success. Learn about amazing some amazing leaders - creators, engineers, artists, etc. in the past and present.

Learn about leaders like Yo-Yo Ma, Sammy Lee, and many more. In particular, learn about some of the women who did important work, whose names tend to be forgotten - Patsy Mink, Yuri Kochiyama, Madhur Jaffrey, Connie Chung, Mona Haydar, and Jhumpa Lahiri are all amazing!

Listen - AAPI Month Activities

Music is great for setting the atmosphere. Here is just a small sampling of ideas for celebrating music of the AANHPI diaspora.

Review AAPI Speeches

Many incredible speakers who identify with the AAPI community have spoken beautifully on their personal experiences. Take time to learn from some of them!

Virtual AAPI Museum Tour

Several museums have online tours and other info about the AANHPI experience. In addition to the online tours, a number also include at home activities in addition to virtual viewings of their collections.

Watch - AAPI Month Movies

In addition to reading books, watching a movie or video about the AANHPI history & culture can also be a wonderful way to honor the month. This is a great way to spark some excellent discussions, too.

Here are some great films for families:

Moana

Raya and the Last Dragon

Finding 'Ohana

Lilo & Stitch

Turning Red

Abominable

Over the Moon

The Breadwinner (older kids)

My Neighbor Totoro

Hanuman Da' Damdaar

Here are some more to watch!

There are also a number of educational videos for families of all ages. Here are some great ones!

Discuss

Use AAPI month as an opportunity to not just have one-time discussions with kids about race, but as a chance to start some continuing conversations. Use it as a chance to explain systemic racism to kids, and also to consider some simple antiracist kids actions. With older kids, you may want to discuss the model minority myth and its origins, and why it's harmful to those under the "model minority" umbrella as well as to other marginalized communities. Discuss scarcity mindset as a tool of white supremacy.

In addition to the tools above, here's a good video to start talking about race and racism.

Move Your Bodies

There are so many incredible and varied forms of movement within the various cultures represented this month. Consider a beginner's bharathnatyam dance lesson, or a beginner's karate lesson. This video shares more about the roots of hula, or you could learn some Khmer classical dance.

Book An Author or Illustrator Visit for Your School/Classroom

This month is a great opportunity to look into scheduling a virtual author visit for your school or classroom from an AANHPI author. There are few things more exciting than chatting with a real live author or illustrator of a book kids love!

Virtual visits are usually easy to book and accessible. Most authors/illustrators have a link on their websites to schedule one easily.

Here are some favorite AAPI authors who do visits:

Eat - AAPI Month Activities

Support AANHPI-owned restaurants or markets. There is a huge variety of Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander food, so consider supporting a few local businesses during the month if available to you. If a full restaurant meal is too expensive, or if you love trying new recipes, consider visiting an Asian market or grocery store. H Mart is a Korean-American supermarket chain that has locations throughout the United States, and many cities have local stores from many ethnic backgrounds, as well.

Craft Projects - AAPI Month Activities

This is a perfect opportunity to create some art either inspired by Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander artists or that honors their history. Five art and five stem projects are included in this AAPI learning packet, and each Global Children's Book Club post for each different country highlights at least one art project. Plenty of options!

Write - AAPI Month Activities

Encourage your children to actively work for changes to racist systems by contacting Congresspeople to change laws and policies. (Here is info on how children can contact members of Congress.) You could also keep a journal of antiracist actions your family has taken, questions you have, or feelings on what it would have been like to be part of different ethnic groups throughout America's history.

Purchase

Buy items from AANH/PI creators. You can stock up on gifts, buy household items, jewelry, and more. Here are a few of my favorite options, but I'm sure you can find many more.

Shift Your Language

Consider words and phrases you may use in everyday life that you can shift. This may include things like eliminating phrases like "China virus," "chink," or viewing culturally distinct groups as a monolith. Consider when speaking if you're referring to all AANHPI as a complete group, all Asians, Indian people, etc. Here is a list of other phrases that are racist that you can work to change.

Advocate

Where is racial equity lacking in your community? In your city's access to playgrounds and libraries? In the diversity of literature in your school? Does your classroom highlight a variety of holidays? Is Dr. Seuss Day (whose books often stereotype Asian characters) still important, and could you share other Read Across America resources? Is your school administration and parent/teacher board representative of a variety of perspectives and families (and if not, what can you do to change that)? Ask yourself these questions and figure out areas that need improvement and speak out, discuss, and listen.

Donate

Donate to organizations working toward equity and social justice. Some options are Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Stop AAPI Hate, South Asian Americans Leading Together, and the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. You can find some other options here.

Plan

Finally, plan what antiracist action you will take in the coming days, weeks, and months. Above all, don't allow your family to only celebrate for a month, but commit to continued action. In conclusion, here's a great of simple antiracist actions with kids.

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST WITH AAPI MONTH ACTIVITIES FOR FAMILIES, YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE POSTS TOO:

WANT TO SAVE THESE AAPI MONTH ACTIVITIES AND IDEAS FOR NEXT MAY, PIN THIS POST FOR LATER:

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20+ AAPI Month Activities With Kids: AAPI Month Resources for Families

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This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you click my link but does not change your price. See my affiliate policy here. Happy May! Happy Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander month (AAPI month)!

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https://www.weareteachers.com/aapi-heritage-month-activities/

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Since 1990, May has been designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. This month was chosen to honor the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the United States on May 7, 1843. The transcontinental railroad, which was largely built by Chinese immigrants, was also completed on May 10, 1869. Given the significance of these anniversaries, May is a perfect time to highlight and celebrate the contributions and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in this country. Of course, it's also essential that we extend this recognition year-round. To help you get started, here's a list of AAPI Heritage Month activities to share with students in your classroom.

1. Read books with Asian American characters

Quality children's literature provides students with windows and mirrors: views into the experiences of others and reflections of their own. For your AAPI students, reading stories by Asian American authors and featuring Asian American characters is powerful representation. Check out this list of books with Asian, Asian American, Desi, and Pacific Islander Characters, and filter by age to find something for your grade level.

2. Take virtual field trips to Asia

These resources provide an introduction to different Asian cultures. They're also great for working with students who are visual learners and prefer hands-on activities, but be aware of falling into the "tourist approach" and avoid framing Asian cultures as "exotic":

At-Home Adventures Through Asia: Japan : Learn about language, origami, cherry blossoms, writing systems, and school life in Japan. Prepare for this adventure by downloading these notes .

At-Home Adventures Through Asia: China : Explore Chinese food, festivals, clothing, and games. Also, get ready by downloading the notes.

At-Home Adventures Through Asia: Korea : Spend a week celebrating Korea. First, make a drum. Then create lotus lanterns. After that, play Korean games. And finally, explore the cultural roots of today's Korea. Be sure to download the notes to prepare!

At-Home Adventures Through Asia: Vietnam : Zip through this picturesque country on a moped. After that, create a lotus lantern and play with water buffalo. Inform your journey by downloading the notes in advance.

a few words in Hindi, design colorful At-Home Adventures Through Asia: India : Learnrangoli, and sip on sweet lassi while playing a traditional game. Take time to download the notes to prepare for the adventure!

3. Fold an origami paper crane

Want to make a wish? The Japanese tradition senbazuru says that anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes will have theirs granted. Try it for yourselves! To avoid cultural appropriation, make sure you talk about the significance of the art you're appreciating. For example, cranes have long been a symbol of peace and longevity as well as healing and good health in Asian cultures.

4. Learn how the ukulele came to Hawaii

As one of your AAPI Heritage Month activities, explore cultural stories. For example, discuss this photograph of two young Polynesian women, one playing a ukulele, from Hawaii. Then ask your students to discuss the role the Portuguese played in the birth of this distinctively Hawaiian instrument. This resource tells the tale.

5. Write haiku

Suitable for middle school students, this lesson gives students the opportunity to explore the traditions and conventions of haiku. They will compare this classic form of Japanese poetry to a related genre of Japanese visual art before composing haiku of their own.

6. Discover inspirational Asian American women in music

This one-hour program features Asian American women musicians and performers. Featured artists include Dohee Lee, Ruby Ibarra, June Millington, and MILCK. These powerful women find inspiration from different deep cultural heritage and contemporary genres. Also highlighted is a special message from activist Amanda Nguyen.

7. Listen to music that shaped the Asian migration experience

How did music shape the expression of migration experiences? This collection explores the migration histories of Japanese and Chinese Americans while reflecting on the social power of song. After that, be sure to review the Re-Imagining Migration: A Learning Arc of Revealing Questions , which can be applied to this song collection.

8. Design with geometry like I. M. Pei's polygons

If you're looking for AAPI Heritage Month activities related to math, try this one. First, students compare and contrast design elements in neoclassical and modern architecture using the National Gallery of Art's West and East Buildings. Then students design a geometric pattern using I.M. Pei's polygons. Last, they consider the role of geometry in designing and planning buildings and cities while using lines and polygons to create their own city plan.

9. Explore the golden age of Chinese archaeology

This teaching packet explores new perspectives on the impact of early Chinese culture based on archaeological discoveries. For example, students will study the achievements of Chinese civilizations from the Neolithic period into the Five Dynasties period (5000 BCE to 960 CE) through the exhibition "The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People's Republic of China."

10. Take an artful journey through the Edo period

This program includes a great teaching packet and surveys two centuries of art and culture in the city now known as Tokyo. Learning materials discuss paintings, prints, textiles, screens, ceramics, and armor.

11. Revisit 150 years of Asian American history

This five-hour documentary series from PBS chronicles the ongoing role and impact Asian Americans have had in shaping our nation's history. Spanning 150 years, this series explores immigration, international relations, racial politics, cultural innovation, and more, as told through individual lives and family stories.

12. Learn about 26 Asian American women who changed America

This series of short films highlights the lives and contributions of 26 incredible women who changed America's features. Profiles include Margaret Chung, the first American-born Chinese female doctor; Anna May Wong, a trendsetting movie star; Tye Leung Schulze, an advocate for trafficked women and the first Chinese-American woman to become a federal government employee; and Queen Liliuokalani, the first sovereign queen and last monarch of Hawaii.

13. Examine the Chinese Exclusion Act

Streaming at PBS American Experience, this 2018 documentary examines the Chinese Exclusion Act. Students will learn more about the origin and history of the 1882 law that made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America, as well as its impact on Chinese nationals already here.

14. Contextualize a historic photograph

In this thought-provoking activity, students will be asked to contextualize a photograph while considering the experience of the young Chinese man who was exhibited as part of an ethnographic display at the 1899 National Export Exposition in Philadelphia.

15. Start a discussion about Japanese American incarceration

This activity will introduce students to a variety of documents and photographs to learn about the forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

16. Discuss and challenge school segregation

Students will use an inquiry design model in this activity. For example, they will work through a series of formative performance tasks and supporting questions with featured primary and secondary sources. They will then complete a processing assignment where they will discuss Chinese Americans fighting segregation.

17. Hear the stories of Asian Americans during the Civil Rights Movement

The African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s exposed institutional racism in the United States. Asian Americans also faced discrimination in their shared quest for equality. In fact, some Asian American activists joined the African American civil rights movement. The 1982 murder of Vincent Chin led to a federal civil rights case and marked a turning point for Asian American civil rights engagement.

18. Discuss anti-Asian racism with students

One of Liz Kleinrock's fourth-grade students shocked the class by saying the unthinkable during an important lesson on race. After that, Kleinrock found a way to turn it into a teachable moment. In this TED Talk, she shares how to lead kids through discussions on taboo topics without fear. Before you begin, check out this free Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit .

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18 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Activities for Students

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This collection of AAPI Heritage Month activities will help you create lesson plans for students that are impactful and informative.

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Living in Two Cultures | American Experience | PBS

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Andrew Lam, a California-based journalist, short story writer, and National Public Radio commentator shares his thoughts on Vietnam and America.

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https://www.dw.com/en/why-south-korean-culture-is-a-global-hit/a-60105618

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Last week, I was standing in a huge dance studio - one of 12 - near the top of a funky new office tower just north of the Han River in the South Korean capital, Seoul. The building is home to a company called SM Entertainment, which has strong claims to have invented one of the most potent cultural movements of the 21st century, the phenomenon of Korean pop music - K-pop.

Each generation creates hit factories in its own image. The " SM Culture Universe " was originally the vision of a Korean pop entrepreneur called Lee Soo-man who, after a brief career as a singer and DJ, studied computer engineering in the States in the 1980s. He returned to Seoul "with the dream of globalising Korean music".

In the dance studio, his nephew Chris Lee, now the chief executive, is talking me through all the ways in which this dream came true. To begin with, K-pop idols conquered Asian charts; lately, after the extraordinary success of K-poppers BTS (the biggest-selling band in the world for the past two years, managed by rival conglomerate Hybe), they have been expanding their reach to all corners of the globe. New members of boy bands and girl bands - aged 11 upwards - are recruited by SM each year on long contracts and this building becomes their virtual home. It is designed as an inside-out place, with every room a stage set for press conferences, fan chats and livestreams; one floor is an "artist's house", a place where "idols" can chill or do some cooking (while their fans watch and scream outside); another is a "song camp" where songwriters from across the world are flown in on rotation to create a global sound.

"One of the things we tell [new talent]," Lee says of this operation, "is that they are representing our country. If you were on an Olympic team you would have to be trained and we see no difference. If they want to be the best in the world, it takes a lot of work. They get media training. They study languages so that they can communicate with many different audiences. We teach them how to have good personalities."

One of the most successful products of that system is Taeyong, who joins our conversation. Taeyong is the leader of a group called NCT 127 (NCT stands for "neo-cultural technology", 127 is Seoul's line of longitude). NCT's last album, Sticker, reached No 3 on the US Billboard chart. Like all boy band and girl band members, Taeyong has the bone structure and flawless complexion of an avatar and a kind of androgynous vulnerability. He was, he explains, spotted for his looks by SM talent agents on the street in Seoul a decade ago. "Taeyong didn't dance well at the time," Lee says. "He didn't rap at all. He is now the best dancer, a great rapper. He has lived in this building, in that practising room."

Taeyong is 27, though he could be 17. As the leader of NCT 127, his responsibilities are onerous. K-pop bands are all about accessibility. Taeyong is in near-permanent contact with NCT 127's fan community, partly through a "digital metaverse", a kind of gamers' dreamscape in which fans can meet virtual versions of their idols. (Two years ago, SM launched a new girl band, Aespa, in which there are four real members and four avatar members, each with detailed backstories and virtual lives.) That desire for ubiquity is not just online. "NCT 127 are one of the biggest boy bands in the world," Lee says. "But physically there are nine of them and they are in Korea. They cannot be everywhere in the world all the time." As a result, there are now NCTs in China and plans to roll out versions elsewhere in the world.

The boy band as franchise? "Not a franchise, a cultural brand."

Even before the pandemic, SM was creating online concerts for its groups involving virtual reality and holograms. The current aim is "a 2.0 version of an online concert". One recent live show featuring a roster of SM acts had an interactive livestreaming audience across the globe of 56 million.

Parents, Lee suggests, can be sure that their kids are in safe hands. "We don't sing about sex or drugs or clubs. We don't sell bad dreams but good dreams." That spirit apparently engages K-pop fan armies not so much to lust after their idols but to protect them. There have been high-profile cases of K-pop stars taking their own lives after being targeted by online abuse. Fans of BTS and NCT not only organise 24-hour vigils and legal action against critics and trolls online but also seek to do charitable works in their idols' names. BTS last year addressed the UN on climate change. K-pop appeals, lucratively, to that generation less interested in rebellion than in policing kindness and inclusion.

Before I leave his studios, Lee puts up on a screen aphotograph of where it all started. The picture comes from the Shanghai Evening Post in 2000. The original SM Entertainment boyband, H.O.T., had just held their first concert in Beijing and the newspaper headline coins the idea of "the Korean wave". "There is something very interesting in this photograph," Lee says and zooms in on members of the Chinese crowd who have the Korean flag sewn on their backpacks. "There is only one reason for that flag: because they feel, perhaps for the first time, that Korea is cool."

The collective results of that Korean coolness, which has flourished across the world over the past decade or more - not only in music but also in film and video games and TV and fashion and food - will be celebrated in a major exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London at the end of this month called Hallyu! The Korean Wave. My visit to the K-pop factory was part of a fast tour through Seoul - following the city's principle of ppalli-ppalli (hurry-hurry) - to get a feel for where that Korean wave started and a sense of where it is likely to break next.

In the book that accompanies the V&A's Hallyu! exhibition, SM's Lee Soo-man claims that the Korean entertainment industry has created a new paradigm for cultural export. In the past he suggests, effective "soft power" - notably, the cultural exports of Britain and the US - followed on from economic empire building. The Korean model, by contrast, was "culture first, economics second": export the idea of "Korean cool" and watch Samsung and LG, Hyundai and Kia reap the benefits.

Ever since Elvis, it has been understood that there is no more ardent love than that of teenagers for pop idols. One of the masterstrokes of the government of Korea was to recognise that such love might be weaponised, a force for national good. This project was given greater urgency by South Korea's fragile geopolitics. During my brief hallyu tour, I spent a day up at the border with the north, inside the demilitarised zone, looking through binoculars across the rewilded no man's land at North Koreans going about their business in distant mountain villages.

It is across this border that the bluntest expression of hallyu takes place. For decades, the rival nations have bombarded each other with loudspeaker propaganda. From the north, songs eulogising Kim Jong-un are periodically amplified. From the south, in recent years, the dominant beat has been K-pop - BTS, NCT and Girls' Generation - blasted through vast speakers.

According to some North Korean defectors, the pop barrage is successful. Despite the ban on all outside media, K-pop tracks seem to have become seductive earworms in Pyongyang. Their softly subversive lyrics have been described as "cultural Trojan horses", alongside addictive South Korean soap operas smuggled across on CDs and hard drives. "In the north, dramas and films are all about making sacrifices for the leader," the defector Lee Je-son noted. "But across the border, shockingly, characters are seen to make sacrifices for love." Some commentators compare the effect of samizdat and the Velvet Underground in helping to bring down the iron curtain. There is some evidence that it is having an effect, not least in chilling reports of mass executions of party officials caught with CDs imported from the south.

The sense that hallyu can penetrate the most closed of societies perhaps emboldened Korean creators to believe there was no territory their work could not invade. In her book The Birth of Korean Cool (subtitled How One Country Is Conquering the World T hrough P op C ulture), the Korean-American journalist Euny Hong quotes Korea's influential cultural critic Lee Moon-won about the audacity of that enterprise: "Very few countries have ever attempted to sell their pop culture to the United States." For about a decade, when K-pop and K-dramas were ascendant across Asia, that ambition was stubbornly resisted. The unlikely detonator of the Korean wave in the English-speaking world was Gangnam Style, the 2012 track by the Seoul-based rapper Psy that became the first YouTube video to be viewed a billion times. Gangnam Style - a high-octane dig at the pretensions of Seoul's newly minted and plastic surgery-obsessed elite - vocalised an easy and irreverent spirit at odds with received ideas of the earnestness of Korean culture. It offered dramatic evidence that the west's complacent sense of a monopoly on irony and nuance might be under serious threat.

The global success of Psy's rap could be traced back to the dramatic rises and falls in fortune that have characterised Korean history (the peninsula has been invaded and colonised many times, without ever encroaching on its neighbours). After the Korean war, South Korea was ranked among the poorest nations in the world. With a mixture of authoritarian repression and collective will, the "hermit kingdom" had by the late 1990s turned that around to look like a tech and manufacturing success story. That rise came to an abrupt end with an economic crash in 1997, when the Korean government was forced to ask the IMF for an emergency loan of $57bn. The day of that request is still known as the Day of National Humility. In order to pay off the debt there were many collective sacrifices (including a drive for gold that saw tens of thousands of ordinary Koreans donate wedding rings to the national cause).

The Seoul government still faced serious harm to Korea's credibility as a place to do business. Former president Kim Dae-jung decided that what was needed was a massive exercise in nation rebranding. According to ministers quoted in Hong's book: "Kim marvelled how much revenue the United States brought in from films and the UK from stage musicals. He decided to use those two countries as benchmarks for creating a pop culture industry in Korea."

After the IMF crisis, the president threw money at a new cultural content office, supported by a multibillion-dollar public-private investment fund to promote Korean creative industries and individuals. The effort was galvanised by a flood of cultural imports from Japan (if one thing unites Koreans, it is a long memory about brutal Japanese imperial rule). The drive to eclipse J-pop and J-movies with home-grown culture became a national obsession. Koreans couldn't stop singing. The launch in 2009 of Superstar K, Korea's version of Britain's Got Talent, saw more than 700,000 people apply to audition. By the fourth season in 2012 that number had passed 2 million.

The other strand of the Korean government's rebranding programme was a commitment to a digital future. Broadband was delivered to nearly all Korean households by 2010. One outcome of that early adoption of technology is that the Korean wave tends to blur distinctions between real and virtual worlds. Just as K-pop stars exist both on concert stages and in an imagined metaverse, so esports merge real-world competition and online gaming. During my time in Seoul, I visited the futuristic HQ of T1, the "Manchester United of esports", in Gangnam. As with K-pop, T1 recruits and nurtures teenage stars for its all-conquering League of Legends team. Semi-nocturnal players (the meal schedule at the T1 complex is always one step behind - breakfast is at lunchtime, dinner is in the early hours) are encouraged to interact with armies of fans online, before and after stadium-filling livestreamed matches. Faker - real name Lee Sang-hyeok - the star of the T1 (who looks a little more like Harry Potter than Cristiano Ronaldo), reportedly turned down a $20m salary recently to join a rival team.

For all that virtual interactivity, there is, too, a powerfully traditional sense about much Korean culture. One night in Seoul I had dinner with 84-year-old Shim Young-soon, who is the something like a cross between Delia Smith and Elizabeth David in Korean cuisine. She appeared in her daughter's restaurant wearing stiff Korean silks. Shim has evangelised Korean cooking for 50 years and watched it grow from being the poor relation of world cuisine to an antioxidant-rich, Michelin-star turn.

Kimchi is at the heart of that revolution. The spiced cabbage dish holds a unique place in Korean hearts partly because of the collective memory of kimjang, the communal autumn ritual of massaging vats full of cabbage leaves with red pepper, salt, garlic, ginger and anchovy paste. It was kimchi - fizzing and fermenting in clay pots underground - that got Korea through the harshest winters of its war-torn history.

Shim has travelled through Korean regions collecting dozens of different recipes for kimchi with records dating back to the 15th century. She puts her own health, mental and physical, down to her adherence to the subtle checks and balances of Korean cuisine. Those viral beliefs in kimchi's health-giving properties went properly global, along with K-pop, during Covid. In between brief lectures on the importance of food preparation within a fertile marriage, Shim offered me a long and impassioned argument about the inferiority of Chinese and Japanese versions of the dish. At one point in a fabulous meal, she had a brief coughing fit. She put that down to her daughter's introduction of an "alien" piece of parmesan crisp on an otherwise "true" Korean dish of grilled ribs.

If Korean food wants to celebrate the native authenticity of its origins, however, most of the rest of its culture is exuberantly hybrid. This weekend, the first Seoul Frieze art fair is taking place, cementing the city's reputation as south-east Asia's art capital. Next month in London, there is a festival of crossover K-pop and K-classical. Ten years ago, the critic Lee Moon-won was suggesting that "Koreans are not good at creativity". But just as the tiger economies had imported and copied and eclipsed western manufacturing excellence by the end of the last century, Korean artists have brought home and transformed western ideas of cool.

Nowhere has that effort been more successful than in film. While Hollywood repeats ever-more bloated Marvel franchises, Korean film-makers have learned that 1970s Hollywood trick of making thoughtful, auteur-led films go mainstream. Bong Joon-ho's was a groundbreaking Oscar success - the first foreign language winner of best picture - not for any kind of worthiness but for its brilliant contemporary storytelling, the sharp and resonant things it had to say about inequality and class and poverty and excess - subjects about which mainstream American film is mostly silent. The Netflix blockbuster Squid Game, too, gave a whole new tone of voice to its playful, compulsive, brutal take on late-stage capitalism. Squid Game was the first non-English Netflix show to top global viewing charts, breaking all previous records for the platform ( in its first month, it clocked up 1.65bn hours of viewing compared with what was then the previous best, the first season of Bridgerton, with 625m hours).

Korea has been emulating the effectiveness of those prime movers of soft power, the British Council and the BBC

Its success opens up scope for more Korean exports. While I was in Seoul, a very different Korean drama, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, was a surprise fixture at the top of Netflix's global ratings charts, above the much-hyped adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Extraordinary Attorney Woo is a courtroom series featuring an autistic junior barrister with case-cracking powers of recall. It proves an appetite for Korean kookiness as well as high-concept violence. The star of that show, Park Eun-bin, started out as a child actress on Korean television 27 years ago. She told me how gratifying it was to now be reaching a global audience. She said: "It's fantastic that we can now share a lot more elements of Korea with the world." There was a confidence that nothing needed to be modified to find those viewers, even in the west. "What works here works outside as well."

Bang Jinah is director of the Korean Culture and Information Service. In her 13 years in that department, she has seen the Korean wave move from a ripple to a deluge. "About 10 years ago, we noticed the big shift," she said. "Before that, most of the coverage of Korea in the foreign press was about national defence. And now it is all about culture - K-pop, K-classical, K-movies. There has in this time also been a threefold increase in the number of articles."

I mentioned to her an interesting metric, the annual Good Country Index, which attempts to quantify how effective countries are in selling positive ideas of themselves. Last year, Korea was at No 6 in its list of global cultural influence (Britain was at No 23).

Bang smiled. What they were doing in her department, she suggested, was really trying to emulate the effectiveness of the British Council and the BBC, those prime movers of soft power. She was surprised when I mentioned how the current British government seemed intent on starving that success story, undermining the BBC, slashing the budget of the "woke" British Council, shutting down university creative and design courses. "Why?" she asked. "Search me," I replied. But then I guess that's the thing about waves: for every one that advances, there are always plenty of others in retreat.

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K-everything: the rise and rise of Korean culture

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From music to film, technology to food, the world has fallen in love with everything South Korean. Tim Adams visits Seoul in search of the origins of hallyu - the Korean wave

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Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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Celebrate a month of cultural events across the City.

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https://youtu.be/zZxFLvNLyOY

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May marks Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which celebrates the histories of Americans hailing from across the Asian continent and from the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

This year's theme, selected by the Federal Asian Pacific American Council, is "Advancing Leaders Through Opportunity," which builds on a leadership advancement theme series that began in 2021.

Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate says the month is a time to speak out, share stories and debunk myths about Asian communities, she said. But it's not the only time to celebrate Asian culture or diversity.

"Our history is also filled with incredible stories of resilience, of persistence, of determination, to fight for our basic rights," Choi told NPR. "This is a celebration of our history, of our culture ... and all the different ways in which our community has really demonstrated that we're not only here to stay, we are a part of this fabric - a part of this country."

Before it was a month, it was a week

The month was the brainchild of Jeanie Jew, a former Capitol Hill staffer, who shared the idea with Rep. Frank Horton, who introduced the legislation that formed it.

Jew's great grandfather, M.Y. Lee, left China for the United States in the 1800s before he helped build the transcontinental railroad, according to . Lee became a prominent businessman in California and later traveled to Oregon. He was killed during a period of unrest and anti-Asian sentiment.

"Mrs. Jew turned a personal tragedy in her family history into a positive force," Horton later told Congress in 1992.

In 1977, Horton introduced a resolution that would establish Pacific/Asian American Heritage Week. Sen. Daniel Inouye introduced similar legislation to the Senate.

In the following year, Horton, with cosponsor Rep. Norman Mineta, introduced another related resolution that passed. President Jimmy Carter signed it in October of 1978.

The resolution "authorized and requested" the president to proclaim the 7-day period beginning May 4, 1979 as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. It also called on Americans, and especially educators, to observe the week with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."

Congress later passed legislation to extend the observance to a month in 1990. Two years later, Congress passed another public law to annually designate May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Why May was chosen to commemorate AAPI heritage

The legislation to annually designate May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month referenced two key dates: May 7 and May 10.

May 7, 1843, marks the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States. And May 10, 1869, or Golden Spike Day, recognizes the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S., which had significant contributions from Chinese workers.

The railroad stretched from the West Coast to the East Coast, and 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants were a major part of its construction, according to History.com. Initially, construction superintendent James Strobridge deemed the immigrants unfit for the job. But the railroad needed workers, and many white people weren't interested.

Conditions were brutal in the Sierra Nevada, and Chinese workers weren't receiving the same pay as their white counterparts, according to the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project. Unlike white workers, Chinese workers had to pay for their own food and had to work longer hours, according to the project.

The railroad was fundamental to the development of the American West, according to History.com. It cut travel time across the U.S. from months to less than a week.

This year's theme: Advancing Leaders Through Opportunity

The Federal Asian Pacific American Council - a nonprofit that supports the interests of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the federal and D.C. governments - selected the theme: Advancing Leaders Through Opportunity.

The theme builds on the Advancing Leaders series, which began in 2021 and will run through 2024. Last year's theme was Advancing Leaders through Collaboration.

"When you have diversity at the leadership table, the magnitude of what you can accomplish is enormous," Fahmida Chhipa, FAPAC's vice president, told NPR. "You really expand yourself in the horizons to have something creative and innovative."

The council says this year's theme "further highlights FAPAC's efforts in advancing leaders in the Federal and DC governments," according to a press release.

Choi also emphasized the importance of collaboration.

"We do need to center the experiences of those who've been disproportionately impacted," she told NPR. "And when government not only listens, but implements the recommendations of communities who are closest to those who are being impacted right now, you get better results."

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The story behind Asian Pacific American Heritage, and why it's celebrated in May

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May marks the beginning of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This year's theme is Advancing Leaders Through Opportunity.

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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI Heritage Month) is an annual celebration that recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of individuals and groups of Asian and Pacific Islander descent to the United States. The AAPI umbrella term includes cultures from the entire Asian continent—including East, Southeast and South Asia—and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. As of 2019, there were about 22.9 million people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent in the United States. According to the Pew Research Center, AAPI people are a diverse and growing population that make up about 7 percent of the total U.S. population. AAPI Heritage Month 2022 will take place from Sunday, May 1 to Tuesday, May 31.

Origins of AAPI Heritage Month

The effort to officially recognize Asian American and Pacific Islander contributions to the United States began in the late 1970s, and took over 10 years to make it a permanent month-long celebration.

In 1977, New York representative Frank Horton introduced House Joint Resolution 540, which proposed proclaiming the first 10 days of May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week. Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a similar joint resolution the same year. When the resolutions did not pass, representative Horton introduced House Joint Resolution 1007 the following year, which requested the president to proclaim a week during the first 10 days of May starting in 1979, including May 7 and 10, as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.

After the House and the Senate passed the Resolution, President Jimmy Carter signed it into Public Law 95-419 on October 5, 1978. From 1980 to 1990, each president passed annual proclamations for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week. In 1990, Congress expanded the observance from a week to a month. May was annually designated as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in 1992 under the George H. W. Bush administration with the passing of Public Law 102-540. Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month was renamed as AAPI Heritage Month in 2009.

Why Do We Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month?

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have contributed significantly to many facets of American culture and society, including science and medicine, literature and art, sports and recreation, government and politics, and activism and law. In 2021, Kamala Harris became the first Asian American Vice President of the United States. In film history, AAPI people, stories, and traditions have become more visible with South Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2019 and the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in 2021, debuting Marvel’s first Asian superhero.

AAPI people have a long history in the United States, despite the stereotype that they are “perpetual foreigners,” the idea that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are inherently foreign, other and not truly American. According to the Bering Land Bridge Theory, Asians first migrated to what is now known as North America over 15,000 years ago through a land bridge between Asia and North America. In the 16th century, Filipinos who were escaping forced labor and enslavement during the Spanish galleon trade immigrated to North America, eventually establishing a settlement in St. Malo, Louisiana in 1763. During the California Gold Rush of the 1850s, a wave of Asian immigrants came to the West Coast and provided labor for gold mines, factories and the transcontinental railroad. In 1882, Congress enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese immigration for 20 years.

Japanese and Koreans began immigrating to the United States by 1885 to replace Chinese labor in railroad construction, farming and fishing. However, in 1907, Japanese immigration was restricted by a “Gentlemen’s Agreement” between the United States and Japan. The civil rights movement assisted the liberalization of immigration laws. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act changed restrictive national origin quotas and allowed for the large numbers of Asians and Pacific Islanders to come to the United States with their families. In the mid-1970s, refugees from Southeast Asia like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos came to the United States to flee war, violence, and hardship.

Today, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial group in the United States. AAPI Heritage Month celebrates the unique journey of all AAPI immigrants and citizens in the United States and their unique life experiences, traditions and cultures

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Anti-Asian Racism

Since their immigration to the United States, Asians have been met with xenophobia, racism, bias and violence. Chinese workers were abused, robbed and murdered in San Francisco in the 1850s. In 1854, the California Supreme Court ruled in People v. Hall that people of Asian descent could not testify against a white person in court, meaning that white people could avoid punishment for anti-Asian crimes.

During World War II, from 1942-1945, people of Japanese descent were incarcerated in internment camps across the nation. In 1982, Chinese American Vincent Chin was murdered by two white men in Detroit because they believed Asians were taking auto industry jobs from whites. In March 2021, a man shot and murdered six women of Asian descent at three spas in the Atlanta area.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, racist and xenophobic rhetoric about the origins of the virus led to a spike in anti-Asian racism and violence, with AAPI people of all ages and cultures being verbally and physically harassed and murdered in cities across the United States. 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.

AAPI Heritage Month 2022 commemorates the victims of the 2021 spa shootings along with all other Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have been lost to anti-Asian violence during the pandemic and throughout history.

AAPI Month 2022 Theme

According to the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC), the theme for AAPI Heritage Month 2022 is “Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration.” The FAPAC encourages local and national governments to prioritize collaboration, development, diversity, transparency, and inclusion through leadership training of AAPI people.

Why the Date of AAPI Heritage Month is Significant

The month of May was chosen for AAPI Heritage Month because it commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese people to the United States on May 7, 1843. May is also a significant month because it recognizes Golden Spike Day, May 10, 1869, which marks the completion of the transcontinental railroad that was built with significant contributions from Chinese workers.

- by Minhae Shim Roth

Sources

Asian/Pacific Heritage Month, Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, May 1, 2021, U.S. Department of State.
Asian Pacific American Center, Smithsonian.
Asian Americans Then and Now - Linking Past to Present, Asia Society.
"The long, ugly history of anti-Asian racism and violence in the U.S." by Gillian Brockell, March 18, 2021, Washington Post.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: May 2021, U.S. Census Bureau.

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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI Heritage Month) is an annual celebration that recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of

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May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are instrumental in its future success.

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Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2023

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Paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are instrumental in its future success.

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May is Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America is proud to celebrate and learn more about these cultures and communities with kids across the nation.

24 million people in the United States identify as Asian with 1.6 million identifying as Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or a combination. These diverse communities have enriched this country for generations, from STEM and human rights to art and cuisine, and are critical to our future success.

Boys & Girls Clubs believe that when young people learn about different cultures, their curiosity, perspective and respect for others grow stronger. Inspire the young person in your life with AANHPI Heritage Month activities that grab their attention and hold a special meaning.

What is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month?

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the U.S., with Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders following closely behind. AANHPI Heritage Month gives us the opportunity to recognize the unique experiences, traditions and cultures of people in these communities living in America.

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month began as a week-long celebration in the late 1970s that extended into a month-long celebration in 1990. The month of May was chosen in honor of the first Japanese immigrants who came to the United States and the completion of the transcontinental railroad, which both occurred during May.

Today, AANHPI communities speak over 100 languages in over 50 ethnic groups throughout the U.S., with ties tracing back to Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Hawaiian and other Asian and Pacific Islander ancestries.

What is the new name for "AAPI Heritage Month"?

In 2021, President Joe Biden expanded the name to Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, the same year that Kamala Harris became the first Asian American Vice President of the United States.

This name change represents efforts by Native Hawaiians and the federal government to create a more inclusive celebration, directly recognizing the distinct history and contributions of Native Hawaiians as part of the United States. Boys & Girls Clubs across Hawaii are celebrating the new addition and the recognition of Hawaiian identity on a national level.

Image courtesy of the Vacaville Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club.

The Importance of AANHPI Heritage Month for Kids

AANHPI communities are often overlooked in U.S. history. 42% of Americans cannot name a single Asian American historical experience and only a few states require public schools to teach Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history. Compared to Black and Latino populations, Asian Americans are also the least likely to feel like they belong in the U.S., with those between 18-24 years old feeling the least accepted.

It's important for young people with Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ancestry to feel safe, seen and celebrated - not just during AANHPI Heritage Month, but year-round.

At Boys & Girls Clubs, 3% of youth members identify as Asian and 1% as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander along with a number of staff who represent these groups. During AANHPI Heritage Month and throughout the year, Club members explore and celebrate the many cultures of these communities through special events and activities. In California, the Lunar New Year Celebration at the Vacaville Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club is an annual favorite among kids, featuring lion dances, kung fu lessons and other traditional Asian customs.

AANHPI Heritage Month also encourages us to reflect on Asian American resilience, particularly against the alarming rise in hate crimes we've seen in recent years. These events emphasize the importance of teaching young people about AANHPI history and culture to combat bias and create a kinder world.

"The AANHPI experience in America is so diverse, yet as a community, we are still combatting stereotypes," says Jessica Chao, Public Relations and Corporate Communications Director from our national partner Panda Express. "Feeling seen and celebrated in their individual identity can help young people feel safety and provide a sense of belonging. It's also important that today's youth feel proud of their multi-cultural background, so their experiences can enrich their lives and enable them to reach their highest potential."

Image taken at the grand opening of the Panda Cares Center of Hope at Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta - Douglas County Boys & Girls Club.

How to Celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Kids & Teens

With so many distinct Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cultures represented in the U.S., you may be wondering where to begin planning AANHPI celebrations for your school, afterschool program or family.

Check out these AANHPI Heritage Month activities for kids and teens:

Learn the differences between Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

One of the most impactful actions kids (and adults) can take is understanding the differences between Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. According to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget:

Asian American is defined as "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent." The six largest sub-groups of Asian Americans are from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines and India.

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander is defined as "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands."

Show youth where these countries and territories are using a globe or Google Maps and pull up photos of native plants and animals, architecture in famous cities and more to help them visualize the environments.

Another way to help Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders feel respected is by making a conscious effort to learn their given name. When youth aren't sure how to pronounce the first or last name of someone with AANHPI heritage, advise them to simply ask, and if they forget, ask again! Assure them that there's no need to apologize for not knowing how and to always follow that person's lead on which name they prefer to be called. Have young people get into this practice with teachers, classmates, celebrities and other people they may know. No matter the exchange, simply trying can help others around them feel more accepted for who they are.

Cook up something delicious inspired by AANHPI cultures.

Cooking together is not only a great bonding experience, it's also a time to broaden young people's worldviews through flavors and food. This list of Asian and Pacific Islander recipes to try as a family spans from Hawaiian kalua pork to noodle dishes from Vietnam to fish curry from Fiji.

Shopping for ingredients and new-to-you snacks at Asian grocery stores can also be fun for kids and adults, whether it's at international chains like H Mart or local mom-and-pop shops. Find ways for youth to get involved in the process and serve up delicious new experiences for them to build on and carry into adulthood.

Create a neighborhood map of local AANHPI landmarks.

We don't have to go far to be reminded of the value AANHPI cultures bring to our lives. Explore the influence of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in your community by having youth make an illustrated map of local landmarks.

Courtesy of the Asian Art Museum, this activity allows kids and teens to draw their favorite AANHPI spots that make their neighborhood special, like museums, bookstores, dojos, gardens, boba tea shops, restaurants, mom-and-pop shops and more. Have youth present their maps at school, home or elsewhere to share their go-to places and discover new ones to visit next!

Discuss and practice cultural awareness and empathy.

In addition to celebrations and activities, it's also important to talk about the experiences of AANHPI people with youth. Violence against these communities has been surging since 2020, but nearly one third of Americans are unaware of it.

It's never too early to educate young people about acceptance and inclusion, so, start a dialogue to help them understand these events and how their AANHPI peers might be feeling. Encourage them to ask questions, voice their thoughts and consider ways they can be an advocate, an ally and a friend.

Need more AANHPI Heritage Month ideas for students? Check out our list of age-appropriate activities to immerse kids deeper into Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cultures:

AAPI Heritage Month Activities for Pre-K & Elementary Students

Make a kid-friendly reading list that introduces youth to Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander characters and the unique stories they have to tell. Browse this list of 70 AANHPI Heritage Month books for kids and pick a few new reads for the bookworm in your life.

Have kids roll up their sleeves with AANHPI arts and crafts! "Growing up as an Asian American, I've always loved connecting with my culture and heritage through art and music," says Panda Express's Jessica Chao. "It's amazing how developing cultural curiosity at a young age can strengthen self-identity and understanding of others." Get started with easy and fun projects like these Chinese shadow puppets or paper lanterns from the Panda Cub Club.

Bring the vibrant cultures of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders to life with kids' movie nights inspired by Studio Ghibli, Pixar and other imaginative films. Get started with these family-friendly movies that celebrate AANHPI traditions and combat stereotypes.

AAPI Heritage Month Activities for Middle & High School Students

Asia is home to many languages and styles of poetry - from the haiku and syair to the twin cinema. Grow teens' love of language by learning about these types of poetry together and composing a few of your own.

Take a bystander awareness course with teens to be prepared to assist in de-escalating harmful situations against AANHPI people in real time. Go a step further by searching for local rallies, readings or events near you to attend with teens that advocate for AANHPI communities.

Are there AANHPI leaders who have made an impact where you live? Work with teens to ask schools, Boys & Girls Clubs or other community organizations to organize an event allowing them to share their story, speak on social issues and help mobilize the community.

The list is never-ending for all the ways Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders enrich this nation. This May, and year-round, join us in celebrating them all as we lead the way for younger generations to grow up with empathy for others and pride in their heritage.

Join the Club

Boys & Girls Clubs of America provides safe places, caring mentors and life-enhancing programs to millions of kids and teens annually. Join us on our mission of helping all young people reach their full potential:

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10 Ways to Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with Kids & Teens

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May is Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America is proud to celebrate and learn more about these cultures and communities with kids across the nation. 24 million people in the United States identify as Asian with 1.6 million identifying as Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or a combination.