Happy AAPI Heritage Month!
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have significantly contributed to many arenas of American culture and society. To honor and celebrate those contributions, May is annually dedicated to highlight AAPI Heritage.
Did you know?
AAPI is an umbrella term to include cultures from East, Southeast, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. According to the U.S Census, as of 2020, there are around 20.6 million people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent in the United States.
Dive into History
AAPI Heritage month is more than an emblematic gesture of recognition, but one that was lawfully created.
In the late 1970s, New York Congressman Frank Horton and Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inoyue’s pushed efforts to recognize the first 10 days of May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week through the House Joint Resolution 1007. After the House and Senate passed the Resolution, President Jimmy Carter officially signed it into a Public Law 95-419 on October 5, 1978.
As the recognition continued with each president, the AAPI Heritage week expanded in 1992, as what we know today, to the AAPI Heritage month.
As the month of May and AAPI Heritage Month concludes, we wanted to share some campus resources to those interested in expanding their knowledge about Asian American and Pacific American culture.
UIC Campus Resources:
Asian American Cultural Resource Center
https://aarcc.uic.edu/
Anti-Asian Bias Tools and Resources
https://aarcc.uic.edu/anti-asian-bias-tools-and-resources/
Community Resources for Advocacy
https://aarcc.uic.edu/resources-2/community-resources/
Reference
A&E Television Networks. (n.d.). Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/asian-american-pacific-islander-heritage-month
