Happy AAPI Heritage Month

What AAPI Month Means To Our Community Then and Now

May is Asian American / Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a time when the recognizing, reflecting, and celebrating of our history takes place. This month, I think about the barriers and violence that our AAPI have faced from the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Japanese Internment camps, the colonial violence in Hawaii, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands, to the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the Vincent Chin murder, Islamaphobia from 9/11, to the recent Covid-19 anti-Asian hate, and what’s currently been happening in Gaza. I reflect on how these events have impacted our ever-so-evolving and expanding community, where we stand as a collective in this moment, and what it means for our future. Then, there’s the US history that we were taught for so long about Asian/Pacific Islander Americans which was often minimized and invisible. If we were taught about Asians, targeted Asian communities were oftentimes seen as the villains in the narrative (e.g. Vietnam during the war, Japan during WWII, South and West Asians after 9/11) with other communities being mistaken for them. Little had been said about the important contributions of AAPI movement leaders like Grace Lee Boggs and Yuri Kochiyama who paved the way for the AAPI civil rights movement and racial solidarity with BIPOC communities or Fred Korematsu who led the fight for reparations for Japanese Americans who were imprisoned during WWII among many others.

The intentional neglect and erasure of AAPI history have affected our community in a myriad of ways. It prevents us from knowing and taking pride in our history. It prevents us from holding the US government accountable for the harm it caused to communities. It prevents us from seeing the racial solidarity with other communities that have existed, and it takes away the power of being able to tell our narratives and our history.

With each AAPI month that passes each year, more of our stories are being told by people who look like us, thanks to the shifting media landscape. More AAPI folks have created their podcasts, blogs, Tik-Tok, and other social media platforms to share their stories. There’s a growing number of AAPI authors and educators creating books and lessons that involve AAPI history and culture. States like Illinois became the 1st state to include mandated AAPI history in the classroom. There are emerging movements happening that are led by AAPI leaders. Despite the challenges that AAPI in America faces with immigration, housing, living wage, wealth inequities, and intersectional issues (LGBTQ, disability), our voices have become louder and harder to ignore with each passing day. It is in the hopes that this month is not only uncovering and recognizing our full history but also an opportunity to celebrate the potential that this community can achieve beyond the milestones, and head towards a future built on innovation and solidarity.

Corky Lee (1947-2021) “Asian America”

“In all my photographs, I'm trying to include pages that should be in American history books, that have been omitted. I'm practicing photographic justice.”—Corky Lee.

When the AAPI movement began to form during the 1970s, Corky became its living historian through his camera lens. In his posthumous photo collection, Corky captured timeless photographs that documented untold stories of Asian American history. With the editing assistance of Chee Wang Ng and Mae Ngai as well as commentary of his friends and colleagues, Corky’s photo book serves as a grand tribute to his decades-long work and impact in the AAPI community. Corky’s legacy as an activist photographer in his “Asian America” book serves as a reminder of how photographic justice can do so much to undo the erasure that AAPI communities have often endured in the history books and mainstream media. What was not documented in American history, Corky took it upon himself to do the leg work by photographing AAPI-led union strikes, social justice protests, the aftermath of the AAPI community rallying in the wake of Vincent Chin’s murder by a group of white supremacists in the early 1980s, the solidarity of AAPI communities with BIPOC community leaders, the South Asian community in the aftermath of 9/11, and up to the 2020 Covid Anti-Asian hate before his death to COVID in January 2021. In this impressive photo book, Corky takes you into his beloved NYC Chinatown and his capture of AAPI activists Grace Lee Boggs, Yuri and Bill Kochiyama, Helen Zia, and many more. One of my favorite spotlights in this book was his 2014 recreation of the 1869 railroad workers’ celebration photo. Even though Chinese immigrants were largely responsible for the creation of the first US railroads, that photo showed only white railroad workers being celebrated with no Chinese laborers visible. Corky decided to do photographic justice by bringing in descendants of the Chinese railroad laborers into the photo shoot and recreating the iconic shot as both a reminder of the erasure and violence that Asian Americans have endured throughout US history and an important opportunity to restore credit to the community that has often been ignored. His posthumous release serves as a beautiful reminder of Corky’s critical contributions to the AAPI movement and his influence on so many AAPI artists and photographers who are now capturing their history.

Book is available now to order

Don’t forget to check out my podcast interview with AAPI activist Helen Zia as she talks about Corky Lee here.

AANHPI Event 5/18 in Chicago

For those in Chicago, Haibayo is organizing the Argyle AAPI Block Party in the Asia on Argyle neighborhood which coincides with the grand reopening of Qideas Plant Shop on Saturday, May 18th from 10 am - 5 pm. It’s free admission with donations accepted.

The block party will celebrate AAPI month while celebrating the rich long history of the Asia on Argyle neighborhood. There will be live cultural performances, live music, film screenings, history documentation, live art painting, and craft vendors.

Those interested in learning more are encouraged to follow HAIBAYÔ's and Qideas’ Instagram pages (@qideasplantshop and @hai_bayo) for the most up-to-date information.