Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month

May 7

Origins - Brief History

AAPI Heritage Month began as a weeklong celebration in 1978, introduced by U.S. Representatives Frank Horton and Senator Daniel Inouye.

In 1992, it became a full month—May—through a bill signed by President George H. W. Bush.

Why May?

May was chosen to honor two major milestones:

**May 7, 1843** – The first known Japanese immigrant arrived in the U.S.
**May 10, 1869** – Mark the anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, built largely by Chinese immigrants under brutal, discriminatory conditions.

Who Does AAPI Include?

Asian Continent

East Asians (e.g. Chinese, Korean, Japanese)
Southeast Asians (e.g. Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian)
South Asians (e.g. Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan)
Central Asians (e.g. Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik)

Pacific islands of Melanesia
- New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands
Micronesia
- Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia
Polynesia
- New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island

Why it Matters

AAPI Heritage Month isn’t just celebration—it’s education and resistance.

We honor:

Resilience in the face of exclusion, internment, and erasure.
Cultural contributions in food, arts, science, labor.
Resistance to anti-Asian hate, xenophobia, and colonialism.

Prevent Hate

Hate against the AAPI community has increased in the past decade, with 49% of people reported having faced hate in the past year according to Stop AAPI Hate.

AAPI communities continue to face: