Reflecting on Change and New Beginnings during Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is celebrated each year in May. AAPI communities, especially in the past two years, have also taken this time to sound alarms around rising anti-Asian sentiments and attacks against AAPI communities. As Asian Americans and colleagues, we appreciate our ability to support these efforts through our work at Conduent Healthy Communities Institute (HCI).

Conduent HCI supports communities across the U.S. in identifying and addressing the social determinants of health and root causes impacting health, including racist and discriminatory practices. We also appreciate the support we have through Conduent’s Employee Impact Group, the Conduent Asian Network. It has been energizing to have a space to share our experience and to do so with colleagues who identify as Asian across Conduent’s global offices.

Alison’s family history in America goes back many generations while my family immigrated to America almost 40 years ago. Yet our families’ identity as Americans is still often questioned. This year’s observance month theme of “Change, Adaptability, and New Beginnings” gives us a new lens to view our individual and collective histories and consider what is to come.

In May, Conduent associates can participate in a global event to hear from a survivor of a Japanese American internment camp during World War II. At the time, 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were forcibly detained without due process. Sharing this story is important in showing how our communities have adapted to impossible challenges and still managed to forge a path forward.

As we celebrate AAPI Heritage Month this year, we take heart in these lessons about how our communities have adapted to change as we move forward together in 2022:

We are not a monolith.

According to the U.S. Census, there are 24 million people who identify as Asian and 1.6 million people who identify as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander living in the United States, with origins in over 30 counties including China, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Laos, American Samoa, Guam, and many more.

These numbers show that AAPI make up a considerable and growing portion of the U.S. population. However, it is important to note that these groups are culturally and historically different — and each individual, family, and community has come to America at different times and under different circumstances. Because of this, AAPI groups have long advocated for disaggregation of data when reporting statistics to better tell the diverse stories of our communities.

We are part of American history.

AAPI communities have been a part of American history from the beginning. However, policies banning AAPI communities from immigration, naturalization, attending public schools, or owning land have obscured AAPI’s place in American history. Pacific Islanders have lived in the island nations in the Pacific Ocean for thousands of years. The Pacific Islands became American territories beginning in the early 1900s. In continental North America, Filipino sailors settled in the Louisiana Bayou in the 1700s.

AAPI have helped fuel America’s economy throughout its history. Chinese laborers helped to build the transcontinental railroad, which connected the two American coasts in the 1800s and later helped form the San Francisco Bay Delta, which supports California’s agriculture to this day.

As anti-Chinese legislations were enacted, Japanese, Filipino, and Asian Indian American laborers would also all make considerable contributions to farming and other industries in America. AAPI have also made significant contributions to cultural institutions. For instance, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum was designed by Chinese American I.M. Pei, while Japanese American, Minoru Yamasaki designed the original World Trade Center.

We are innovators.

AAPI have been responsible for many innovations throughout U.S. history. Wong Tsu, a Chinese American, helped launch commercial aviation in the early 1910s. Wong Tsu was integral in designing the Boeing Model C, Boeing’s first successful plane used as a military plane then later to carry passengers.

Some more recent AAPI innovations are highlighted in this article. They include the N95 mask worn by healthcare providers and first responders to protect from respiratory diseases. It was invented by Dr. Peter Tsai, a Taiwanese American materials scientist. USB technology, which allows users to easily connect different components to computers was invented by Indian American computer architect, Ajay Bhatt. Love scrolling through YouTube? You can thank Taiwanese American entrepreneur, Steven Shih Chen, the company’s first chief technology officer. If you’re reading this on a newer phone, tablet, or monitor, it’s likely using organic light-emitting diode (OLED) co-invented by Dr. Ching Wan Tang, a Hong Kong American physical chemist.

We are advocates for justice.

AAPI also have a rich history of advocacy in America. This includes the formation of the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association in 1903 and the United Farm Workers movement led by Larry Itliong (a Filipino American) and Cesar Chavez in 1965. In the 1960s and 1970s, Asian Americans such as Yuri Kochiyama, Richard Aoki, and Grace Lee Bloggs worked alongside Black civil rights activists, like Malcom X. In 2016, Asian Americans helped create “Letters for Black Lives,” with letters in multiple Asian languages to help start intergenerational conversations about racial justice.

The 2020 Census data on voting showed that Asian Americans increased their voter turnout rate by more than any other racial or ethnic group between the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections. There are a growing number of AAPI representatives in local, state, and federal offices, including Vice President Kamala Harris who is of Asian descent. In 2021, we celebrated as the U.S. Congress passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which is meant to address hate-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic largely aimed at AAPI communities.

This year, as we celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, we hope there will be many more acts that bridge our divides, show our humanity, and lead to new beginnings.