As Asian Pacific American Heritage Month comes to a close, the Purpose team has been reflecting on the representation of Asian Pacific American stories in our society, and uplifting those untold stories.
Altogether, in the United States, Asian Pacific Americans come from over 40 racial and ethnic subgroups and represent hundreds of languages. Despite covering a vast portion of the world, with significantly different cultural contexts, these cultures frequently get grouped together in a way that doesn’t do any of them justice.
And while we frequently turn to current cultural contributions of Asian Pacific Americans during this month, it is also critical to turn to American history to acknowledge the longstanding influence of Asian Pacific Americans. Though they are not the stories that are featured in American history books often enough, Asian Pacific American leaders and innovators have been present in every era of American history, representing different fields and areas of influence on American society. Not only were these leaders major influences on advancing society in their own times, but also have made a lasting impact on the society we live in today.
While just a small snapshot of stories from across the diverse landscape of Asian racial and ethnic cultures, we hope that this look at Asian Pacific American leaders over the past several decades will help to uplift these stories in American history, in a world that will push to rewrite the history books to include them.
Asian Pacific American influence in every era:
50s-60s:
Patsy Mink, attorney & congresswoman
Patsy Mink was born in Hawaii and was the The First Woman of Color in Congress in 1964. Due to her interracial marriage and gender, Patsy faced discrimination from many larger law firms when pursuing her career in law. She co-authored Title IX to prevent gender discrimination in higher education, and was also the first Asian American to run for president (in 1972, on an anti-war platform.) Patsy fought through discrimination as a congresswoman such as being called “diminutive” and “exotic” by the press, being banned from using facilities like the House of Representatives’ gym, and being regularly criticized for choosing her career over her family. In 2014, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Mink — his former congresswoman — the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Read more about Patsy Mink: No One Would Hire Her. So She Wrote Title IX and Changed History for Millions of Women. Meet Education Trailblazer Patsy Mink
60s-70s:
Yuri Kochiyama, civil rights activist
Yuri Kochiyama was a Japanese American, born in California and deeply impacted by her internment in a concentration camp in 1943. Yuri was the leader of the Asian American movement in New York City and worked with Malcolm X and Black Power organizations. Leader of the Asian AmericanLasting impacts of her building up an Asian American movement to connect with the Black liberation movement.
“When asked the legacy she hoped to leave behind, Kochiyama simply said, ‘Build bridges, not walls.’” Read more: Asian American Activism: The Continuing Struggle
Ronald Takaki, academic & historian
Ronald Takaki was an American academic, historian, ethnographer and author born in Hawaii, the grandson of Japanese immigrants. A common theme throughout his work is tackling stereotypes of Asian Americans, like the concept of the model minority. He took on racism & multicultural America in a myriad of ways, like using his writing to include Asian-Americans and other ethnic groups excluded from traditional accounts of American history. He was also responsible for helping to create the first doctoral program in ethnic studies in the United States.
Read more: Race Relations Scholar Takaki’s Impact Unabated
80s- 90s:
Maya Lin, Architect & designer of Vietnam memorial
Maya Lin was born in Ohio and is the daughter of Chinese immigrants, and is best known as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, one of the most influential post- World War II memorials. She is also known for her environmental installations and Incorporating themes of environmentalism into her designs, Maya’s work has been hailed for its innovation and sustainability.
Read more in TIME Firsts: Women Leaders, Maya Lin
Kalpana Chawla, Astronaut
Kalpana Chawla was an American astronaut, engineer, and the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. Kalpana was born in India and immigrated to the United States in the 1980s. Kalpana died when the space shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas in the US in 2003. She completed many successful experiments and satellite deployment on her two missions in space, and was often referred to as “the wonder woman of space.” She was proud of her Indian heritage and sent a special message to India from outer space.
Read more: REMEMBERING KALPANA CHAWLA: ASTRONAUT, INSPIRATION, THE FIRST INDIAN WOMAN IN SPACE.
00s-today
Ocean Vuong, poet
Ocean Vuong is a Vietnamese American poet. He is best known for his debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, which he has said he wrote in a closet, and has received a Macarthur Genius Grant, along with a multitude of other writing and poetry awards. His immigrant heritage is a heavy influence on his work, as long as refugeeism, war, and history.
Read more: War baby: the amazing story of Ocean Vuong, former refugee and prize-winning poet.
Queen Muhammad Ali, film director, artist, activist
Queen Muhammad Ali is anAmerican award-winning film director, photographer, graphic design artist, multimedia activist, lecturer, television producer, humanitarian, writer, and visual anthropologist. She is the great-granddaughter of Eastern American Samoa’s late Paramount Chief Tuli Le’iato and an advocate for the rights of indigenous people. Queen was one of the organizers of the Indigenous People’s March in 2019 and did a TEDx talk about anthropological activism.
Cathy Park Hong, poet & author
Cathy Park Hong is a Korean American poet and author. She has published three volumes of poetry and frequently tackles the complexities of the Asian American identity. Her recently released book, Minor Feelings: An Asian American reckoning, is part memoir and part cultural criticism examining Asian racial identity vs. American optimism.
Read more: Poet Cathy Park Hong on ‘Minor Feelings’ and this moment in Asian America.
Jose Antonio Vargas, journalist, filmmaker, activist
Jose Antonio Vargas is a journalist, filmmaker, and immigration rights activist. He was born in the Philippines and raised in the United States since the age of 12 Jose won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2008 for coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting. Jose is a vocal advocate for the DREAM Act, and revealed his status as an undocumented immigrant in 2011 in the New York Times magazine. He founded a non-profit called Define American and is a voice on the broken immigration system in the United States.
Learn more about Jose: Define American, Jose’s story.
We’d also like to share these lists of current cultural contributions, compiled by other outlets, that represent Asian Pacific American perspectives. While it remains the ultimate goal to have diverse Asian perspectives included across all sectors year-round, seeking out stories from these underrepresented communities can prove to be a beneficial stepping stone to lifting these voices:
for Equity & Evidence