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Celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month this May

Friday, April 29, 2022

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the 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) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island). 

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks, including in Oregon, were Chinese immigrants. 

Today, Asian Americans and immigrants from Asia are Oregon’s fastest growing groups. The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in Oregon is also increasing in diversity, with Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Marshallese making up the largest growing AAPI communities in the state.  

CCC recognizes the robust and diverse cultural history of AAPI in our community. We stand in solidarity with AAPI communities nationwide and condemn the traumatic and hateful anti-AAPI violence that has surged devastatingly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we wish to recognize the need for spaces of healing, joy, connection, celebration, and community this month and beyond. 

Ways to Celebrate 

Support local AAPI-owned businesses. 

Visit Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Portland Chinatown Museum, Lan Su Chinese Garden or Portland Japanese Garden. 

Learn about AAPI history from the official U.S. government page. 

Sign up for virtual bystander intervention training. Right to Be offers trainings on stopping anti-Asian/American and xenophobic harassment, among other trainings.  

Listen to the new album from The Linda Lindas, an Asian and Latinx punk band comprised of teenage girls.  

See the exhibition “I Am an American: Stories of Exclusion and Belonging.” This important presentation includes photographs, objects and conceptual art, all designed to draw attention to the experiences of Asian Americans. 

Get tickets to Fear No Music: Asian Resilience and Joy, an exuberant, colorful performance of new work by composers from the vast Asian diaspora.  

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