Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month – May 2024

Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (designated 1990) celebrates the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) in the United States. The AANHPI umbrella term encompasses cultures from the entire Asian continent, including East Asia, Southeast and South Asia, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

Observed annually in May, AANHPI Heritage Month is a time to reflect upon and celebrate the remarkable role of the AANHPI community in the nation’s history. The month of May was selected to reflect the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States in May 1843, as well as the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in May 1869, which was built largely by Chinese workers. This year’s AANHPI Heritage Month theme is: “Bridging Histories, Shaping Our Future.”

On Terminology:

The term “Asian American” was created in 1968 by student activists Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka in an effort to unify the political identity of different groups of people of Asian descent. With the Black Power Movement, the American Indian Movement, and anti-war movements expanding, Gee and Ichioka named their student organization the “Asian American Political Alliance” to increase the visibility of activists of Asian descent and to consolidate their efforts. The term “Asian American” also pushed back against the usage of the Euro-centric term “Oriental” to refer to Asians in the United States, which holds racist and colonialist connotations.

In the 1980s, the “Asian American” umbrella term expanded to include Pacific Islanders under the denomination “AAPI.” In 2021, the Biden Administration proclaimed the month of May to be to “AANHPI Heritage Month,” thus officially including the Native Hawaiian designation in the month’s title for the first time. Though the term AANHPI is widely accepted, it is important to remember that it encompasses myriad communities from dozens of countries.

Celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month:

Events and activities:

• May 4: Music of Cambodia – free performance at Harold Washington Library
• May 4-26: AAPI Heritage Month Cultural Festival – Heritage Museum of Asian Art
• May 11: Hula Dancing – Zen Life & Meditation Center
• May 17-23: Asian American Film Showcase – Gene Siskel Film Center
• May 17-26: AAPI Restaurant Week – Chicagoland Area
• May 17 & 19: Asian Pacific Heritage Festival – Zhou B Art Center
• May 18: Asia on Argyle Block Party – Argyle Corridor

Monthlong Exhibitions:

• The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
• A Sign of Things to Come: Prints by Japanese Women Artists after 1950 – Art Institute of Chicago
• Cyrus Tang Hall of China – Field Museum
• Heritage Museum of Asian Art
• Chinese American Museum of Chicago

Sources: EDSITEment!.org, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage and History in the U.S., Federal Asian Pacific American Council, AANHPI Resource Center., Library of Congress, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, Minhae Shim Roth, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month