The Heroes Among Us
Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
The month of May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asian and Pacific Islanders and their contributions in the United States, as designated by the US Congress. This is a relatively new commemorative month, one that didn’t exist when I was a child. LIke other commemorative months, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month originated in Congress, first as a week in 1978 and then expanded into a month-long event in 1992, making this May the thirtieth year of this month-long celebration of Asian/Pacific Islander’s contributions to American history and culture.
Congress chose May as the month to commemorate Asians/Pacific Islanders because the first Japanese immigrated to the United States on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869 honors the Chinese immigrants who were the majority of the workforce who laid the tracks making coast-to-coast train travel possible. But this month goes far beyond just Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans.
The continent of Asia is made up of 48 countries according to worldatlas.com, divided up into five large regions: East Asia (China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia), Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan), and West Asia (often thought of as the Middle East includes: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.)
A very broad term, Asian/Pacific also encompasses all of 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). Adding another 24 Pacific island nations to the 48 Asian countries for a potential 72 “homelands” from which Asian/Pacific Americans might have immigrated from. These homelands represent even more languages, cultures and subcultures! No one story alike, no journey is the same.
By now, you might have guessed that I love geography and finding countries on maps! I also wanted to show how diverse Asia and the Pacific “homelands” are of the millions of immigrants throughout US history. Whether they came to work, for education, or to be with family that came earlier, I think it's fair to say that they came for greater opportunities overall. And that’s the same reason immigrants still come to the US from all over the world today.
I’ve thought a lot about how courageous my grandfather Seima was to come to California in 1916 from Japan by ship, not speaking English or understanding the customs of the West. And when he married my grandmother, Masako, how adventurous she was to follow him, leaving her whole family in Japan to sail to America in 1921. They came for the opportunity to work, to be Americans and farm in California. They first worked on a farm, then were able to lease land to farm on their own. They were farmers here in California for the rest of their lives and it all started with a big leap of faith to leave their homeland for more opportunity here.
Despite the many differences in culture, language, and lifestyle, and the many difficulties, hardships, and sacrifices they made to live in America, they persevered in true “gambatte” style. I can’t imagine all the culture shock they experienced - a real experience of every immigrant who came to America. They didn’t give up even when they were separated and incarcerated during WWII because they looked like the enemy due to their Japanese heritage. They didn’t give up when grandpa was falsely accused of being a spy for Japan and sent to a Dept. of Justice center. They didn’t give up when the local government took their land under “eminent domain” and they had to find another field to farm. They just didn't give up. If I had to sum it up in one word, they endured the hardships and were resilient!
They knew who they were and worked hard to overcome the injustice. They were grateful for what they did have and shared it with family, friends, and neighbors. They chose to move forward despite what they endured with hope for a better future. They believed they “belonged” here and fought hard to prove it. Their model and legacy of resilience and endurance is the best gift that I could receive from them.
While there are many more famous Asian/Pacific Americans, this May, I’m honoring my grandparents Seima and Masako Munemitsu, Japanese “pioneers” to America, and the thousands of other Japanese Issei who immigrated so that their families could have better lives and more opportunities in America.
This May, what Asian/Pacific Americans might you honor this month? A family member, friend, neighbor, mentor, or colleague for their contributions to your life, community, neighborhood, school? Let’s honor them and in the process learn more of their story of resilience and endurance amidst trials. “Gambatte!”
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