My name is Easten Law and I am proud to be a Chinese-American.  This is a video I made as a submission for the APIA White House Initiative Video Essay Project. Through teaching and service in both the United States and China, I have formed a passion for intercultural dialogue and a keen awareness of the importance of cultural identity.  As an educator and advocate, my goal is to train up others to become aware of their own cultural heritage in order to be authentically engaged in the heritage of others.

My name is Noriko. This is a statue made by sculptor Nina Akamu, which stands at the Japanese American Memorial in Washington DC.  This crane is a symbol of strength, hope and unity for people from all cultures and nationalities, and serves as a testament to the patriotism of the Japanese American community. The memorial serves as a gathering place for a variety of APA events.  I often bring out-of-town visitors to this memorial to reflect upon the imprisonment of Japanese Americans in the U.S. during WWII, and hopefully, they will realize that this also stands as a memorial to the future - which conveys the message that such an event should never be repeated.

My name is Margery Gordon and I have been working as an educator for more than 30 years in the Smithsonian, mostly at NMNH. This is a picture of me and Mr. Kwon.

So you might ask:”What is a nice Jewish girl doing wrapped up in these programs?”  To answer: The experience has changed my life—from observing Vichai’s caring to organize an Asian American festival each year,  to admiring Nit’s prowess carving fruit or observing Mr. Kwon’s expert virtuosity with Korean calligraphy; I proudly celebrate my Asian-Pacific American friends and their achievements.

My name is Sojin Kim. This is a pomelo that my parents left on their dining room table after a recent meal. What I see here is not simply a fruit common in parts of Asia (sometimes called  “Chinese grapefruit”; and remembered as  “summer orange” by my mom, who grew up in Korea during the 1930s). What I see is a strategy for addressing the near impossibility of polishing off an entire pomelo in one sitting—a small, domestic example of that no-nonsense, waste-nothing, ever-creative, let’s-see-if-this-will-work, old-school immigrant know-how that can be at once odd and inspiring, practical and visionary.

My name is Vichai Malikul and this is a fruit carving by my wife. I came from Thailand in 1967 and started working as a Scientific Illustrator at the National Museum of Natural History.  In 1986, my wife Nit & I organized the first NMNH/Asian Arts & Crafts Demonstration Day. We began, only a few Asian Pacific American craftspeople participated—Thais, Laotian, Indonesian and Chinese. Over the years it grew like wildfire encompassing many Asian-Americans from different countries. It has been a great achievement to see all these talented people come together and show their heritage wares and beautiful techniques and skills.

My name is Barbara. This is a photo my mom took of me and my dad in 1964. He’s the reason I’m part Japanese. He was born near Tacoma Washington, so he was a citizen, but still ended up in a relocation camp in Idaho. We have his id from when he left the camp to work in Montana, and his discharge from the US Army, Military Intelligence. He was an early member of the Japanese American Citizens League, and helped Washington State University get’s its Asian American Studies Program started. That’s where I first met students from Hawaii, and it was nice to find out that some things don’t have to be the way they are. Maybe you can change them.

My name is Christine Chou and this is a stuffed animal my grandmother made for me when I was a child. She brought it over during one of her yearly visits from Taiwan. Now that she no longer visits so often, it’s a reminder of the many things I miss about her - her cooking, stories of growing up in China, but especially her cooking! it’s also a reminder of the physical distance which separates us, like many Asian American children who have generations of family members overseas.

My name is Sameen.

My name is Gina.

My name is Pawan.

My name is Jina Lee, and I am the co-chair of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Heritage Committee.  This is a video of me playing the Korean traditional folk song called “My Hometown’s Spring” on the piano. My heritage is Korean-American, and I wanted to express that through music, since I’ve been a pianist almost my whole life.  In honor of APA Heritage Month, here is my rendition of this beautiful folk song.  Enjoy!

My name is Chris Mah and this is the starfish Solaster (aka a sun star-like the Smithsonian symbol!).  As an evolutionary biologist I respect the long and resilient lineage of sea stars with their 450 million year history.  Seeing how a species like this continues to be successful into the modern day inspires me to look at my own family history and lineage.  How has the environment affected my family and how they have settled throughout the world?  One thing that does seem clear is that much like the evolution of sea stars, my family lineage has had a long and unique history resulting in derived and interesting descendants!  Happy Asian Pacific Heritage Month!

My name is Jennifer Chen.  And this is my daughter, to whom I will pass the Chinese stories and heritage that my grandparents passed to me as a child.

My name is Molly Higgins.