Not only has spring fully arrived, but now that we are in the month of May, Project by Project is celebrating two important events: AAPI Month and Give in May! May is an important month for PbP to highlight the diversity and richness of the AAPI community and remember our goal to address the needs of the community. Over the course of this month, we will be posting about both of these events on our various platforms.

Celebrating AAPI Month

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) month is observed annually in May to celebrate the contributions of AAPIs to American history, society, and culture. The origin of AAPI month was in 1977 when Congress introduced joint resolutions, designating the first 10 days of May as AAPI Heritage week. For the next decade, presidents passed annual proclamations for AAPI week until 1990 when Congress expanded it to a month. In 1992, Congress formally designated May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

Why do we celebrate in May?

May was chosen for several reasons. The first Japanese immigrants arrived to the United States on May 7, 1843. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed on May 10, 1869, and the majority of the workers who worked on the railroad were Chinese immigrants.

What does the AAPI population look like?

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the fastest growing racial group in the United States. It is important to note AAPI is an umbrella term that includes cultures from the entire Asian continent and the Pacific Islands. According to the 2020 Census, there are 20.6 million people in the U.S. who identify as Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, which is 6.2% of the total U.S. population. To further acknowledge the diversity of the Asian diaspora, there are 21 different detailed groups in the United States categorized under “Asian” and 23 different languages originating from Asia spoken. The AAPI population is also distributed unevenly across the U.S. with three states—Hawaii, California, and New Jersey—comprised of 10% or more people identifying as Asian.. 

Why do we celebrate AAPI month?

We want to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to American culture and society. Only in the past few years have the achievements of AAPIs been highlighted more frequently in media (such as Everything Everywhere All At Once at the Oscars this year), but there is so much more that should be celebrated and rewarded. AAPIs are contributing to sports, science, art, literature, government, activism, and much more. Their stories, people, and traditions have only recently become more visible.

Though AAPIs have a long history in the United States, there is a stereotype that they are “perpetual foreigners,” which is the false, harmful claim that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are not truly American. Asians first migrated to North America over 15,000 years ago. In the 16th century, Filipinos were escaping to North America due to forced labor and enslavement. In the gold rush of the 1850s, Asian immigrants arrived on the West Coast, helping to build the infrastructure that was so vital to America’s growth. Instead, the reward was Congress passing the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, banning Chinese immigration for 20 years. It was not until the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act that quotas were changed and Asian immigration was allowed in larger numbers. In the mid-1970s, refugees from Southeast Asia came to the United States to escape war, violence, and hardship.

Since Asians first immigrated to the United States, there has been a long history of anti-Asian racism that is still present today. There are examples like the Japanese internment camps in World War II or the brutal Vincent Chin murder in 1982 by two white men who believed Asians were taking their jobs. Those might seem like eras ago, but the racist and xenophobic rhetoric toward AAPIs has surged with the recent COVID pandemic. As just one of many horrific statistics, the FBI documented a 77% increase in hate crimes against Asians from 2019 to 2020 in the United States.

It is important to acknowledge that there can be both: Asian American representation in media has increased, but obstacles the bamboo ceiling, anti-Asian attacks particularly on the elderly, and model minority myth remain. May is an important month to celebrate the journey of Asian Americans and their experiences, achievements, and traditions.

This month, we’ll be sharing some content on our Instagram about Asians in America—AAPI-focused organizations you can support, important AAPI figures in history, and literature by AAPI authors writing on Asian identity. We hope you follow along and contribute how you can!

Give in May

We’re also announcing the return of Give in May, a fundraising campaign during the month of May held in honor of AAPI Heritage Month. It is a nationwide annual challenge hosted by the Asian Pacific Fund that supports nonprofits dedicated to addressing the needs of the AAPI community. It’s an opportunity for our communities to come together in the face of crisis and use the power of generosity to generate hope and healing, and given the continued impact of the pandemic on the AAPI community (i.e. higher rates of fatality, unemployment and rise in racism/hate crimes), nonprofits on the frontlines need your support now more than ever.

Donations made through Give In May to nonprofit organizations are 100% tax-deductible (Donations MUST be paid through the MightyCause platform to be eligible for matching prizes).

This year, thanks to Dutch Brother’s Foundation & TAAF (The Asian American Foundation), there will be various categories that nonprofits can win prizes for, including: 1) Most Money Fundraised and 2) Most Unique Donors. Historically, PbP has won the Most Unique Donors challenge, which comes with an extra $12,000 prize. This year, all three chapters have committed to raising $8000 total, and you can help us reach that goal! You have until May 31st, 2023 to donate.

FAQ

Q. Can PbP win more than one prize?

A. No, PbP can only win one prize. If PbP is in the top 3 for both categories then PbP will receive the reward with the higher value.

Q. What is considered a unique donor?

A. A unique donor is a single individual who is making a gift (i.e. Jeremy Lin). Unique donors are identified by their first and last names and an email address entered at the time of the donation transactions. A person can be a unique donor to multiple nonprofits (meaning that if Jeremy Lin made a gift to group A and a gift to group B, they would count as a unique donor for each group). However, if one person makes multiple donations to the same nonprofit, they are counted as one unique donor for that nonprofit.