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VIDEO: ALL IT TAKES IS ONE


VIDEO: ALL IT TAKES IS ONE


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While the concept of a week or month dedicated to the celebration of specific
racial communities isn't new, solidifying May as Asian American and Pacific
Islander Heritage Month took over fifteen years and came down to the tenacity of
one woman.

Jeanie Jew
Working as a Capitol Hill staffer in the mid-1970s, Jeanie Jew approached
Congressman Frank Horton about the idea. Jew had witnessed the bicentennial
celebrations of 1976 and wondered at the lack of Asian American representation.

For Jew, the issue was personal. Her great-grandfather, M.Y. Lee, had come to
the U.S. from China in the 1800s to construct the transcontinental railroad. But
while the Chinese community was pivotal in its completion, Chinese immigrants
often faced widespread brutality instead of gratitude.

They also faced the passage of The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned
Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. for ten years. While Jew’s
great-grandfather eventually became a successful businessman in California, he
traveled to Oregon during a period of heightened anti-Asian unrest and was
killed.

With this family history as her foundation, Jeanie Jew and Congressman Horton’s
Chief of Staff Ruby Moy worked to gain support for the proclamation, and after a
decade and a half of stops and starts, the bill for an annual, national month of
commemoration was finally passed in 1992.

May was chosen for AAPI Heritage Month to commemorate two specific events in
Asian American history: first, the arrival of the first known Japanese immigrant
to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and second, the completion of the transcontinental
railroad on May 10, 1869.

Watch: In this video, AT&T features many of their AAPI employees. Hear about the
many countries they are from, their diverse experiences, and the traditions they
participate in to celebrate their heritage.


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Take Away: Today more than 20.3 million Asian Americans and one million Native
Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders observe AAPI Heritage Month. As primary
sponsor of the legislation, Congressman Horton said of Jeanie Jew, “the
revelations about Mr. Lee and the story of Asian Americans led this one woman to
believe that not only should Asians understand their own heritage, but that all
Americans must know about the contributions and histories of the Asian Pacific
American experience in the United States.”


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VIDEO: ALL IT TAKES IS ONE

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