APAHM 2018, CAAM Presents

#MyAPALife 2018 Highlights

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Image from Mitzi Uehara Carter.
Here are some of the awesome photos you shared for #MyAPALife during May!

As APA Heritage Month concludes, we’d like to share some highlights of posts you’ve shared!

CAAM, PBS, World Channel/America ReFramed, Pacific Islanders in Communications, POV and American Experience teamed up during APAHM for #MyAPALife, a social media campaign that kicked off off May 1. We asked you to share about your family, who inspires you, your history, and more!

Thank you for being a part of using images to make #APA history.

@CAAM @PBS For APA heritage month I wanted to honor my parents. They came to this country in the 90s leaving behind everything they knew and held dear – they wouldn't see their family again for decades later, theyd have to learn to adapt to a culture they weren't necessarily comfortable with, and gave up a life they understood, all so me and my sister could have a better education and life. For a lot of our youth, it was a struggle – financially, socially, even medically. But year after year we continue to see progress and we're happy to call the US our home. I feel that as immigrants who have been fortunate, its our responsibility to ensure that the American dream continues to be able to provide for individuals all over the world who are looking for that refuge. #myapalife #apaheritagemonth #immigrants #asiansquat #90s #immigrantsgetthejobdone #90skid #dreamers #tbt #throwbackthursdays

A post shared by Sharjeel Hanif (@jeelybeans) on

Happy #AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (and what a gorgeous day it is in Chicago)! Here's 10-year-old me on a typical weekend night, giving my stuffed animals different hairstyles, as you do. (The other photos in this ~series~ include ones of Pochacco—my fave back then—being stylish in my scarf.) Also I had that same sweater in different colors and deliberately got them at least two sizes too big. Anyway, my #AAPIHM exhibit is now on view at the West Chicago Avenue Branch of @ChicagoPublicLibrary in the neighborhood of Austin! http://www.chipublib.org/news/art-exhibit-by-jenny-lam-at-west-chicago-avenue-branch It's a handful of photos I took on my phone while traveling along the Silk Road in Western China, and it'll be up throughout May. (Fitting that my own Journey to the West is chronicled in a westside community.) Also, be sure to check out my ongoing series, ABC in HK, in which I interview #Chinese Americans currently living in Hong Kong and amplify their stories, struggles, triumphs, and dreams: http://artistsonthelam.blogspot.com/search/label/ABC%20in%20HK (And if you'd like to participate, email me! The call for voices is at http://artistsonthelam.blogspot.com/2018/01/call-for-voices-abc-in-hk.html) #APAHM

A post shared by Jenny Lam (@artistsonthelam) on

When photographer @brentherrig reached out to me last year about being part of his Spoonful of Inspiration series, I was super ultra nervous. He can testify to me saying repeatedly I was “very stressed” during our shoot because I really didn’t know how to capture all the things I love about food at large and my food and my culture’s food and my personality in just one ?! . Naturally I had to choose an Asian soup spoon because it has become the utensil de résistance of my kitchen. Let’s be real here: Asian soup spoons are way better for soup drinking than any other spoon. No spillage, maximum slurpage?? It’s also been a way for me to own the commentary “that’s so Asian of you”. I think most Asian-Americans will agree there’s a lot to unravel behind that statement. While sometimes it’s said in jest (usually by another Asian), many times it belies a quiet vein of “otherism”. Most of my life I ran away from my Asianness because I didn’t want to be labeled a “fob” (a whole other tag to discuss); I wanted to be accepted. But fitting in shouldn’t be predicated on rejecting who you are, and (very) slowly over time I’ve grown to take pride in how I am different. I think a big reason I gravitated towards food is because it is a place where all cultures have a seat at the table. . As my shoot with Brent unfolded and I played with different setups, this one came about rather instinctually. I had planned to plate a small wonton (me in food form) and Brent asked, “What do you like to cook with?” So the spice shelves (and drawers and chests – I’m a hoarder ??‍♀️) were unleashed. Is it dorky for me to say this spoon developed into a culinary representation of Newton’s 3rd law? As much as I’ve drawn on other cuisines to make my food, they have imparted ideas and feelings onto me equally in return. That, I think, is the ultimate point of cooking. . Photo by @brentherrig #MyAPALife

A post shared by Jenny Dorsey (@chefjennydorsey) on

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