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AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) Resources

2025 Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Events at Mt. SAC

Mt. SAC Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2024 logo                                                                     

Thurs., May 8, 2025
4:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Threads of Tradition: APAHM Fashion Show
Summit Event Center (Building 410-3rd floor) 
Mon., May 12, 2024
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Poetry Workshop: Haiku & the art of Living in the Moment
Multicultural Center (Building 410-2030)

Wed., May 14, 2024
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

APAHM Festival
Multicultural Center (Building 410-2030)

Wed., May 14, 2024
1:30 PM & 2:00 PM

Wayfinders: Waves, Winds, & Stars
Randall Planetarium

Thurs., May 15, 2024
4:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Ethnic Studies Day
Faculty Panel | Dinner | Community
Multicultural Center (Building 410-2030)

Thurs., May 21, 2024
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Streaming Critical Consciousness: Gook (film & discussion)
Stream Gook on Kanopy (Mt. SAC sign-in required)
Multicultural Center (Building 410-2030)

Thurs., May 22, 2024
12:00 PM

AANHPI Self-Care Practice: Yoga
Multicultural Center (Building 410-2030)

slide with QR code to APAHM booklist

Mt. SAC Library APAHM Booklist

Highlighting library books to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Americans in AANHPI Heritage Month in May Heritage AANHPI Heritage Month Booklist

photo of book display

Check out books on the Asian & Pacific Islander Experience at the Mt. SAC Library

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

This video provides a brief history of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month History

Asian American Milestones: Timeline by History.com Editors

Asian American Milestones: Timeline

1849: Following the discovery of gold in California, Chinese miners head to California with 25,000 arriving in 1851. 

1869: With uncertain work and hostile locals, not to mention a language barrier, many Chinese laborers take dangerous work, for little pay, building the transcontinental railroad, which was completed on May 10, 1869.

1882: The Chinese Exclusion Act is signed into law, prohibiting the immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. Every 10 years, Congress extends its provision until 1943. The Act was repealed in 1943, when the United States and China were allies during World War II.

1941: After Pearl Harbor, 120,000 Japanese Americans are forced into internment camps.

1979: A week in May, May 4 - May 11, 1979 is to be designated as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.

1990, '91, and '92, Congress and the President proclaimed May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Nearly 8,000,000 people in the United States can trace their roots back to Asia and the islands of the Pacific. Asian and Pacific Americans have contributed significantly to the development of the arts, sciences, government, military, commerce, and education in the United States. 

Asian American & Pacific Islander Data

Chinese Exclusion Act

Chinese Exclusion Act - primary document

Source: "Chinese Exclusion Act". Docs Teach Online by the National Archives