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AAPI FRONTLINE

From doctors to delivery workers, AAPIs make up the backbone of many critical industries amid the coronavirus pandemic. This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we honor the workers leading medical research, helping low-income and limited English proficiency groups, combating racism and more.From doctors to delivery workers, AAPIs make up the backbone of many critical industries amid the coronavirus pandemic. This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we honor the workers leading medical research, helping low-income and limited English proficiency groups, combating racism and more.

  • NBC News

    Meet the AAPI workers at the center of the coronavirus pandemic

    Listen to three workers talk about the highs and lows on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Image: Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, who introduced anti-racism legislation.
    Asian America

    The Congresswoman

    Rep. Grace Meng finds support in Congress while fighting Asian American bias.
    Asian America

    The Congresswoman

    Rep. Grace Meng finds support in Congress while fighting Asian American bias.

    Rep. Grace Meng finds support in Congress while fighting Asian American bias.

    Rep. Grace Meng proposed a resolution in the House calling on it to condemn all forms of racism and scapegoating, and to demand that public officials denounce any anti-Asian sentiments.

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  • Image: Ekta Prakash, a food shelf worker helping a low income community.
    Asian America

    The Food Pantry Director

    Ekta Prakash provides culturally specific provisions in immigrant communities.
    Asian America

    The Food Pantry Director

    Ekta Prakash provides culturally specific provisions in immigrant communities.

    Ekta Prakash is busy working to make sure immigrant communities in Minneapolis and its northern suburbs can access culturally specific food, such as basmati rice, vermicelli noodles and fish sauce.

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  • Image: Dr. David Ho, a leading AIDS researcher.
    Asian America

    The Medical Innovator

    Famed HIV researcher David Ho is in the race to find a COVID-19 treatment.
    Asian America

    The Medical Innovator

    Famed HIV researcher David Ho is in the race to find a COVID-19 treatment.

    David Ho’s 1990s research helped shed light on how HIV replicates. Now, his research aims to stem replication of the coronavirus.

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  • Image: Patrick Mock, a grocer who provides necessities to first responders.
    Asian America

    The Grocer

    Patrick Mock is a longtime Chinatown provider, now serving New York's homeless and elderly.
    Asian America

    The Grocer

    Patrick Mock is a longtime Chinatown provider, now serving New York's homeless and elderly.

    grew up in Chinatown and has worked in hospitality and service for the past eight years. He spends the days handing our masks and making sure those without resources in the neighborhood are fed and other essential workers get a free beverage as they push through the pandemic.

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  • Image: Erika Rono, a nurse working in a top United States hospital.
    Asian America

    The Nurse

    Erika Roño shares the demands of working at top-tier Johns Hopkins.
    Asian America

    The Nurse

    Erika Roño shares the demands of working at top-tier Johns Hopkins.

    For Erika Roño, there's no room for her to entertain thoughts about her monthly bills or what's going on at home. Once she walks through the doors at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she can't afford to focus on anything else except her duties as an ER nurse.

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  • Image: Yuh Line Niou, a Chinatown representative fighting for her community.
    Asian America

    The Local Politician

    Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou keeps New York's Chinatown safe on two fronts: the pandemic and racist incidents.
    Asian America

    The Local Politician

    Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou keeps New York's Chinatown safe on two fronts: the pandemic and racist incidents.

    "Yuh-Line Niou, a Democratic member of the New York state Assembly, says she's not thinking about her campaign even though it is an election year. She splits her time between quelling fears from constituents about the rising number of hate attacks directed at Asian Americans and obtaining PPE."

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  • Image: Luck Sarabhayavanija, who turned a ramen joint into a nonprofit restaurant.
    Asian America

    The Restaurant Owner

    Luck Sarabhayavanija relaunched as a nonprofit to hire back his staff.
    Asian America

    The Restaurant Owner

    Luck Sarabhayavanija relaunched as a nonprofit to hire back his staff.

    Amid the coronavirus, Luck Sarabhayavanija closed one restaurant but opened another. The owner of a line of New Jersey eateries called Ani Ramen, Sarabhayavanija wanted to help first responders and health care workers. So after he temporarily closed his business, he launched a nonprofit pop-up.

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  • Image: Nidha Azam, a physician assistant who left family medicine to help victims.
    Asian America

    The Physician’s Assistant

    Nidha Azam left family medicine to help on the front lines.
    Asian America

    The Physician’s Assistant

    Nidha Azam left family medicine to help on the front lines.

    "Nidha Azam is a physician assistant on Long Island, New York. She had been working at a family medicine practice, where she provided some care to patients showing COVID-19 symptoms, but when she saw the need for more health care workers in New York City hospitals, she knew she wanted to do more."

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  • Image: Sumitpal Singh, an American Sikh first responder delivering goods.
    Asian America

    The Delivery Worker

    Sumitpal Singh keeps L.A. stocked, fed and healthy — and how the Sikh religion spurs him to help in crises.
    Asian America

    The Delivery Worker

    Sumitpal Singh keeps L.A. stocked, fed and healthy — and how the Sikh religion spurs him to help in crises.

    Sumitpal Singh is the Southern California coordinator for humanitarian nonprofit United Sikhs. He said his drive to help others comes from his religious beliefs, including the idea of selfless service — or "seva." His faith is now inspiring him to provide relief amid the pandemic.

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  • Image: Calvin Sun, a doctor who has served in dozens of emergency rooms.
    Asian America

    The ER Doctor

    Calvin Sun has been in and out of dozens of New York hospitals.
    Asian America

    The ER Doctor

    Calvin Sun has been in and out of dozens of New York hospitals.

    Calvin Sun, an attending physician in emergency medicine, chose to begin most days in the past months on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting critically ill patients in a city that has been devastated by the coronavirus.

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  • Image: Jose Antonio Vargas, an activist speaking out against racism.
    Asian America

    The Activist

    Jose Antonio Vargas shares how aspects of the pandemic mirror struggles of undocumented people.
    Asian America

    The Activist

    Jose Antonio Vargas shares how aspects of the pandemic mirror struggles of undocumented people.

    "Jose Antonio Vargas, who founded Define American, a group that aims to shift perceptions of immigrants, said there are aspects of the situation, like "social distancing" from loved ones in their home countries, that are reminiscent of experiences undocumented people regularly confront.

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  • Image: Dr. Jordan K. Lee, a doctor helping Native Hawaiians, the states' lowest income group.
    The Medical Specialist

    The Medical Specialist

    Jordan Lee discusses how the virus takes a toll on Hawaiian cultural traditions and end-of-life care.
    The Medical Specialist

    The Medical Specialist

    Jordan Lee discusses how the virus takes a toll on Hawaiian cultural traditions and end-of-life care.

    "Before the pandemic, medical specialist Jordan Lee, who was born and raised in Hawaii, had a variety of methods from Western and traditional medicine to comfort patients in the ICU. Most of them are rooted in physical proximity. Now, he said, all those practices are gone."

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