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Write Our Stories

This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, NBC News is highlighting some of the efforts by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to write their stories back into history.

Trailblazers

Image: Nancy Kwan
Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for TCM file

#APAHMPIONEERS

Hollywood vet Nancy Kwan has high hopes for today's Asian American stars

Image: Larry Kimura
Courtesy Scott Nishi/University of Hawaii

#APAHMPIONEERS

When Larry Kimura was young, the Hawaiian language was dying. Now, it thrives.

Itliong was 16 when he arrived in the U.S. from the Philippines with a 6th grade education. He went on to lead the farm worker movement that many believed changed the world.
Courtesy FANHS

#APAHMPIONEERS

Larry Itliong: Forgotten hero of the labor movement

#APAHMPIONEERS

Ellison Onizuka, first Asian American astronaut, brought Hawaii to space

#APAHMPIONEERS

For Sue Kim, one of the U.S.' first Korean musicians, K-Pop's success is 60 years in the making

Behind Barbed Wire: Remembering America's...
By the time Tule Lake Segregation Center closed on March 20, 1946, more than 18,000 Japanese Americans had been incarcerated there during the war.
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Who Is Vincent Chin?
What do you think of when you hear the name "Vincent Chin"? For many people, the word "forgotten" comes to mind.
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Hispanic influence in the Philippines
“The Spanish colonial period in the Philippines lasted longer than that of a lot of countries in Latin America, including Mexico.”
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A Sri Lankan Museum in a Restaurant Basement
The Sri Lankan Art and Cultural Museum is located in the basement of a Staten Island restaurant.
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How a Chinese cook helped establish the...
“Hundreds of Chinese go to Yosemite. ... Imagine what the experience would be for them if they knew that Chinese worked on these roads..."
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'Asian American' turns 50
Academics trace the origins of the term "Asian American" to 1968 and University of California, Berkeley students inspired by the Black Power Movement.
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Chinese Railroad Workers Staged the Era's...
On June 25, 1867, thousands of Chinese railroad workers staged a strike to demand equal pay to white laborers, shorter workdays, and better conditions.
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How This Academic Is Sharing 400 Years of...
In Harlem, an organized walking tour examines the 400-year history of Muslim spaces and stories of New York City.
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Searching for Queer Asian Pacific America

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‘We’re Asians, Gay & Proud’: The story behind the photo

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API TransFusion: The journey to the historic retreat

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Visibility at Pride: The Pacific Islanders Who Marched in 1982

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Exploring the roots of Chicago's queer South Asian community

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Tracing the evolution of Asian-Pacific Islander LGBTQ nightlife spaces

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Exploring the roots of Chicago's queer South Asian community

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Tracing the evolution of Asian-Pacific Islander LGBTQ nightlife spaces

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Open the Pantry

Karm Bains explains how his father, Didar Singh Bains, become known as the \"Peach King,\" and how the legacy his father created lives on through the Sikh community in Yuba City, California, and beyond.

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California's 'Peach King' helped build a 'foundation for others to grow on'

Robin Koda explains the history of Koda Farms and how her family came back from exclusion laws and internment to build the state's now-oldest-running family owned and operated rice farm.

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At Koda Farms, a legacy endures beyond exclusion, internment

When Minh Tsai first started cooking, he couldn't find the type of tofu he remembered eating while growing up in Vietnam. So the Bay Area-based investment banker turned to tofu making to figure out what was missing from his pantry - now, his Hodo Soy products can be eaten around the U.S., from Costco to Whole Foods.

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'What tofu should be': This former banker left finance to master tofu

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This couple turned their 'gourmet by mail' idea into a growing Indian food business

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How Cosmos Food brought a 'fermenting revolution' and new kimchi ideas

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This entrepreneur went from stage performer to miso maker

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Re-Examined: Education's Model Minority Myth

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Does disaggregated data matter in education?

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Cambodian American activists fight 'model minority’ stereotype in education

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Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders seek more data to address concerns

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Growing tutoring market highlights possible gaps in public education

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Is diversity still missing among higher education leadership?

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Growing tutoring market highlights possible gaps in public education

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Is diversity still missing among higher education leadership?

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