The month of November is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM). This year, as in the last few years, the Asian American Students Association (AASA) organizes events to celebrate this month of Asian appreciation. Duyen Bui (COL ‘10), president of AASA, speaks about Georgetown’s role in APAHM, the goals and agenda of APAHM, and a larger picture of the Asian American community.

What is APAHM?

APAHM is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. It is a nationally recognized month that actually is celebrated in May. However, because the school year ends for Georgetown at that time, we celebrate it in November. AASA, the Asian American Students Association, organizes events for APAHM. This year we had events like Night Market, Iron Chef and to complete this month we will be holding the Fall Ball.

Iron Chef utilizes the concept of adding a new ingredient to an original cuisine. It represents the fact that over the years, Asian-Americans who have immigrated to America had to acculturate (not necessary assimilate) to find a place in American society, with the goal of taking the best of each culture. Fall Ball is a semiformal that adds a formal ending to this month. This culminating end is a night of dinner and entertainment.

What are things that people do nationally to celebrate APAHM?

In trying to bring awareness to the month, Asian-American celebrities like Sandra Oh, Lisa Ling, the blogger of Angry Asian Man and the winner of “Top Chef” came together to make a video on why Asians rock. Their goal was to bring about awareness and encourage being comfortable with the Asian-American identity. The fact that Asian representatives are relatively not in [the] mainstream and public sphere makes it difficult for an Asian-American when growing up in American society. We often question who or what to identify with. These videos help Asian Americans be more in tune and feel comfortable with being themselves.

What are the goals of APAHM?

It is a way for Asian-American-identifying clubs to work together, but moreover, it’s a way to work with other communities to demonstrate that the Asian-American community is not exclusive, but it raises awareness that many issues and experiences that pertain to the Asian-American spheres also span into many other communities.

What are some of the social issues you address?

APAHM is not just only a way for America to realize the presence of Asian-Americans, but also for Asian-Americans and others to realize that there are many subgroups that have their own issues and histories that often overlap. In learning, you also debunk speculations of each community.

APAHM is also an avenue that addresses the immigration and health care reforms. In terms of health care, the Asian community is one of the communities that often do not seek health care or go to the doctor as often because culturally, most of the time sickness and diseases are often shunned. That culture is still present [even if] living in the [United] States. In consequence, without a focus on health care of the Asian-American community on the national level, this community doesn’t realize that it is the norm to seek health care reform. Their voices are not heard enough, [as in] immigration reform. APAHM tries to shed light on these issues and at least bring awareness so change can be instigated.

How can one get involved to help bring change?

There are many developing grassroots organizations and NGOs in the Asian-American community. A lot of what they do is network, phonebank, visit and call Asian-Americans on issues such as getting people to sign a census or reminding them to vote. It is important to get deserved representation. As students, you can work with local NGOs, bring speakers to campus, intern with them and later continue to work with them. Aside from ethnic relations, just be a leader in the community.

What do you see the challenges to the Asian-American community in the coming years?

As the Asian-American community makes a more prominent presence in society, more issues will come to light. The awareness of more problems may overshadow all the progress [that has] occurred thus far, but I feel that the sentiment of America’s encouragement of diversity within the country and its willingness to change America will help address those difficulties.

Do many Asian-Americans have strong ties to countries in Asia?

I think that the Asian-American community has a transnational identity. Transnational identity comes about because many Asian-American families still have family back in Asia or economic ties (i.e. sending remittances back or traveling back often). So issues can affect that community overseas. For example, when the [United States] normalized relations, the Vietnamese community allowed Vietnamese to return to Vietnam and see family they hadn’t seen in a while. And these types of relations with Vietnam helped build a community in America, opened Vietnam’s doors and allowed a constant flow of information exchange to prop up businesses here and there.

What kind of feedback have you been getting from other clubs about APAHM?

This is still an ongoing series of events, so we haven’t got much feedback yet … There are 12 different Asian-American clubs that have been participating and supporting one another. This is a testament to the interests in continuing APAHM and working together to make sure that this month is as informative, memorable and powerful as it can be.