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BY ROSARIO PAZ

In print | March 27, 2008

Asian Pacific Islander/American Heritage Month, officially celebrated by the U.S. in the month of May, began at the tail end of MULTi week with a workshop by Carmen Van Kerckhove on interracial dating. Events scheduled throughout the month, including a workshop on ethnic studies led by Toby Wu ’09 and a performance piece by Neal Dandade ’06 entitled “Mango Chutney on Mesa Street,” aim to raise awareness of issues pertaining to the Asian Pacific Islander/American experience.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, APIA Heritage Month, also known as Asian/Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month, was first officially recognized as APA Heritage Week in 1978. It was not until 1992 that Congress expanded the original weeklong observance to a month-long celebration.

Although APIA Heritage Month is officially recognized in May, celebration of the month on campus was modified to March/April to better accommodate the exam schedules of students and to ensure that as many people as possible from both APIA and non-APIA communities would be able to attend the events, according to Swarthmore Asian Organization President Arthur Chyan ’10.

“The main goal [of APIA Heritage Month] is to increase awareness about the communities which we call the Asian, Pacific Islander, Asian-American and Pacific Islander-American communities. Who makes up those communities is decided by individuals — we ask each student to define for themselves whether or not they relate to these communities,” he said.

In addition to hosting events, of which all but one are open to the entire campus community, SAO views APIA Heritage Month as an opportunity to supplement the resources of academic departments like Asian Studies, Black Studies and Latin American Studies, according to SAO IC Intern Andrea Pien ‘08. "It’s basically a chance to use our interests and share it with the campus," Pien said.

Yesterday’s event, a workshop directed by History Professor Sonia Lee, discussed how Asians fit into the black/white binary of racial relations in the U.S.

“I’m really interested in the racial integration of Asian-Americans in America, where race activism is sometimes equated in the mainstream as black activism,” Pien said. “I’ve talked to many Asian-Americans, most [of them] not students on campus … about how they identify with students of color, so that’s definitely something I wanted to examine more closely,” she said.

The workshop on Asians in the black/white U.S. racial binary echoes a broader theme implicit in the month’s programs: the omission of the Asian/Asian-American Diaspora community in the national dialogue surrounding people of color and minority groups. “I really hope that [APIA Heritage Month] will just make people think more critically about the role that Asian/Asian-Americans play in the United States. They’re often a very overlooked group when issues of race and color are discussed,” Pien said.

Another event that SAO members are eagerly anticipating is the Stir-Friday Night! sketch comedy and improv performance. According to SAO Co-Publicity Chair Xiaoxia Zhuang ’10, Stir-Friday Night! is an all-Asian comedy group that addresses issues relevant to the Asian/Asian-American experience as well as negative stereotype associated with these communities.

“I’m looking forward to Stir-Friday Night! because they were here last year. Neal Dandade and Stir Friday Night! really [challenge] the popular conception of what Asian Americans can say and do … They are not just an Asian American group and are very aware of their [Asian] identity and translate that into humor,” Zhuang said.

“I think that they’re really cool because I feel like Asian-ness often doesn’t equal coolness in mainstream American culture,” Pien said. “They’re really funny to everyone and not just to Asian Americans.”

In addition to these events, there will also be a Spoken Word performance, a Folk music performing duo called Good Asian Drivers and a first-time alumni panel co-sponsored with Deshi.

“I think it would be interesting to hear [the alumni] talk about transitioning from being at Swat into the real world and how being part of an Asian identity at Swat might be different from being an Asian in the real world,” Pien said.

According to SAO Co-Publicity Chair Erin Scanlon ‘10, the variety of events being presented throughout APIA Heritage Month is representative of the organizers’ attempts to demonstrate the diversity and complexity of Asian cultures. “I think the events kind of represent of the wide variety of the images of the Asian American community that SAO is trying to represent through APIA Month,” she said. “For me, all the different events stand out in their own different ways. I don’t think there’s any event that’s the center of APIA month. I think it’s just a bunch of events that are going to tie together.”

Although students worked in collaboration with faculty and administration to successfully organize the events of APIA Heritage Month, various SAO members agree that student initiative and collaboration was important in transitioning the brainstorming process to the current calendar of events.

“What’s really great about being on the SAO board is if you have an interest and if there is someone who you really want to have come on campus, you have an opportunity to bring them here with student funding,” Zhuang said.

“So far, I think that APIA Month has been going really smoothly and I think the participants have enjoyed things thus far. I hope that more Swarthmore students and the rest of the Swarthmore community will come out and enjoy the events that we’ve worked hard to put on,” Chyan said.

APIA Heritage Month was co-sponsored by MULTi as part of their own awareness week, Vertigo-go, Friends of Taiwan, Deshi-Swarthmore South Asian Association, Swarthmore Queer Union, bi-college’s ZAMI and Bryn Mawr’s Asian Student Association.

APIA Heritage Month was supported by the Intercultural Center, the Office for Multicultural Affairs, Forum for Free Speech, the Student Budget Committee, the President’s Office, the Admissions Office, the Student Activities Committee, the Alumni Office, the Asian Studies Department, the Women’s Studies Department, the English Literature Department, the Film and Media Studies Department and the History Department.

Remaining APIA Month events

April 4

Party: Sweet and SAO’R Party!
Paces, 10 p.m. — 2 a.m. SAC Funded.

April 5

Workshop: Led by Toby Wu ’09, discussing “Ethnic Studies in 2025 and Sooner.”
RSVP at xwu1@swarthmore.edu
TBA, 12 p.m. — 3 p.m.

April 9

Lecture: By Lok Siu (NYU), entitled “Hemispheric Asian America: Rethinking Migration, Sociality, and Racialization.”
Sci 101, 4 p.m. Sponsored by the Genevieve Lee Memorial Fund.

April 12

Study Break: Learn to play Mah Jongg while sipping on Bubble Tea.
Shane Lounge, 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by Friends of Taiwan.

April 14

Performance: Queer artists Good Asian Drivers perform spoken word and music.
Olde Club, 7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Swarthmore Queer Union, Zami and the Asian Students Association.

April 17

Performance: Stir-Friday Night! performs sketch comedy and improv, featuring Neal Dandade ’06.
Lang Concert Hall, 9:00 p.m. Co-sponsored by Vertigo-go.

April 18

Peformance: I-20’s annual cultural show, featuring performances from cultures around the world.
Olde Club, 7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Swarthmore Queer Union, Zami and the Asian Students Association

April 19

Discussion: Asian-American alumni panel
Scheuer Room, 1 p.m. Sponsored by Deshi.

Performance: Neal Dandade ’06 performs his original solo piece, “Mango Chutney on Mesa Street.”
Upper Tarble, 8 p.m.

April 21

Lecture: Glenn Magpantay (Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund) presenting on Asian voting patterns and discrimination
Kohlberg 116, 4:30 p.m.

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