This May, we’re celebrating Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month and we want to use this opportunity to highlight the issues, work, and joy within the community in hopes to educate and move towards a more loving and welcoming future.
The AANHPI community has been targeted and attacked in a string of violent, hate crimes across many cities, and the outdoors are no exception. The community has experienced racism like many communities of color in America and have endured years and years of internal and intergenerational trauma. Finally, they’re being seen and heard, and taking up space for themselves.
Dive in below to get started with articles, films, books, podcasts, social media and more spotlighting Asian outdoorists and how we can be better community allies. Resources curated by Vivian Wang:
AANHPI HISTORY AND CULTURE ARTICLES:
- “AAPI Park Rangers? Yeah, We Out Here” via Outdoor Asian
- “Asian-Founded Outdoor Brands to Support” via Little Grunts
- “Karen Wang on Building AAPI Community Through Cycling” via Bike Works
- “Outdoor Reflections of a Post- COVID Asian” via Melanin Basecamp
- How to Support Asian American colleagues amid the recent wave of anti-Asian violence” via CNBC
- “The Long History of Anti-Asian Hate in America, Explained” via Vox
- “Following the Spirit of Tie Sing” via NPCA
BOOKS TO READ:
- “Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning” by Cathy Park Hong
- “America is in the Heart” by Carlos Bulosan
- “The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir” by Thi Bui
- “The Making of Asian America: A History” by Erika Lee
WATCH + LISTEN:
- “How to Stand Up (like a Redwood)” with Ranger Rebecca Au
- “One Korean American’s Reckoning” via Code Switch podcast
- “Asian Americans” via PBS
- Outdoor Voices podcast hosted by Sarah Shimazaki
- For the Love of Climbing podcast hosted by Kathy Karlo
- Green Dreamer podcast hosted by Kamea Chayne
- Bystander Intervention via Hollaback!
ORGS TO KNOW:
- Climbers of Color
- Outdoor Asian
- Asian Bouldering Crew
- Hikers of Color
- AAPI Women Lead
- Stop AAPI Hate
- Hate is a Virus
- Asian Mental Health Collective
Just like our Black History Month article, these resources are a mere starting point for learning and unlearning the past, present, and future of the AANHPI community in the outdoors and beyond. If you’ve got a AANHPI History Month resource we’re missing, send it to us and we’ll add it to the growing list!