May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which honors and celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islanders in America. This covers a very diverse community with distinct cultures, languages, faiths, and traditions. While each group faces unique challenges, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a shared experience in racism and prejudices in America. - Jodi (Teen Services Librarian) and Sophia (Library Specialist)
To celebrate the AAPI community during the month of May and beyond, we’ve put together free virtual and in-person programming and activities; as well as resources that recognize AAPI achievements and contributions and addresses anti-Asian hate. We hope that the following programming and resources will celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, provide historical context, and offer an avenue for reporting crimes and opening discussions about racism.
Library Events Celebrating AAPI Month During May:
Family Storytime - Virtual
Saturday May 7, 11:00am
Year of the Tiger: Family Storytime
Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Oliver Chin, author of colorful children's picture book The Year of the Tiger, one of the 12 adventures in the popular annual series Tales From the Chinese Zodiac. Meet Teddy the tiger! Like all kids, Teddy is growing up, blazing his own path, and discovering his true character.
Plus Oliver will do a live drawing demonstration which kids can participate in online. Free! Recommended for ages 5-12. This event is presented in English.
Please register to receive the Zoom link one hour before the program begins. Questions? Please email events@sonomalibrary.org
Queer Book Club - Virtual
Wednesday, May 11, 6:00pm
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one's own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.
With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.
This event is presented in English.
Sonoma Valley’s Chinese History and Early Civil Rights Struggles in California - In-Person
Saturday, May 14, 2:00pm
Sonoma Valley’s Chinese History and Early Civil Rights Struggles in California
Join historian Arthur Dawson for an exploration of our Chinese history, the struggles of other marginalized groups, the roles played by locals Charles Stuart and C.C. O’Donnell in fighting or fomenting prejudice, and how this history lives on today.
Jack Ding, Mayor of Sonoma, will conclude the program with remarks about the recognition of the Chinese contributions to Sonoma Valley today.
This event is presented in English and is an in-person event at Sonoma Valley Library.
Korean Culture & Lotus Lantern Workshop - Virtual
Tuesday, May 17, 4:00pm
Korean Culture & Lotus Lantern Workshop with Korean Spirit and Cultural Promotion Project
Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! Join the Korean Spirit and Cultural Promotion Project (KSCPP) to learn about Korean culture and history. Follow along to make your own beautiful paper and wire Lotus Lantern. The class will conclude with a showing of the short film “Korea Today”. You can watch the trailer by clicking here.
Registration is required and limited to 50 participants. Register with your email address and select your library location to pick up your lantern kit.
This event is for all ages and presented in English. The craft is suitable for ages 10 and up; under 10 should be accompanied and helped by adults.
The Korean Spirit & Culture Promotion Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to educating others about Korea's unique history and culture. Learn more about KSCPP at www.kscpp.net
Asian Art Museum Community Speakers Talks - Virtual
Saturday, May 21, 11:00am
The Language of Flowers in Asian Art
The Language of Flowers in Asian Art showcases the expressive power of flowers in the arts and cultures of Asia. Since ancient times flowers have been cultivated in gardens, and represented in art. The properties of flowers have come to symbolize both human and divine qualities. Our program featuring objects from the Asian Art Museum’s permanent collection focuses on six celebrated flowers - lotus, plum blossom, cherry blossom, chrysanthemum, tulip, and rose – and the message they convey. This event is presented in English.
Awesome Asian Americans with Oliver Chin - Virtual
Monday, May 23, 10:00am
Awesome Asian Americans with Oliver Chin
Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Oliver Chin, author of the exciting graphic novel Awesome Asian Americans: 20 Stars Who Made America Amazing. This collection of fascinating biographies features dynamic artwork of individuals whose remarkable contributions helped shape our nation.
This spectacularly illustrated anthology profiles 10 women and 10 men, from a rainbow of ethnic backgrounds and vocations. Oliver will share his inspirations behind this socially relevant collection and read favorite excerpts. Plus he will do a live drawing demonstration on his approach to illustration and comic book artwork.
Register to receive the Zoom link one hour before the program begins. Free! Recommended for ages 10-14 years. This event is presented in English.
BIPOC Book Club - Virtual
Tuesday, May 31, 6:00pm
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
"From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play." -- Provided by publisher. This event is presented in English.
Teen Pride Club - Virtual
Every Tuesday, 5pm-6pm
Join other teens in this weekly club to discuss books and other media that showcase queer voices and experiences. May’s theme is queer books by AAPI authors. You can select a book or other media that fits that theme based on recommendations by librarians or choose your own. This club is a great way to make friends, foster community building, and discover queer media all at the same time!
Registration with an email is required. You will receive the necessary Zoom information 30 minutes before the session starts.
For patrons between the ages of 13-18.
Celebrate Beyond AAPI Month:
Asian Art Museum Community Speakers Talks - Virtual
Saturday, June 25, 11:00am
Expressions of Gender in Asian Art
When we see people one of the first things we notice is gender. We tend to categorize people as male or female. But what if the characteristics we used to categorize were fluid, and not rigidly defined? What if there were no gender distinctions? Non-binary and gender fluid depictions have existed in Asian art for thousands of years. The belief in non-duality contributes to these purposely ambivalent portrayals. Explore some of the fascinating ways various Asian cultures have represented people and deities as male, female, and non-binary. This event is presented in English.
Queer Book Club - Virtual
Wednesday, August 10, 6:00pm
ACE by Angela Chen
An engaging exploration of what it means to be asexual in a world that's obsessed with sexual attraction, and what we can all learn about desire and identity by using an ace lens to see the world. This event is presented in English.
BIPOC Book Club - Virtual
Tuesday, August 30, 6:00pm
The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor
Aware of the racial tumult in the years after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mei tries to remain blissfully focused on her job, her close friendship with the camp foreman's daughter, and telling stories about Paul Bunyan—reinvented as Po Pan Yin (Auntie Po), an elderly Chinese matriarch. Anchoring herself with stories of Auntie Po, Mei navigates the difficulty and politics of lumber camp work and her growing romantic feelings for her friend Bee. The Legend of Auntie Po is about who gets to own a myth and immigrant families and communities holding on to rituals and traditions while staking out their own place in America.
This event is presented in English.
For more information, please visit: https://sonomalibrary.org/bipocbookgroup
Local Events:
Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams
This exhibit features over fifty little-known photographs by Ansel Adams (1902–1984) that depict how Japanese Americans bore their treatment at the Manzanar incarceration camp in central California.
Feb 19 to May 29, 2022
Museum of Sonoma County
425 Seventh Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Admission to Museum of Sonoma County
Adults: $10.00
Seniors (62+), Students, Disabled: $7.00
Children 12 & Under: FREE
Museum Members: FREE
EBT Cardholders: FREE
Year of the Tiger: Chinese Traditions in Sonoma County 1890-2022
The exhibition focuses on the Chinese temple which sat at the heart of Santa Rosa’s Chinatown and was the centerpiece of many of the cultural traditions observed by the Chinese immigrants and Chinese American residents.
February 5, 2022 - Ongoing
Museum of Sonoma County
425 Seventh Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Admission to Museum of Sonoma County
Adults: $10.00
Seniors (62+), Students, Disabled: $7.00
Children 12 & Under: FREE
Museum Members: FREE
EBT Cardholders: FREE
Sonoma County Matsuri Festival
The Sonoma County Matsuri Festival is excited to hold its 12th Annual Matsuri on their website! The virtual Matsuri! will showcase traditional Japanese art (Ikebana, Origami, Tea, Music, Food) during May and June. Please check out their website periodically to see new videos uploaded. You can also view last year’s video here.
Community Partners:
- APIAFSA (Asian Pacific Islander American Faculty and Staff Association of Sonoma State University)
- FAASSU (Filipino American Association of Sonoma State University)
- FANHS (Filipino American National Historical Society Sonoma County Chapter)
- Redwood Empire Chinese Association
- Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League
- Sonoma County Matsuri Festival
- Sonoma County Taiko
Books, Collections, and Resources:
From Anna May Wong to Awkwafina, we’ve curated titles with actors that represent over 100 years of Asian Americans on the silver screen. The collection also includes thoughtful documentaries addressing the Asian American experience in the United States.
Browse through books in our new Asian American and Pacific Islander Reads guide, now available in the Libby app! This guide will stay up all year and refreshes with new books as they are added.
Explore this multiformat list of hoopla offerings curated for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There are over 50 items to choose from ranging from audiobooks to movies.
Staff Created Book Recommendation Lists:
For Adults
Click here for more fiction recommendations for adults!
Click here for more nonfiction recommendations for adults!
For Teens
Click here for more recommendations for teens!
For Children
Click here for more picture book recommendations!
Click here for more nonfiction picture book recommendations!
Picture books:
School Age Books:
Click here for more school age recommendations!
History and Genealogy Resources
Genealogy
- In search of your Asian roots: genealogical research on Chinese surnames
- Chinese American names: tradition and transition
- Asian American genealogical sourcebook
- A genealogist's guide to discovering your immigrant & ethnic ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage
- Hawaiian genealogies: extracted from Hawaiian language newspapers
- Tracing Your Philippine Ancestors
Sonoma County History
- The Chinese in Sonoma County, California, 1900-1930: the aftermath of exclusion
- Giri: the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League oral history project
- The loss of property of the Japanese during World War II: with special emphasis on Sonoma County, California
- Samurai of the wine country: a biography of Kanaye Nagasawa
- Japanese immigrants in the North Bay region: their movements, achievements and settlements 1870-1930
Archival and Digital Collections
- Verified written reports in compliance with Section 5 of the Alien Land Law of 1920
65 depositions regarding Japanese-owned properties in Sonoma County, filed between 1921 and 1949. The California Alien Land Law prohibited "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning agricultural land or possessing long-term leases. It affected the Indian, Japanese, and Korean immigrant farmers in California. Implicitly, the law was primarily directed at the Japanese. - Newspaper Clippings from the Petaluma Argus-Courier of local women and Japanese Americans enlisted in the armed services during World War II. Yoshio Hirooka, George Miyano, Nakamura Leland and Hajime Yoshizawa served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit comprised of Americans of Japanese descent that fought on the European front, becoming “the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service.” (Densho Encyclopedia) Twenty-seven Sonoma County men served in the 442nd, three of whom were killed in action. More information here: Japanese Americans in Sonoma County - Documenting a conflicted past" by Joanna Kolosov
- DVD – Remembering Our Manongs: Sonoma County’s Filipino history
- DVD - The Chinese-American experience in Petaluma: an interview with Lance Lew
How can you help stop AAPI hate?
- Learn about the historical and modern context of AAPI hate. Here’s some recommendations to get you started:
- A report on the history of discrimination against Chinese Americans in Sonoma County
- An article that discusses the origins of the term “Asian American” and how it came about from the struggles of the Black Power Movement, anti-war movement, and American Indian Movements
- Discussions within Asian American Studies and Gender Studies about the hyper-sexualization of Asian women as an example of racialized gender.
- An article written by a 16-year old about dismantling Asian stereotypes
- Read stories and books by AAPI authors! See the booklists on this page for recommendations compiled by librarians.
- Take Action
- If you encounter a hate incident you can report it here.
- Check out this collection of anti-Asian violence resources.
- Learn and teach with this Asian American K-12 resource: Confronting Xenophobia and Supporting Asian and Asian/Pacific American Communities during COVID-19.
- If you share any resources on social media, you can use the hashtag #StopAsianHate
- Further Resources:
- Information from the Asian Mental Health Collective and NAMI
- California community resources collected by the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus
The Sonoma County Library opposes the recent acts of violence against people of Asian descent and the ongoing discrimination and hate crimes that are a result of systemic racism. The library stands against bigotry and intolerance, and supports equity diversity and inclusion. See our statement on racism and social equity here.
