Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: 2024
This May, a roundup of 15 stories that celebrate South Asian American life, culture, innovation, and history.
South Asians are the fastest growing major group in the U.S. In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the below 15 stories both explore the past and history as we make it — from the lost history of Bengali Harlem to the first Indian woman to arrive in the Americas, in the 1600s no less! These stories are a window into the multifaceted experiences of being an American with roots in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, and more.
In May 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the first Asian Pacific American Heritage Week into effect. Congress permanently extended celebrations from a week to a month in 1992. May is significant because Japanese immigrants arrived in the U.S. in May 1843 and Chinese immigrants helped complete America’s first transcontinental railroad in May 1869. This year, inproclaiming May as Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the White House spoke about the rise of Asian American entrepreneurship and the conservation of natural resources in the Pacific Islands.
The Juggernaut is dedicated to telling untold and overlooked South Asian stories. We hope you enjoy the below selection, which only scratch the surface of our rich archive, which we invite you to explore.