In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge terror of the 1970s devastated the institutions that supported dance drama. The tradition was uprooted as dancers and musicians who had survived the genocide fled to the United States. Three of these artists, determined to keep their heritage a living part of Cambodian life in the United States, formed the Apsara Ensemble.
Christina Huang was a Chinese American student who testified before the New Jersey State of Legislators to help lobby for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) History to be taught in public schools.
Saima Bhutta has been a social justice advocate in South Jersey for over 25 years. When Bhutta saw the rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric following the 9/11 attacks, she was inspired to become further involved in her own community.
As a Japanese-American woman living through World War II, Mary Yamashita Nagao (1920-1985) was interned at the Manzanar Relocation Center in Owens Valley, California under Executive Order 9066.
Laotian-American weaver
Chinese immigrant in the early days of the White Australia Policy
Champion of Taiwanese self-determination
In 1884, she tried to enroll her eight-year-old daughter Mamie at a white public school in San Francisco. When school authorities turned Mamie away because of her Chinese ancestry, Mary and her husband sued the Board of Education. The lawsuit became a landmark civil rights case for public school desegregation.
Japanese American activist who dedicated her life to the pursuit of social justice, not only for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, but all communities of color.
Wesa Wai-Sum Chau is a dedicated advocate for cultural diversity, providing leadership in the disability, mental illness, women and international student communities.