Each May, the nation honors Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, recognizing the growth and achievements of these diverse communities.
The recognition started as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week in 1977, with May chosen because it was the month when the first Japanese immigrants came to the U.S. in 1843, and when the transcontinental railroad was completed thanks to Chinese immigrant labor in May 1869.
Asian Pacific communities “throughout history, represent the bigger story of who we are as Americans and embodied the truth that our diversity is our strength as a nation,” President Joe Biden said in a recent proclamation. Biden denounced anti-Asian hate crimes, racism and violent attacks — citing the recent mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay — and promoted legislation and programs that support safety, equity and economic opportunity.
Asian Americans are now the Inland Empire’s fastest-growing major ethnic group over the past decade, recently passing African Americans to become the region’s third-largest ethnicity after White and Hispanic residents, according to the 2020 census.
From cultural festivals to community panels, here are some events across the region that will celebrate the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
Performers with the San Gabriel Valley Chinese Cultural Association perform the dragon dance during the Menifee Multicultural Festival on Saturday, March 26, 2022. (File photo by Andrew Foulk, Contributing Photographer)
RIVERSIDE COUNTY
Honoring AAPI Heritage Month 2023
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
With a screen behind her showing why people don’t act, Florence Lin, community relations manager for the Asian Youth Center, teaches a bystander intervention training in Mandarin on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at the Blossom Market Hall in San Gabriel. (File photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California
Throughout May, virtual and in-person bystander intervention training sessions are offered through Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California in multiple languages. The free trainings teach how to safely stop incidents of hatred from happening or escalating.
