AACP August 2020 Newsletter

Hello Everyone,

A recent National Public Radio (NPR)/Ipsos poll on racial issues in America finds that, since the George Floyd killing in May, less than half of Americans have personally taken any actions to better understand racial issues in America (36% overall and 49% of Asians Americans).

What this means for our organization and organizations like ours is that we still have some ways to go towards helping the public better understand race matters in America.

A recent speech by a political leader stated that “America is not a racist country.” Sure, America as a whole may not be an outright racist country (some may argue this), but surely there is a great deal of racism to be found among its people and institutions.

I implore you all to make an effort to learn some more about racism in America. If you’d like a starting point, have a look at the “Further Reading and Viewing” links at the end of our George Floyd article. We found some really good articles and resources that we think you may find interesting.

If you are already well versed on race issues in America, feel free to share our links with others and to do as much as you can to help people understand that there are problems of racism in America and that we need to do something about it.

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Hey, have you seen our bookshop.org page during this past month? We were able to participate in the Pistahan Virtual Festival as we had hoped. As part of our participation, we created an impressive list of books by, for, and or related to Filipino Americans. Have a look.

We’ve also added new subject categories to our bookshop.org page and hope to continually grow the lists and categories.

For those of you that have not been checking out the full list of twenty featured books in our newsletters, please have a look (August’s book list). We’re using our monthly newsletter book lists as our “new books” section to our bookshop.org page.

In addition to the YA books mentioned in one of our featured articles, we also have two books dealing with the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima to mark the 75th anniversary of that awful event.

Thank you to Pia and Philip for your help with this newsletter.

Take care!

The National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) is having their Annual Award Tribute this coming Saturday, September 5th, at 5-6pm. This year’s tribute will be a virtual event on the Internet.

The honorees include John Tateishi, Dr. Reiko True, Rev. Ron Kobata, and Asian American Curriculum Project (yes, that’s us :).

Deadline to register for the event is August 31st. So please hurry and register right away. Proceeds benefit NJAHS’s Teacher Education Workshops.

Link for More Information and to Register

If you have an event that you would like us to mention and or to participate in, please feel free to let us know.

By Pia Ceres

Late summer has always sparkled with possibility: sunsets descending a little sooner, with the promise of autumn and freshly sharpened pencils ahead. I think that young adult, or YA, novels perfectly crystallize that transitional energy, just on the cusp of something new and unknown.

The best part is that there are more YA books with Asian American protagonists than ever, and some of our favorite stories have even been adapted for the screen! So whether you're looking for an exciting book to lure your tween or teen from their phones, you want to recapture the back-to-school nostalgia for yourself, or you want to find something that you and your child can enjoy together, we have the perfect list of Asian American YA from our online bookstore.

By Philip Chin

By the end of his life in 2012, Daniel Ken Inouye was President pro tempore of the United States Senate, third in line in presidential succession just after the Speaker of the House of Representatives. His life inspired many minorities to enter politics. His appearance on television during the Watergate hearings in 1974 was seen by a young Barack Obama during a family vacation, “It hinted to me what might be possible in my own life,” said President Obama in his eulogy to Senator Inouye, “I learned how our democracy is supposed to work.”

“Were it not for those two insights planted in my head at the age of 11, in between Disneyland and a trip to Yellowstone, I might never have considered a career in public service. I might not be standing here today. I think it’s fair to say that Danny Inouye was perhaps my earliest political inspiration.”

View full descriptions of all these featured books at Bookshop.org where you'll also have the opportunity to purchase them.