May 2022 Newsletter

Newsletter Index
• Editor's Message • Events • Humehume: The Hawaii Prince’s American Experience • My Auntie's Dango: Part 4 of AACP's Comfort Food Series • Featured Books

Editor's Message

May 2022

Hello AACP Newsletter Readers.

Another Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM or AAPIHM) has come and gone. Was it good for you?

I was looking over some old articles/editorials (May 2005 and May 2006) I wrote for APAHM, and was wondering if I should continue my crusade or rants. I guess my main beef was that people were misunderstanding the original purpose for the month. Many people see it as just a cultural event or maybe even about all things Asian or Pacific Islander. I used to cringe when I saw APAHM TV programming that would include things like “Pavarotti in China.”

I see the month more as a reminder to all Americans that AAPIs have been a part of American history and will continue to be a part of America. Most of us aren’t leaving so we better learn to live together and learn more about each other. This goes both ways, so when a group other than your own is having their month, please try to learn more about them too.

In keeping with my beliefs on the purpose of APAHM, I dusted off a one page piece I wrote a number of years ago on the Hawaiian named Humehume (also known as George Prince and a bunch of other names). I thought I could just add to it and have an article ready for you. When I started to do more research I kept reading and reading and almost didn’t have any more time left to write the actual article. Well, I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did in research him.

For our other piece, we’ve included another one of our comfort food articles (Up Auntie’s Dango). We haven’t had one for you in a while. We hope you’ll like this one and will give it a try.

We hope to continue the Mas interview series soon in one of the upcoming months. Thank you for your patience.

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For this month’s book selection, I’ve tried to fit the theme for APAHM that I mentioned above. Have a look. It’s a little late, but it’s never too late to read and learn. Let us know what you think by clicking on the ones that you’re curious about.

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Thank you to the Community Foundation of San Carlos for inviting us to your AAPI Heritage Month Community Celebration. We enjoyed meeting your festival goers and we hoped they liked our selection of books that we brought.

We’re going to the San Jose Obon (July 9-10). Yay! Great to be going to this again - hope to see you there.

Hey out there, keep the invitations coming. If we can get to your event and have enough help, we’ll consider it. We only have a couple of events that we’ve committed to. 

Our schedule is pretty open for the rest of the year.

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Thank you Susan for the Dango article and thank you Philip with the editing help.

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Everyone, as awful as the recent shootings and other terrible things going on are, keep in mind that people are still dying from COVID. One stat that I just saw said that we’re still losing over 300 Americans a day in to this disease. Can you imagine if we had a shooting every day that killed 300 people? We shouldn’t forget caring for these people, our loved ones, or ourselves.

So do take care.

Bye.

Leonard Chan

Executive Editor

Events

May 1 - June 12: Chinatown to Battleground: Chinese Americans in Military Service

Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, Ste. 102 San Francisco, CA

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July 9-10: San Jose Obon (we'll be there)

Come to one of the largest Obon festivals in Northern California. 640 N 5th St, San Jose, CA

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August 3-7: 2022 JACL National Convention

Bally's Las Vegas, NV

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August 4-6: OCA's 2022 National Convention

Bally's Las Vegas, NV

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

Humehume

The Hawaii Prince’s American Experience

By Leonard Chan

Humehume was a son of King Kaumualiʻi, last independent ruler of the Hawaiian Islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau. He traveled around the world, grew up on the East Coast of America, served in the United States military, and led a failed rebellion on his home island of Kauaʻi.

By the time of Humehume’s birth (c. 1798), Asians and Pacific Islanders had already long traveled the oceans of the world. In fact one of the members of Magellan’s crew on his voyage to circumnavigate (1591-1521) the world was a slave named Enrique who came from Malaysia. Some say that he may have been the first person to travel around the world.

So it was not uncommon for Asians and Pacific Islanders to be members of voyages to all parts of the world. And likewise not surprising that there were Hawaiians like Humehume living in the United States during the early 1800s.

Just how Humehume ended up in New England and being in the US Navy is the focus of this article. This is about Humehume’s American experience.

Read More

My Auntie's Dango

Part 4 of AACP's Comfort Food Series

By Susan Tanioka

When my family visited relatives in Papa’aloa, Hawaii, Up Auntie* or her daughter, Mitsue, made this for breakfast.

Cooking was done on a kerosene stove using a large cast iron pan. A big gob of Crisco was melted in the pan to keep the dango from sticking. They made one large dango. When sufficiently cooked, they’d hang it on a nail next to the stove to cool. The dango was cut in a pie shape so everyone got some crispy crust. I make my dango smaller because it’s easier to flip and for health reasons, I use vegetable oil. I have cooling racks so I don’t have to hang my dango on a nail.

Read More

AAPI Heritage Month Featured Books

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

Children's Books

Biographies and Memoirs

Reference Books