By Carolyn Bick
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
“We can certainly feel that there is a level of concern and anxiety currently within the community,” the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (JCCCW)’s Damien Craig said of the area’s Japanese American community’s feelings regarding the anti-immigrant rhetoric at the federal level, as they prepare for AAPI Heritage Month.
In response, he said, Japanese American community groups have been working to organize a coordinated, comprehensive response, and asking themselves the question, “What can we do today?” so that what happened to the Japanese community in the past does not happen to other people today.
But what the Japanese American community isn’t doing—nor many other Asian American, Native Hawai’ian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities—is hiding away.
JCCCW
The JCCCW is one of several AAPI community organizations gearing up for AAPI Heritage Month, which kicks off in May. Craig told the Northwest Asian Weekly that the center is planning to highlight two of its in-center museum’s exhibits, via its website and social media.
One of those exhibits is called “Prejudice and Pride: The faces of Executive Order 9066,” a photo series showing the Japanese and Japanese Americans who survived incarceration under Executive Order 9066.
The other exhibit is called “Japanese American Points of Light,” an art exhibition conceptualized and co-created by author and educator Larry Matsuda and artist Lauren Iida. The exhibit highlights several of Washington’s Japanese American community members, all of whom used their and their families’ experiences of incarceration to foster greater social good. The exhibit is funded by the “Kip Tokuda Memorial Civil Liberties Public Education Program” grant, from the state’s Department of Education. The grant is named in honor of Kip Tokuda, a Washington politician and social worker who founded the JCCCW.
“During this time when communities, not just the Japanese American community, are facing a lot of uncertainty, stories of compassion become even more important,” Craig said. “Instead of standing by, we need to stand up for those who are being targeted and be the voice that the Japanese didn’t have in the 1940s.”
Friends of Little Sài Gòn
Vietnamese community organization Friends of Little Sài Gòn (FLS) will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Sài Gòn, which marked the end of the war in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese diaspora. The official anniversary falls on April 30, but the commemoration’s events will take place between April 26 and May 3.
The commemoration’s multiple events, Cookie Trout of FLS said, is a “great way for the community to celebrate AANHPI month with the Vietnamese community. These events spotlight local leaders, business owners, and stories from residents of Little Saigon.”
Among these events is the opening of an art exhibit, “Sàigòn to Seattle: Our Past, Our Present, and Our Future,” which features local artists who answered FLS’s February call for artwork. The art exhibit will open on April 26 from 2-4 p.m. The exhibit will remain open until May 17, with limited viewing opportunities. Interested attendees can register here.
On May 3, FLS will screen its short film, “Sàigòn to Seattle: 50 Years After the War,” during an event at Hoa Mai Park from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The film can be previewed here, and interested attendees can also sign up for a reminder email.
The film combines oral histories with research about the war in Vietnam, migration waves, and King County’s Vietnamese community’s history. It also discusses the development of Seattle’s Little Saigon. Accompanying the film is a booklet meant to supplement the film’s information with additional historical research, oral histories, and archival photographs.
More information can be found on FLS’s webpage, “Sàigòn to Seattle: 50 Years After the War.”
As for the rhetoric at the federal level, Trout said that FLS is “focused on place-based solutions. We work with our local community to come up with solutions and in times of crisis, we look to the good happening at our local level.”
Seattle Chinese Garden
The Seattle Chinese Garden will also kick off AAPI Heritage Month in late April, starting with a Garden-hosted event on April 26 to honor World Tai Chi & Qigong Day.
Led by instructor Restita DeJesus, the event, which begins at 10 a.m., is meant to highlight how Tai Chi and Qigong promote “mindfulness, healing, and unity through traditional Chinese movement practices,” the Garden’s general manager, Calvin Tjok, told the Northwest Asian Weekly. Tjok said that the Garden will also host the Peony Festival on May 17 and 18, which will feature performances, arts and crafts, cultural demonstrations, “and, of course, blooming peonies.”
These kinds of events—ones that promote togetherness, peace, and calm—are intentional, Tjok said.
“We recognize that national rhetoric and political tensions can impact how people approach cultural spaces,” Tjok said. “That’s why the Garden is intentionally positioned as a welcoming, peaceful, and inclusive space—a place where people can find connection, beauty, and meaning regardless of background.”
“By gathering for events like World Tai Chi Day and the Peony Festival, we’re not just commemorating the past—we’re actively engaging with tradition in a way that is joyful, meaningful, and community-centered,” said Tjok. “These experiences foster cultural pride, cross-cultural appreciation, and the kind of shared joy that builds stronger, more connected communities.”
This is particularly important during AAPI Heritage Month, Tjok said, because the Garden has the opportunity to “celebrate and uplift the voices and traditions of AANHPI communities, while creating space for mutual understanding and connection.”
Asia Pacific Cultural Center
While it won’t be hosting any specific event for AAPI Heritage Month, the Asia Pacific Cultural Center, a Pan-Asian cultural center located in Tacoma, will be hosting a variety of events throughout May, including the 11th annual Korea Day on May 3 and the center’s first-ever Mongolian Day on May 20.
The center’s executive director, Faaluaina Pritchard, said that it’s important for people to come together in different ways to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, because even though there are many similarities amongst AANHPI cultural groups, every one is still unique. And coming together can also help to overcome stereotypes, she said.
“So many people think negatively of who the AANHPI people are, because they don’t have an understanding [of our cultures],” she said. “Everyone should make it a … habit to find out and learn more, so we can all live happily, with good understanding, and in peace.”
Pritchard said that there is less anxiety about these celebrations and much more excitement.
“We are more excited than ever to showcase who we are as a people!” she said. “Of course, we are being extra-careful, but also we will not let the wrong take over us!”
