Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May

The first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843 and Chinese workers contributed mightily to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad which was completed on May 10, 1869. In 1978, a joint congressional resolution named the first 10 days in May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.

In 1992, Congress extended the week to a month of celebration and named May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, according to census.gov.

Roughly one out of 10 businesses in the United States, or about 555,262 businesses, are Asian-owned. The median age of the Asian population in the United States stood at about 35 in 2019. The country’s Asian population is about 22 million or seven percent of the total population as of 2019.

Famous Asian Americans include move star Lucy Liu, the late Bruce Lee, martial artist, actor and producer; Michelle Kwan, Olympic medalist in figure skating; Mindy Kaling, actress, comedian, writer, producer and director; Patsy Mink the first woman of Japanese descent elected to the U.S. Congress and Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian American of Japanese descent to fly in space.

Celebrations to mark the month can begin in the kitchen by cooking and serving Asian or Pacific Islander dishes or joining celebrations on social media