May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month so to lift up the voices and histories of these Americans, here are a selection of books to add to your reading list.
American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders, by Gary Okihiro
"A survey of U.S. history from its beginnings to the present, American History Unbound reveals our past through the lens of Asian American and Pacific Islander history. In so doing, it is a work of both history and anti-history, a narrative that fundamentally transforms and deepens our understanding of the United States. This text is accessible and filled with engaging stories and themes that draw attention to key theoretical and historical interpretations. Gary Y. Okihiro positions Asians and Pacific Islanders within a larger history of people of color in the United States and places the United States in the context of world history and oceanic worlds." -- Publisher Description
A Different Shade of Justice: Asian American Civil Rights in the South, by Stephanie Hinnershitz
"In the Jim Crow South, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, and, later, Vietnamese and Indian Americans faced obstacles similar to those experienced by African Americans in their fight for civil and human rights. Although they were not Black, Asian Americans generally were not considered White and thus were subject to school segregation, antimiscegenation laws, and discriminatory business practices. As Asian Americans attempted to establish themselves in the South, they found that institutionalized racism thwarted their efforts time and again. However, this book tells the story of their resistance and documents how Asian American political actors and civil rights activists challenged existing definitions of rights and justice in the South." -- Publisher Description
Narratives of Diaspora Representations of Asia in Chinese American Literature, by Walter S. H. Lim
"Chinese American authors often find it necessary to represent Asian history in their literary works. Tracing the development of the literary production of Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, Lisa See, and Russell Leong, among others, this book captures the effects of international politics and globalization on Chinese American diasporic consciousness." -- Publisher Description
Learning from My Mother's Voice: Family Legend and the Chinese American Experience, by Jean Lau Chin
"A compelling saga of mothers and daughters, survival and striving, women, family, and culture that will resonate with all Americans who have immigrant roots. This fascinating book takes a new and different look at the immigrant experience of Asian Americans. Through the voice of her Chinese mother, the author examines perennial themes of separation, loss, guilt, and bicultural identity in the lives of immigrant families. Grounded in a historical context that spans events of more than a century - World War II, McCarthyism, Civil Rights, the Women's movement - this volume uses oral history to show how families rely upon myth and legend as they adjust to a new culture. Illustrates how strong cultural and inter-generational bonds can both support and oppress Chinese American families; Uses Asian mythology and symbols to understand the psyche of Chinese Americans and their immigration experience, illustrating the contrasting world views of Asian and Western culture. Provides strategies for coping with the immigration experience for use by counselors and other professionals." -- Publisher Description
Breaking the Silence: Redress and Japanese American Ethnicity, by Yasuko Takezawa
"This book is a unique interpretation of how wartime internment and the movement for redress affected Japanese Americans. Yasuko I. Takezawa, a Japanese national who has lived in the Japanese American community as well as in the larger American society, has a distinctive vantage point from which to assess the changing meaning of being a Japanese American. Takezawa focuses on the impact of two critical incidents in Japanese American history-the wartime evacuation and internment of more than a hundred thousand individuals and the redress campaign that resulted in an official apology and reparation payments from the U.S. government. Her book is a moving account filled with personal stories-both painful and joyous-told to her by Nisei and Sansei (second- and third-generation) interviewees in Seattle. Covering the period before, during, and after World War II, Takezawa captures the internal struggles of the Japanese American community in seeking redress. She shows how its members have handled identity crises caused by racial discrimination, evacuation and internment, and the long-prevalent American ideology of the melting pot. She is particularly skillful in comparing the differences between the generations as they sorted out their experiences and reconfirmed their ethnic identity through the redress movement." -- Publisher Description
Japanese American Resettlement Through the Lens: Hikaru Carl Iwasaki and the WRA's Photographic Section, 1943-1945, by Lane Ryo Hirabayashi and Kenichiro Shimada
"In Japanese American Resettlement through the Lens, Lane Ryo Hirabayashi gathers a unique collection of photographs by War Relocation Authority photographer Hikaru Iwasaki, the only full-time WRA photographer from the period still living. With substantive focus on resettlement
