Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: 2022

This May, in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we revisit 15 stories from our archives. These stories explore not just the past but also history as we make it — from how we name our children to the rise of sexy South Asians in Hollywood.

The roots of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month go back to May 1979, when President Jimmy Carter signed the first Asian Pacific American Heritage Week into effect; Congress permanently extended the celebrations from a week to a month in 1992. May is significant because Japanese immigrants first arrived in the U.S. in May 1843 and Chinese immigrants helped build America’s first transcontinental railroad, completed in May 1869. This year, in proclaiming May 2022 as Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the White House publicly celebrates Asians' contributions to “writing the American story,” while also condemning the surge in anti-Asian bias and violence.

The Juggernaut is dedicated to exploring untold and overlooked histories, especially in the diaspora. For us, documenting South Asian American history and news, however, is a daily ambition — one not relegated to just one month.