Dear Friends & Neighbors,

(Please click on red links & note magenta)

George R. Ariyoshi (portrait by George Ariyoshi guest), first Asian American governor (of Hawaii)

Elaine L. Chao (photo by F.X. O’Gara), first Asian/Chinese American woman appointed to a President’s Cabinet.

Katherine Sui Fun Cheung (courtesy of Aviatrix),Chinese Amelia Earhart, first Chinese female aviator who received private pilot license in 1932 in U.S.(because Chinese flying school would not allow women to enroll as pilots at the time.) and later settled in CA in USA.

Margaret Cho (photo by Derek Nicoletto), Asian American (of Korean descent) stand-up comedian.

Herbert Choy, first Asian American federal judge (of Korean ancestry).

Steven Chu, American physicisst (of Chinese ancestry), who won Nobel Prize in Physics and became U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2009-2013.

Connie Chung (photo by Phil Konstantin), Asian American journalist (of Chinese ancestry), became the second female to co-anchor a network newscast as part of the CBS Evening News.

Hiram Fong, first Asian American Senator (of Chinese ancestry)

Mazie Hirono, first female Asian/Japanese American Senator.

Feng-Shan Ho, Chinese diplomat in Vienna who risked his own life and career to save more than 3,000 Jews during WWII, later awarded “Righteous Among the Nations”, and later settled in San Francisco, CA, and wrote his memoirs, My Forty Years as a Diplomat.

Duke Kahanamoku, Olympic medalist swimmer from Hawaii, who popularized the ancient Hawaii sport of surfing.

Fred T. Korematsu (photo courtesy of family of Fred T. Korematsu), Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and the first to challenge the orders and became a fugitive.

Michelle Kwan (spiral by Kevin Rushforth, permission under CC by SA-3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en), two-time Olympic medalist & five-time World Champion and nine-time U.S. Champion for figure skating. She is considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.

Maxine Hong Kingston (photo by David Shankbone. This image has been cleaned up Red-eye-effect-reduced. The other image is at Maxine Hong Kingston by David Shankbone), an Asian/Chinese American author and professor for work such as The Woman Warrior, China Men, etc.

Maya Lin, Asian American designer/artist (of Chinese ancestry), whose design was chosen in a national competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

Gary Locke, first Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) governor on the mainland and later served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce during Obama Administration.

Yo-Yo Ma (DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 25JAN08, author: World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland), Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) Cellist, USA plays the cello during the ‘Presentation of the Crystal Award’ at the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 25, 2008.

Norman Mineta, Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) politician who served in President George W. Bush’s cabinet as U.S. Secretary of Transportation and President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce.

Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) stand-up comic, first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent, Mr. T and TIna.

Ellison Shoji Onizuka, first Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) Astronaut from Kealakekua, HI.

Chinese railroad workers in the snow constructing the first transcontinental railraod

Dalip Singh Saund, first Asian/Indian/Sikh American and the first member of non-Abrahamic faith to be elected to Congress.

Jokichi Takamine, Asian/Japanese American chemist who first isolated epinephrine (adrenaline) from the suprarenal gland.

Amy Tan, Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) writer whose work explored mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese American experience, such as The Joy Luck Club, the Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter,Saving Fish From Drowning, The Valley of Amazement.

Anna May Wong, Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) actress, considered to be the first Chinese American movie star to have gained international recognition.

Flossie Wong-Staal, first Asian/Chinese American scientist to clone HIV and determined the function of its genes, a major step in proving that HIV is the cause of AIDS.

Jerry Yang, Asian/Chinese-Taiwanese American internet entrepreneur and programmer who co-founded Yahoo!Inc.

 (Please click on red links & note magenta)

Did you know that the month of May has been proclaimed to be the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2016 by former President Barack Obama, based on the White House press release of 2016, in italics below? BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the fastest growing racial group in our country, growing over 4 times as rapidly as the population of the United States.  As one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse groups in America, the AAPI community reminds us that though we all have distinct backgrounds and origins, we are bound in common purpose by our shared hopes and dreams for ourselves and our children.  Our Nation’s story would be incomplete without the voices of countless Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders who have called the land we all love home.  This month, we honor the irreplaceable roles they have played in our past, and we recommit to ensuring opportunities exist for generations of AAPIs to come. The AAPI community’s long and deeply-rooted legacy in the United States reminds us of both proud and painful chapters of our history.  Confronted with grueling and perilous working conditions, thousands of Chinese laborers on the transcontinental railroad pushed the wheels of progress forward in the West.  Japanese American troops fought for freedom from tyranny abroad in World War II while their families here at home were interned simply on the basis of their origin.  And many South Asian Americans in particular face discrimination, harassment, and senseless violence often in the communities in which they live and work. Today, AAPIs lend their rich heritage to enhancing our communities and our culture.  As artists and activists, educators and elected officials, service men and women and business owners, AAPIs help drive our country forward.  Yet despite hard-won achievements, AAPIs continue to face obstacles to realizing their full potential.  One in three AAPIs does not speak English fluently, and certain subgroups experience low levels of educational attainment and high levels of unemployment.  AAPIs also often experience heightened health risks, and millions of AAPI men, women, and children in the United States live in poverty. My Administration is committed to supporting and investing in AAPI communities.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 20 million uninsured adults have gained health insurance coverage, including 2 million AAPIs.  Among Asian Americans under the age of 65, the uninsured rate has declined by 55 percent since 2013.  Last year, we brought together thousands of AAPI artists; advocates; and business, community, and Federal leaders from across America for the first-ever White House Summit on AAPIs to discuss the key issues facing their communities.  The Summit was hosted by the White House Initiative on AAPIs, which I reestablished during my first year in office and is housed within the Department of Education.  We are working with Federal agencies to build stronger and more robust regional networks across our country that improve access to Federal resources and expand opportunities.  We have worked to protect civil rights, foster educational equity, and create economic opportunity across our country.  Because a lack of detailed data perpetuates the false notion of AAPIs as a model minority, we are working across Government to improve data collection to counter existing stereotypes and to shed light on the realities faced and resources needed by the AAPI community.  Through the White House Task Force on New Americans, Federal agencies are working with cities and counties around America to build welcoming communities that allow immigrants and refugees to thrive.  And we will continue working to allow more high skilled immigrants to stay in our country — too many talented AAPIs are held back from fully realizing our country’s promise, and too many have suffered the consequences of our Nation’s broken immigration system. Peoples of diverse backgrounds and circumstances have long come to our country with the faith that they could build a better life in America, and spanning generations, the story of AAPIs in the United States embodies this promise.  During Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, let us celebrate the many contributions our AAPI brothers and sisters have made to the American mosaic, and let us renew our commitment to creating more opportunities for AAPI youth as they grow up and embrace the hard work of active citizenship, adding their unique voices and experiences to our Nation’s narrative. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2016 as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.  I call upon all Americans to visit obama whitehouse.archives.gov/AAPI to learn more about our efforts on behalf of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities.  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth. BARACK OBAMA

I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the well-known Asian American & Pacific Islanders (photos above) who have made a difference, below, in alphabetic order based on last names: I. Asian Americans Who Made A Difference:

• George R. Ariyoshi:  (有吉良一; born March 12, 1926, in Honolulu, HI)
  

  George R. Ariyoshi (portrait by George Ariyoshi guest), first Asian American governor (of Hawaii)

  is an American politician and lawyer who served as the third Governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1986. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He assumed the governorship when John A. Burns was declared incapacitated. When he was elected, Ariyoshi became the first American of Asian descent to be elected governor of a state of the United States. He also holds the record as the longest-serving state governor in Hawaiʻi, a record likely to remain unbroken because of term limits enacted after his tenure. Ariyoshi is now considered an elder statesman of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.

• Elaine Chao:  (Chinese: 趙小蘭; pinyin: Zhào Xiǎolán; born on March 26, 1953, in Taipei, Taiwan) is an American politician who is the 18th and current United States Secretary of Transportation.
  

  Elaine L. Chao (photo by F.X. O’Gara), first Asian/Chinese American woman appointed to a President’s Cabinet.

  She is a member of the Republican Party. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chao was the first Asian American woman and the first Chinese American in U.S. history to be appointed to a President’s Cabinet. She served as the 24th United States Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, and as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Director of the Peace Corps under President George H. W. Bush. She spent four years as the president of the United Way of America. On November 29, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Chao to serve as the Secretary of Transportation. She was confirmed by the Senate on January 31, 2017, in a 93-6 vote. Chao is married to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 3, 2015.
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• Steven Chen: traditional Chinese: 陳士駿; simplified Chinese: 陈士骏; pinyin: Chén Shìjùn; born in August 18, 1978, in Taipei, Taiwan) is an American Internet entrepreneur. He is best known as one of the co-founders and the previous chief technology officer of the popular website YouTube. After having co-founded the company AVOS Systems, Inc. and built the video-sharing app MixBit, he joined Google Ventures in 2014.

• Katherine Sui Fun Cheung:  (Chinese: 张瑞芬; 1904–2003, in Enping, Guangdong Province, China, in China known as Zhang Ruifen) was a Chinese aviator.

Katherine Sui Fun Cheung (with permission from Aviatrix), first Asian/Chinese American woman who obtained private license to fly.

At the age of seventeen she moved to the United States to study music at several institutions including the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and the University of Southern California (USC). By 1931, she had two daughters and was determined to take up flying. Bus once she found out that Chinese flying schools would not allow women to enroll as pilots, in 1931, Cheung enrolled in aviation classes, taking flying lessons with the Chinese Aeronautical Association in Los Angeles with flight instructor Bert Ekstein. On 30 March 1932 she received her private pilot’s license. She received one of the first private licenses issued to a Chinese woman and was the first Chinese woman to obtain an international flying license. She became a United States citizen after attaining her license. After attaining her license, she continued to study, often with military pilots to learn aerobatics, aircraft structures, international routing, navigation and other skills which would improve her versatility as a pilot. The skills she learned, allowed her to participate in air shows, performing barrel rolls, inverted flying, loops and other aerobatic tricks.  

• Margaret Cho: (born on December 5, 1968, in San Francisco, CA) is an American stand-up comedian, actress,

Margaret Cho (photo by Derek Nicoletto), Asian American (of Korean descent) stand-up comedian.

fashion designer, author, and singer-songwriter. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and sexuality. She has created music videos and has her own clothing line of crotchless underwear for men and women. Cho has also frequently supported LGBT rights and has won awards for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of women, Asians, and the LGBT community.As an actress, she has acted in such roles as Charlene Lee in It’s My Party and John Travolta‘s FBI colleague in the action movie Face/Off. Cho was part of the cast of the TV series Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime Television, in which she appeared as Teri Lee, a paralegal assistant.

• • Herbert Choy: (January 6, 1916 – March 10, 2004, in Makaweli, HI) was the first Asian American to serve as a United States federal judge and the first person of Korean ancestry to be admitted to the bar in the United States.
    

    Herbert Choy, first Asian American federal judge (of Korean ancestry).

    Choy was born in 1916 in Makaweli, Hawaii, to Korean immigrants who worked in sugar plantations in Hawaii. Choy received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Hawaii in 1938 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1941. He was the first person of Korean ancestry to be admitted to practice law in the United States. Choy authored many significant opinions, upholding the constitutionality of a law allowing child sexual abuse victims to testify via closed-circuit television, allowing a Muslim inmate to sue Phoenix-area jail officials for imposing discriminatory security measures at Muslim services, and upholding California’s “green advertising” law regulating advertisers’ claims about “biodegradable” or “recycled” products.
  • Steven Chu: (Chinese: 朱棣文; pinyin: Zhū Dìwén, born on February 28, 1948, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American physicist. He is known for his research at Bell Labs and Stanford University regarding the cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997,
    

    Steven Chu, American physicisst (of Chinese ancestry), who won Nobel Prize in Physics and became U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2009-2013.

    along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips.Chu served as the 12th United States Secretary of Energy from 2009 to 2013. At the time of his appointment as Energy Secretary, Chu was a professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where his research was concerned primarily with the study of biological systems at the single molecule level. Chu resigned as energy secretary on April 22, 2013. He returned to Stanford as Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular & Cellular Physiology. Chu is a vocal advocate for more research into renewable energy and nuclear power, arguing that a shift away from fossil fuels is essential to combating climate change. He has conceived of a global “glucose economy”, a form of a low-carbon economy, in which glucose from tropical plants is shipped around like oil is today.

• • Connie Chung: (Chinese: 宗毓華; pinyin: Zōng Yùhuá; Cantonese Yale: Jung Yukwa; born on August 20, 1946, in Washington, DC), known as Connie Chung, is an American journalist.
    

    Connie Chung (photo by Phil Konstantin), Asian American journalist (of Chinese ancestry), became the second female to co-anchor a network newscast as part of the CBS Evening News.

    She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S. Representative Gary Condit, whom Chung interviewed first after the Chandra Levy disappearance, and basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson after he went public about being HIV-positive. In 1993, she became only the second female to co-anchor a network newscast as part of CBS Evening News. She was removed in 1995 as CBS Evening News co-anchor after a controversial interview with a fireman, during rescue efforts at the Oklahoma City bombing, which seemed inappropriately combative and her interview tactics to get Newt Gingrich‘s mother to admit her unguarded thoughts about Hillary Clinton. She is married to talk show host Maury Povich and they have one adopted son, Matthew Jay Povich.

• • Eugene Chung: (born on June 14, 1969, Prince George’s County, Maryland) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League from 1992 to 1997. He is currently the assistant offensive line/tight ends/run game coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was the assistant offensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2013−2015 under head coach Andy Reid, after serving three seasons with him in Philadelphia Eagles in the same capacity. Chung was re-hired by the Eagles on January 20, 2016, by new head coach Doug Pederson, who was Chung’s offensive coordinator with the Chiefs.The New England Patriots drafted him 13th overall out of Virginia Tech in the 1992 NFL draft. He played three seasons with New England. Chung was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1995 NFL Expansion Draft. He played one season with the Jaguars and one with the Indianapolis Colts before retiring.Chung is Korean American, and was the first Asian American player to be drafted in the first round since Roman Gabriel in 1962.
  • Hiram Leong Fong:  (Chinese: 鄺友良; pinyin: Kuàng Yǒuliáng; Cantonese Yale: Kwong³ Yau⁵ Leung⁴), born Yau Leong Fong (October 15, 1906 in Honolulu, HI – August 18, 2004), was an American businessman and politician from Hawaii. He is most notable for his service as Republican United States Senator from 1959 to 1977, and for being the first Asian American and Chinese American to be elected as such. In 1964, Fong became the first Asian American to run for his party’s nomination for President of the United States.
    

    Hiram Fong, first Asian American Senator (of Chinese ancestry)

    To date, he is the only Republican to ever hold a Senate seat from Hawaii and the only Asian American to seek the presidential nomination of the Republican Party until Bobby Jindal in the 2016 primaries. Asian-American Patsy Mink, also from Hawaii, sought the nomination as a Democrat in 1972.
  • Emil Guillermo: an American print and broadcast journalist (born in San Francisco, CA), commentator and humorist. His column, “Emil Amok”, appeared for more than 14 years in AsianWeek—at one time, the most widely read and largest circulating Asian American newsweekly in the U.S. The column has now migrated to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund site blog. Born in San Francisco, Guillermo is an alumnus of Harvard University, where he studied history and film, and was a member of the Harvard Lampoon. He delivered the Ivy Oration as class humorist in 1977. From 1989-1991, he was host of NPR‘s “All Things Considered.” He was the first Asian American male, and first Filipino American, to host a regularly scheduled national news broadcast. He has also worked as a television reporter in San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. He has hosted his own radio talk show in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Sacramento. His writing and commentary has been widely published in newspapers around the country, and has earned him national and regional journalism awards. In 2015, Guillermo received the Asian American Journalists Association’s Dr. Suzanne Ahn Award for Civil Rights & Social Justice, in recognition of excellence in coverage of Asian American Pacific Islander civil rights and social justice issues.

• • Mazie Hirono: ˈmeɪzi hᵻˈroʊnoʊ/ (メイジー・ヒロノ Meijī Hirono^?, Japanese name: 広野 慶子 Hirono Keiko, born November 3, 1947, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan) is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from Hawaii, in office since 2013.
    

    Mazie Hirono, first female Asian/Japanese American Senator.

    Hirono, a member of the Democratic Party, previously served as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1985 to 1995 and as the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii from 1994 to 2002, serving under Governor Ben Cayetano. She was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Hawaii in 2002 but was defeated by Republican Linda Lingle. She then served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013. She is the first elected female Senator from Hawaii, the first Asian-American woman elected to the Senate, the first U.S. Senator born in Japan, and the nation’s first Buddhist Senator. She considers herself a non-practicing Buddhist and is often cited with Hank Johnson as the first Buddhist to serve in the United States Congress. She is the third woman to be elected to Congress from the state of Hawaii (after Patsy Mink and Pat Saiki). The Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Daniel Akaka, Hirono won the election, defeating Linda Lingle in a re-match landslide victory by 63% to 37%. Hirono was sworn in on January 3, 2013, by the Vice President and President of the Senate, Joe Biden. Hirono was the only person of Asian ancestry serving in the U.S. Senate until 2016 when senators Tammy Duckworth and Kamala Harris were elected in the states of Illinois and California. She is the current dean of Hawaii’s Congressional Delegation.

• • David Ho: (Chinese: 何大一; born on November 3, 1952, in Taichung, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese-American medical doctor and HIV/AIDS researcher who was born in Taiwan and has made many innovative state of the art scientific contributions to the understanding and technological treatment of HIV infection. He is the scientific director and chief executive officer of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Irene Diamond Professor at Rockefeller University in New York City. Ho has been at the forefront of AIDS research for three decades. He published over 400 papers (cited June 2011), enabling the scientific community to understand the mechanism of HIV replication. He championed the combination anti-retroviral therapy which had earlier been developed by scientists at NIAID and Merck. This approach allowed the control of HIV replication in patients. Ho’s research team is working on developing vaccines for AIDS. He heads a consortium of organization in China and the U.S. to address the crisis of HIV/AIDS in China. In a June 13, 2011 interview with Asian Scientist Magazine, he discusses his team’s progress with Ibalizumab, the antibody his team is developing for HIV vaccination with support from the Gates Foundation. Ho keeps good relations with the Taiwanese government in Taiwan and the top scientific research institution of Taiwan, Academia Sinica. He has been playing an important role in the state-sponsored research and development of biotechnology in Taiwan. Ho is a member of the Committee of 100, a Taiwanese American leadership organization, in addition to several scientific groups.

• • Feng-Shan Ho or Ho Feng-Shan: Ho Feng-Shan (traditional Chinese: 何鳳山; simplified Chinese: 何凤山; pinyin: Hé Fèngshān, also spelled “He Fengshan”; born September 10, 1901 in Yiyang, Hunan, China; died September 28, 1997 in San Francisco)was a Chinese diplomat in Vienna who risked his own life and career during World War II to save more than 3,000 Jews, and became known as the Chinese Schindler.
    

    Feng-Shan Ho, Chinese diplomat in Vienna who risked his own life and career to save more than 3,000 Jews during WWII, later awarded “Righteous Among the Nations”, and later settled in San Francisco, CA, and wrote his memoirs, My Forty Years as a Diplomat.

    Ho’s actions were recognized posthumously when the Israeli organization Yad Vashem in 2000 decided to award him the title “Righteous among the Nations“.In 1935, Ho started his diplomatic career within the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of China. His first posting was in Turkey. He was appointed First Secretary at the Chinese legation in Vienna in 1937. When Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, and the legation was turned into a consulate, Ho was assigned the post of Consul-General.After the Kristallnacht in 1938, the situation became rapidly more difficult for the almost 200,000 Austrian Jews. The only way for Jews to escape from Nazism was to leave Europe. In order to leave, they had to provide proof of emigration, usually a visa from a foreign nation, or a valid boat ticket. This was difficult, however, because at the 1938 Évian Conference 31 countries (out of a total of 32, which included Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) refused to accept Jewish immigrants. The only country willing to accept Jews was the Dominican Republic, which offered to accept up to 100,000 refugees. Acting against the orders of his superior Chen Jie (陳介), the Chinese ambassador to Berlin, Ho started to issue visas to Shanghai, part of which during this time was still under the control of the Republic of China, for humanitarian reasons. 1,200 visas were issued by Ho in the first three months of holding office as Consul-General. At the time it was not necessary to have a visa to enter Shanghai, but the visas allowed the Jews to leave Austria. Many Jewish families left for Shanghai, whence most of them would later leave for Hong Kong and Australia. Ho continued to issue these visas until he was ordered to return to China in May 1940. The exact number of visas given by Ho to Jewish refugees is unknown. It is known that Ho issued the 200th visa in June 1938, and signed 1906th on October 27, 1938. How many Jews were saved through his actions is unknown, but given that Ho issued nearly 2,000 visas only during his first half year at his post, the number may be in the thousands.

• • Duke Kahanamoku: Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (born on August 24, 1890 in Honolulu, HI – died on January 22, 1968) was a Native Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularized the ancient Hawaiian sport of surfing.
    

    Duke Kahanamoku, Olympic medalist swimmer from Hawaii, who popularized the ancient Hawaii sport of surfing.

    He was born towards the end of the Kingdom of Hawaii, just before the overthrow, living into statehood as a United States citizen. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming. Duke was also a law enforcement officer, an actor, a beach volleyball player and businessman. On August 11, 1911, Kahanamoku was timed at 55.4 seconds in the 100 yards (91 m) freestyle, beating the existing world record by 4.6 seconds, in the salt water of Honolulu Harbor. He also broke the record in the 220 yd (200 m) and equaled it in the 50 yd (46 m). But the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), in disbelief, would not recognize these feats until many years later. The AAU initially claimed that the judges must have been using alarm clocks rather than stopwatches and later claimed that ocean currents aided Kahanamoku.

• • Young-Oak Kim: Colonel Young-Oak Kim (Hangul: 김영옥; Hanja: 金永玉; RR: Gim Yeong-ok; MR: Kim Yŏng’ok, born on Jan. 29, 1919, in Los Angeles, CA – December 29, 2005), a highly decorated U.S. Army combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War and a civic leader and humanitarian. He was a member of the U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and a combat leader in Italy and France during World War II. He was awarded 19 medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Medal of Military Valor, a Légion d’honneur, a Croix de guerre, and (posthumously) the Korean Taeguk Cordon of the Order of Military Merit. After his military career, Kim dedicated his life to public service and was an active founder and leader of several non-profit organizations for underserved communities throughout Southern California. He died of cancer at the age of 86. In May 2016, members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus held a press conference, organized by the Council of Korean Americans, to call on President Barack Obama to posthumously award Kim the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

• • Maxine Hong KingstonChinese: 湯婷婷; pinyin: Tāng Tíngtíng; born on October 27, 1940, in Stockton, CA in Stockton, CA) is a Chinese American author and Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley,
    

    Maxine Hong Kingston (photo by David Shankbone. This image has been cleaned up Red-eye-effect-reduced. The other image is at Maxine Hong Kingston by David Shankbone), an Asian/Chinese American author and professor for work such as The Woman Warrior, China Men, etc.

    where she graduated with a BA in English in 1962. Kingston has written three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese-Americans.She has contributed to the feminist movement with such works as her memoir The Woman Warrior, which discusses gender and ethnicity and how these concepts affect the lives of women. Kingston has received several awards for her contributions to Chinese American Literature including the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 1981 for China Men. Kingston was awarded the 1997 National Humanities Medal by President of the United States Bill Clinton. She was a member of the committee to choose the design for the California commemorative quarter.Kingston was arrested on International Women’s Day (March 8) in 2003. Participating in an anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. that was coordinated by the women-initiated organization Code Pink, Kingston refused to leave the street after being instructed to do so by local police forces. She shared a jail cell with authors Alice Walker and Terry Tempest Williams who were also participants in the demonstration. Kingston’s anti-war stance has significantly trickled into her work; she has stated that writing The Fifth Book of Peace was initiated and inspired by growing up during World War II. Kingston was honored as a 175th Speaker Series writer at Emma Willard School in September 2005. In April, 2007, Kingston was awarded the Northern California Book Award Special Award in Publishing for Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (2006), an anthology which she edited. In July, 2014, Kingston was awarded the 2013 National Medal of Arts by President of the United States Barack Obama.

• Fred Korematsu: (是松 豊三郎 Korematsu Toyosaburō^?, born on January 30, 1919, Oakland, CA – March 30, 2005) was an American civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
  

  Fred T. Korematsu (photo courtesy of family of Fred T. Korematsu), Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and the first to challenge the orders and became a fugitive.

  Shortly after the Imperial Japanese Navy launched its attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the removal of individuals of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast from their homes and their mandatory imprisonment in internment camps, but Korematsu instead challenged the orders and became a fugitive.The legality of the internment order was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Korematsu v. United States; this ruling has never been explicitly overturned. Korematsu’s conviction for evading internment was overturned decades later after the disclosure of new evidence challenging the necessity of the internment, evidence which had been withheld from the courts by the U.S. government during the war. To commemorate his journey as a civil rights activist posthumously, “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” was observed for the first time on his 92nd birthday, January 30, 2011, by the state of California, the first such commemoration for an Asian American in the United States. In 2015, Virginia passed legislation to make it the second state and first commonwealth to permanently recognize each January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day. The Fred T. Korematsu Institute was founded in 2009 to carry on Korematsu’s legacy as a civil rights advocate by educating and advocating for civil liberties for all communities.

• • Michelle Kwan: (born on July 7, 1980, in Torrance, CA, with parents from Hong Kong) is an American retired figure skater. She is a two-time (1998 and 2002) Olympic medalist, five-time (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003) World champion and nine-time (1996, 1998–2005) U.S. champion (the all-time record, as tied with Maribel Vinson-Owen).
    

    Michelle Kwan (spiral by Kevin Rushforth, permission under CC by SA-3.0), two-time Olympic medalist & five-time World Champion and nine-time U.S. Champion for figure skating. She is considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.

    She competed at a high level for over a decade and is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. Known for her consistency and expressive artistry on ice, she is widely considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time. For well over a decade, Kwan maintained her status not only as America’s most popular figure skater but as one of America’s most popular female athletes. During her reign Kwan landed numerous major endorsement deals, starred in multiple TV specials and was the subject of extensive media coverage.  From 1997 to 2005, she was the U.S. Figure Skating Association‘s top-paid skater in appearance fees and prize money, as well as one of the highest paid Winter Olympic athletes in endorsements. Kwan was also the highest paid skater on the Champions on Ice tours.

• • • • • Maya Lin: (born October 5, 1959, in Athens, OH) is an American designer and artist who is known for her work in sculpture and land art.
          

          Maya Lin, Asian American designer/artist (of Chinese ancestry), whose design was chosen in a national competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

          She achieved national recognition at the age of 21 while still an undergraduate at Yale University when her design was chosen in a national competition for the the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It is considered one of the most influential memorials of the post-World War II period. Lin has completed designs for other memorials, as well as for numerous public and private buildings, landscape design, and sculpture.
     
    • • • Gary Locke:(born January 21, 1950, in Seattle, WA, from Chinese American parent) is an American politician.
          

          Gary Locke, first Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) governor on the mainland and later served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce during Obama Administration.

          Locke was the United States ambassador to China (2011-14). He was the 21st Governor of Washington (1997-2005) and served in the Obama administration as United States Secretary of Commerce (2009-11). Locke is the first governor in the continental United States of Asian descent, and is the only Chinese American ever to serve as a governor of any state. He is also the first Chinese American to serve as the U.S. ambassador to China. In 1982, Locke was elected to Washington state’s South Seattle district in the Washington House of Representatives, where he served as the chair of the Appropriations Committee. Eleven years later, in 1993, Locke was elected as King County‘s executive, defeating incumbent Tim Hill. In 1996, Locke won the Democratic primary and general election for governor of Washington, becoming the first Chinese American governor in United States history.
    • • • Yo-Yo Ma: (born October 7, 1955, in Paris, France, to Chinese American parents) is a Chinese American cellist  ^, Born in Paris, he spent his schooling years in New York City and was a child prodigy,
          

          Yo-Yo Ma (DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 25JAN08, author: World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland), Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) Cellist, USA plays the cello during the ‘Presentation of the Crystal Award’ at the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 25, 2008.

          performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University and has enjoyed a prolific career as both a soloist performing with orchestras around the world and a recording artist. He has recorded more than 90 albums and received 18 Grammy Awards. In addition to recordings of the standard classical repertoire, he has recorded a wide variety of folk music such as American bluegrass music, traditional Chinese melodies, the tangos of Argentinian composer Ástor Piazzolla, and Brazilian music. He also collaborated with Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Bobby McFerrin. Ma’s primary performance instrument is a Montagnana cello crafted in 1733 valued at US$2.5 million. He has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2006. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2001, Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, and the Polar Music Prize in 2012.
       
    • • • Norman Yoshi Mineta:(born November 12, 1931, in San Jose, CA) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Mineta most recently served in President George W. Bush‘s Cabinet as the United States Secretary of Transportation, the only Democratic Cabinet Secretary in the Bush administration.
          

          Norman Mineta, Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) politician who served in President George W. Bush’s cabinet as U.S. Secretary of Transportation and President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce.

          On June 23, 2006, Mineta announced his resignation after more than five years as Secretary of Transportation, effective July 7, 2006, making him the longest-serving Transportation Secretary in the Department’s history. On July 10, 2006, Hill & Knowlton, a public relations firm, announced that Mineta would join it as a partner. On August 10, 2010, it was announced that Mineta would join L&L Energy, Inc as Vice Chairman.Mineta also served as President Bill Clinton‘s Secretary of Commerce for the last six months of his term (July 2000–January 2001). With the exception of a span of five days between the end of Clinton’s term and Bush’s appointments, Mineta spent nearly six full years as a Cabinet member.
    • • • Pat Morita: (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005, in Isleton, CA) was a stand-up comic, as well as an American film and television actor who was well known for playing the roles of Matsuo “Arnold” Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Kesuke Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985.
          

          Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) stand-up comic, first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent, Mr. T and TIna.

          Additional notable roles include the Emperor of China in the Disney animated film Mulan (1998) and Ah Chew in Sanford and Son (1974–1976). Morita was the series lead actor in the 1976 television program Mr. T and Tina, regarded as the first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent, and Ohara (1987–1988), a police-themed drama. Both made history for being some of the few TV shows to this day with an Asian American series lead. Both television shows were aired on ABC, but they were both short-lived.
     
    • • • Haing Ngor🙁Khmer: ហ៊ាំង សំណាង ង៉ោ; Chinese: 吳漢潤; pinyin: Wú Hànrùn; born on March 22, 1940, in Samrong Young, Bati District, Takeo province, Cambodia – February 25, 1996) was a Cambodian American gynecologist, obstetrician, actor, author, and refugee. He is best remembered for winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 for his debut performance in the film The Killing Fields (1984), in which he portrayed Cambodian journalist and refugee Dith Pran. Ngor is the first (and to date, only) actor of Asian descent to ever win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He survived three terms in Cambodian prison camps, using his medical knowledge to keep himself alive by eating beetles, termites, and scorpions; he eventually crawled between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese lines to safety in a Red Cross refugee camp.His mother was Khmer and his father was of Chinese Teochew descent. Ngor and Harold Russell are the only two non-professional actors to win an Academy Award in an acting category. Ngor continued acting for the rest of his life, most notably in My Life (1993), portraying spiritual healer Mr. Ho opposite Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman.
    • • • Ellison Onizuka: (born on June 24, 1946, in Kealakekua, HI – January 28, 1986) was an American astronaut from Kealakekua, Hawaii,
          

          Ellison Shoji Onizuka, first Asian American (of Japanese ancestry) Astronaut from Kealakekua, HI.

          who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L. He was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese ancestry to reach space.
    • • • Chinese Railroad Workers: After the gold rush wound down in the 1860s, the majority of the work force found jobs in the railroad industry. Chinese labor was integral to the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad, which linked the railway network of the Eastern United States with California on the Pacific coast.
          

          Chinese railroad workers in the snow constructing the first transcontinental railraod

          Construction began in 1863 at the terminal points of Omaha, Nebraska and Sacramento, California, and the two sections were merged and ceremonially completed on May 10, 1869, at the famous “golden spike” event at Promontory Summit, Utah. It created a nationwide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West. This network caused the wagon trains of previous decades to become obsolete, exchanging it for a modern transportation system. The building of the railway required enormous labor in the crossing of plains and high mountains by the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad, the two privately chartered federally backed enterprises that built the line westward and eastward respectively.
      
    • • • Dalip Singh Saund: (born on September 20, 1899, in Punjab, India – April 22, 1973) was an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served the 29th District of California from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1963. He was the first Sikh American, the first Asian American, the first Indian American and the first member of a non-Abrahamic faith to be elected to Congress.
          

          Dalip Singh Saund, first Asian/Indian/Sikh American and the first member of non-Abrahamic faith to elected to Congress.

          Born in Chhajulwadi, Punjab, India, to a Sikh family, he received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Punjab in 1919. He immigrated to the United States (via Ellis Island) originally to study agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley. While at the university, he obtained a master’s degree (1922) and a PhD (1924), both in mathematics. His studies were sponsored by Stockton Gurdwara as he lived in the gurdwara-owned Guru Nanak Khalsa Hostel. Stockton Gurdwara was the “the first permanent Sikh American settlement and gurdwara in the United States.”  He thereafter remained in the United States, becoming a successful farmer. In 1930, Saund was commissioned by Stockton Gurdwara to write a book called “My Mother India” which pled for an end to the British Empire’s occupation of the Indian subcontinent. Saund wrote that his book was intended to “answer various questions that commonly arise in the minds of the American people regarding the cultural and political problems of India.” His book addressed India’s caste system as one of those questions and “pleaded for the civil rights of the downtrodden in India as he compared caste in India to racism in America and elsewhere.”.Later, he campaigned to allow “Hindus“, as all people of South Asian descent were called at that time, to become naturalized citizens. After the Luce-Celler Act was passed in 1946, he applied for naturalization and became an American citizen in 1949. He ran for election in 1950 as a Justice of the Peace for Westmoreland township, California, and won the election, but his election was thrown out as he had been a citizen for less than a year. He later ran again for the same post and won. In November 1955, he announced his campaign to run for the House of Representatives as a Democrat and won an election for an open seat against a famous Republican aviator, Jacqueline Cochran. He was re-elected twice, becoming the first Sikh American, the first Asian American, the first Indian American and first member of a non-Abrahamic faith to be elected to Congress.
    • • • Jokichi Takamine: (高峰 譲吉 Takamine Jōkichi^?, born on November 3, 1854, i Takaoka, Toyam Prefecture, Japan – July 22, 1922) was a Japanese chemist.
          

          Jokichi Takamine, Asian/Japanese American chemist who first isolated epinephrine (adrenaline) from the suprarenal gland.

          He founded the Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company, where he later isolated the enzyme takadiastase, an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of starch. Takamine developed his diastase from koji, a fungus used in the manufacture of soy sauce and miso. Its Latin name is Aspergillus oryzae, and it is a “designated national fungus” (kokkin) in Japan. In 1899, Takamine was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Engineering by what is now the University of Tokyo.He later emigrated to the United States and established his own research laboratory in New York City but licensed the exclusive production rights for Takadiastase to one of the largest US pharmaceutical companies, Parke Davis.This turned out to be a shrewd move – he became a millionaire in a relatively short time and by the early 20th century was estimated to be worth $30 million. In 1901 he isolated and purified the hormone adrenaline (the first effective bronchodilator for asthma) from animal glands, becoming the first to accomplish this for a glandular hormone. In 1894, Takamine applied for, and was granted, a patent titled “Process of Making Diastatic Enzyme” (U.S. Patent 525,823)—the first patent on a microbial enzyme in the United States.
    • • • Amy Tan:(born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, CA) is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese American experience. Her best known work is The Joy Luck Club.
          

          Amy Tan, Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) writer whose work explored mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese American experience, such as The Joy Luck Club, the Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter,Saving Fish From Drowning, The Valley of Amazement.

          In 1993, director Wayne Wang adapted the book into a film.Tan has written several other novels, including The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement. She also wrote a collection of non-fiction essays entitled The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. In addition to these, Tan has written two children’s books: The Moon Lady (1992) and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), which was turned into an animated series that aired on PBS. Tan’s first novel, The Joy Luck Club, consists of sixteen related stories about the experiences of four Chinese American mother-daughter pairs. Tan’s second novel, The Kitchen God’s Wife, also focuses on the relationship between an immigrant Chinese mother and her American-born daughter. Tan’s third novel, The Hundred Secret Senses, was a departure from the first two novels, in focusing on the relationships between sisters.Tan’s fourth novel, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, returns to the theme of an immigrant Chinese woman and her American-born daughter.
     
    • • • Chang-Lin Tien: (traditional Chinese: 田長霖; simplified Chinese: 田长霖; pinyin: Tián Chánglín; born on July 24, 1935 in Huangpi Wuhan, China– October 29, 2002) was a Chinese-American professor of mechanical engineering and university administrator. He was the seventh Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley (1990–1997), the first Asian to head a major university in the United States.
    • • • An Wang: (Chinese: 王安; pinyin: Wáng Ān; born on February 7, 1920, in Shainghai, China – March 24, 1990) was a Chinese–American computer engineer and inventor, and co-founder of computer company Wang Laboratories, which was known primarily for its dedicated word processing machines. An Wang was an important contributor to the development of magnetic core memory. He was born in Shanghai, China, and graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University with a degree in electrical engineering in 1940. He immigrated to the United States in June 1945 to attend Harvard University for graduate school, earning a PhD in applied physics in 1948. After graduation, he worked at Harvard with Dr Howard Aiken on the design of the Mark IV, Aiken’s first fully electronic computer. Wang co-invented the pulse transfer controlling device with Way-Dong Woo, a schoolmate from China who fell ill before their patent was issued. The new device implemented write-after-read which made magnetic core memory possible. Harvard reduced its commitment to computer research in 1951, prompting Wang to start his own engineering business. An Wang is known for a number of pithy aphorisms summing up principles based on his experience in business and life. Examples include:”Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.””We must not contradict, but instruct him that contradicts us; for a madman is not cured by another running mad also.”
     
    • • • Anna May Wong: (born on January 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, CA – February 3, 1961, in Los Angeles, CA) was an American actress. She is considered to be the first Chinese American movie star, and also the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition.
          

          Anna May Wong, Asian American (of Chinese ancestry) actress, considered to be the first Chinese American movie star to have gained international recognition.

          Her long and varied career spanned silent film, sound film, television, stage and radio. Born in Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with the movies and began acting in films at an early age. During the silent film era, she acted in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first movies made in color and Douglas Fairbanks‘ The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Wong became a fashion icon and had achieved international stardom in 1924. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe in the late 1920s, where she starred in several notable plays and films, among them Piccadilly (1929). She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937) and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg‘s Shanghai Express (1932). In 1935 Wong was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, choosing instead the German actress Luise Rainer to play the leading role. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her family’s ancestral village and studying Chinese culture. In the late 1930s, she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures, portraying Chinese Americans in a positive light. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II, when she devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances. In 1951, Ms. Wong made history with her TV show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first ever U.S. television show starring an Asian American series lead
      
    • • • Flossie Wong-Staal: (born on August 27, 1947, in Guangzhou, China), née Wong Yee Ching (Chinese: 黃以靜; pinyin: Huáng Yǐjìng), is a Chinese-American virologist and molecular biologist.

          

          Flossie Wong-Staal, first Asian/Chinese American scientist to clone HIV and determined the function of its genes, a major step in proving that HIV is the cause of AIDS.

          She was the first scientist to clone HIV and determine the function of its genes, a major step in proving that HIV is the cause of AIDS. From 1990 to 2002, she held the Florence Riford Chair in AIDS Research at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She was co-founder and, after retiring from UCSD, Chief Scientific Officer of Immusol, which was renamed iTherX Pharmaceuticals in 2007 when it transitioned to a drug development company focused on hepatitis C, and where she remains Chief Scientific Officer. In 1983, Wong-Staal, Gallo and her team of NCI scientists identified HIV as the cause of AIDS, simultaneously with Luc Montagnier. Two years later, Wong-Staal cloned HIV and then completed genetic mapping of the virus. The genetic mapping made it possible to develop HIV tests.Jerry Yang: (traditional Chinese: 楊致遠; simplified Chinese: 杨致远; pinyin: Yáng Zhìyuǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iông tì oán; born November 6, 1968 in Taipei, Taiwan) is an American Internet entrepreneur and programmer. He is the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo! Inc.
          

          Jerry Yang, Asian/Chinese-Taiwanese American internet entrepreneur and programmer who co-founded Yahoo!Inc.

          Yang founded Yahoo! in 1994, served as CEO from 2007 to 2009. He left Yahoo! in 2012. He founded a venture capital firm called AME Cloud Ventures and, as of 2015, serves on several corporate boards. According to Rob Solomon, a venture capitalist at Accel Partners, Yang was “a great founder, evangelist, strategist and mentor”, having “created the blueprint for what is possible on the Internet”. 
    There are much sweat and tears behind each and every one of these Asian American and Pacific Islander’s lives. Our lives are enriched because of them. For this, we tip our hats off to them! I’ve tried to gather as many photos of these Asian Americans as possible.  If any of you out there can find and have the right to share photos of: Steven Chen, Eugene Chung, Emil Guillermo, David Ho, Young-Oak Kim, Chang-Lin Tien, An Wang, please email it to me as an attachment to: info.WindermereSun@gmail.com so I can share it/them with the world.  
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  • In Orlando, Asian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) celebrated the Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (MAY) with induction of new members, guests speakers such as Mayor of Orange County, Mayor Jerry Demings, fashion show, and Phillipino bamboo dances, in the videos below:

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• Any comments, suggestions, concerns regarding this post will be welcomed at info.WindermereSun@gmail.comGathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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Photographed, gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com

Any comments, suggestions, concerns regarding this post will be welcomed at info.WindermereSun@gmail.com

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