Stewart and Pat Kwoh
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director
Stewart and Pat Kwoh
Stewart Kwoh is the founder, President Emeritus, past president, and past executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles. Stewart, an avid fisherman, is a nationally recognized leader and expert in race relations, Asian American Studies, nonprofit organizations and philanthropies, civil rights, and legal services. In 1998, he was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, becoming the first Asian American attorney and human rights activist to receive this highly prestigious recognition, often referred to as the “Genius Grant.”
Stewart earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. He has taught at UCLA’s Asian American Studies Department, and was an instructor at the UCLA School of Law. He is also a past expert in residence at the UC Berkeley School of Law. Stewart has three honorary doctorates from Williams College; California State University, Los Angeles; and Suffolk School of Law.
 
After retiring from her job as a cloud infrastructure principal lead, Patricia Kwoh volunteered to lead the curriculum development project for Untold Civil Rights Stories: Asian Americans Speak Out for Justice. Patricia also served as the project director for curriculum development for the 2020 PBS docuseries Asian Americans. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Patricia is married to Stewart Kwoh. They have two sons, Nathan, and Steven who is married to Jing and have two children. Patricia’s great-grandfather was the first family member who came from China to the United States in the early 1900s, working on farms in California, and thus began her family’s migration to America.
 
Virginia Loh-Hagan
Co-Executive Director
Virginia Loh -Hagan
Virginia Loh-Hagan is also the inaugural Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Center at San Diego State University, and the author of over 350 children's books, mainly on APIDA content. She previously was a teacher educator, curriculum designer, and a K-8 teacher. Virginia received her B.A. in English and Masters in Elementary Education from the University of Virginia, and Ph.D. in Education from SDSU.
Virginia identifies as Chinese American. Her family’s immigration story consists of escaping from the Japanese occupation of China and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Born in the Year of the Dragon on Flag Day, she was the first of her family to be born in the United States. Virginia’s hobbies include crafting, playing piano, reading, and watching television shows. She currently lives in San Diego with two naughty dogs and a loving husband.
 
Sandy Sakamoto
Director of Creative Development, and General Counsel
Sandy Sakamoto
Sandy Sakamoto is a 3.5 generation Japanese American, growing up surrounded by the richness of California’s diverse communities; yet a short generation ago Sandy’s father, grandparents and other family members were incarcerated during World War II at Manzanar, California just for being Japanese American. She received her J.D. from Loyola Law School, M.S.A from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and B.A. from the University of Utah (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa).
Sandy is a community leader and legal professional with decades-long experience serving in leadership roles on the boards of nonprofit organizations promoting social and economic justice, civil rights, equity, community, culture and the arts. She serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment; Board Member and former Board Chair of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles; and Board Member and former Chair of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center. As a retired partner at the law firm of LimNexus LLP, Sandy has experience in a breadth of practice areas, and served as General Attorney and Assistant General Counsel for the law department of a global Fortune 50 telecommunications company prior to joining LimNexus.
 
Jayson Chang
Professional Development Manager
Jayson Chang
Jayson Chang is also a curriculum writer, and workshop trainer for The Asian American Education Project and a social justice activist, high school social science educator in San Jose, California. He is active within the California Teachers Association (CTA) and National Education Association (NEA), participating in a wide range of capacities including the Instructional Leadership Corps, Institute for Teaching, and the Racial Equity Affairs Committee. He also currently serves as the Treasurer of the CTA Pacific Asian American Caucus, and the Northern California Regional Director of the NEA Asian Pacific Islander Caucus.
Born in Monterey Park, California, Jayson is of Cantonese-Fukien heritage. He is descended from ethnic Chinese Vietnamese parents, part of the boat people diaspora. His grandparents and great-grandparents were from China. Jayson’s interests include thematic teaching and culturally relevant pedagogy. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking with a penchant for seafood, coastal foraging, and fishing.
 
Prabhneek (Niki) Heer
Curriculum Developer, Research Analyst
Prabhneek (Niki) Heer
Prabhneek (Niki) Heer is the daughter of immigrants from Punjab, India who settled in California's Central Valley in the 1980s. Her commitment to racial and economic justice has been heavily influenced by where she was raised and her immediate and extended family. This commitment has only grown and reinforced by her concentration in Race, Ethnicity and Politics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and subsequent experiences in organizing spaces.
Niki is also a collective member of Chicago Desi Youth Rising, and member of Chicago's PIC abolitionist movement. She loves the outdoors, reading, puzzles, and spending time with all the children in her life.
 
Lorine (Erika) Saito
Consulting Instructor, West Coast Regional Manager
Lorine (Erika) Saito
Lorine (Erika) Saito, Ph.D., is a fourth generation Japanese American with California roots. Erika is an Assistant Professor and Course Lead in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) at National University, and serves as a Subcommittee Chair for the university’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. She is actively involved in CATESOL, AERA, and CIES, and is an article and associate editor for peer-reviewed journals.
Erika’s background includes over 15 years as a California credentialed teacher with a reading certificate, and has worked in a range of K-12 educator roles from classroom teacher to ELD/Sheltered Programs Department Chair, and U.S. Department of State English Language Specialist. Her research focuses on Asian Pacific Islander Desi American history, education, ethnic social/cultural capital, SEL, and ethnic identity. Erika spends her spare time with her two daughters, driving to their extra-curricular activities and cooking some of their favorite meals including korokke (croquettes), salmon, miso shiru (from scratch of course!), and gohan.
 
Shirlie (Mae) Peralta
Consulting Instructor
Shirlie (Mae) Peralta
Shirlie (Mae) Peralta is a 1.5 generation Filipina American residing on Tongva land (Los Angeles). Mae is a faculty member at Mount Saint Mary’s University where she also serves as the co-coordinator for the General Counseling Psychology (GCP) master’s program, and coordinator of the Ethnic Studies minor. She has degrees in Asian American Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara and University of California, Los Angeles; and Ph.D. in Education from Claremont Graduate University.
Mae has over 20 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector in the areas of grant writing, program development, cross-cultural mediation, anti-bias training, and creative writing. Her primary research area is on the identity and career development of students and professionals of color in the social sciences, arts, and humanities. During her down time, Mae enjoys watching Broadway shows with her family in San Diego, geeking out over numerous pop culture fandoms with friends, and cross-stitching.
 
Ashley Chu
Curriculum Developer
Ashley Chu
Ashley Chu (she/her) was born and raised in San Francisco by immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Macau. She taught preschool and kindergarten for 10 years in Washington, DC. She recently relocated back to San Francisco where she teaches 1st grade English at a Mandarin immersion school. She earned her B.A. in Communication Studies from UCLA and Ed.M. in Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Ashley's professional passions include equity and diversity in children's literature and teaching foundational literacy skills. She loves spending time with her two kids, being outdoors, reading, and baking.
 
Courtney Wai
Consulting Instructor, Southern Regional Manager
Courtney Wai
Courtney Wai joins The Asian American Education Project as a Consulting Instructor, Southern Regional Manager. Courtney also works as a Professional Learning Facilitator with Learning for Justice, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. She began her career as a public-school teacher and eventually worked for Teach For America, City Year, and Relay Graduate School of Education. She earned her Bachelor’s from Scripps College and her Masters of Arts degree in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas – San Antonio.
Courtney grew up in Hawai‘i, where educators, elders, and family members affirmed her identity as a young Asian American Pacific Islander woman through counter narratives that centered the AAPI experience. In joining the Asian American Education Project, Courtney hopes to equip teachers to create affirming, inclusive spaces for all students. Currently, Courtney lives in San Antonio, Texas and enjoys playing soccer, surfing, hiking, and spending time with her husband and dog.
 
Laura Houcque Prabhakar
Consulting Instructor,
Midwest East Coast Regional Coordinator
Laura Prabhakar
Laura Houcque Prabhakar is a Southeast Asian educator in Chicago, Illinois. She is an advocate for racial, economic, and immigration justice. Born in France after her family fled from the Cambodian genocide, they later resettled in the Chicagoland area. Laura is the first in her family to go through the American public education system. She holds a B.A. in Educational Studies from Denison University, and a M.A. in Teaching from Relay School of Education.
Laura has a decade of experience in various educational settings, from elementary to high school to school administration. She has been actively involved with the implementation of the TEAACH Act, requiring the teaching of Asian American history in Illinois public schools. She is excited to support fellow educators across the country as they work to incorporate APIDA history, experiences and contributions to their curricula. In her free time, Laura enjoys quality time involving family, food, and fitness.
 
Sonya Raj Urs
Consulting Instructor
Sonya Raj Urs
Sonya Urs (she/her) is a Consulting Instructor for The Asian American Education Project. Sonya’s parents immigrated from South India to the U.S. in the 1980s where their careers took her family all over the country, exposing her to an array of schools in multiple states. During the summer, Sonya traveled to India to spend time with family and learn about her roots.
Growing up primarily in the Pacific Northwest, Sonya has lived and worked in Washington for the last twelve years. Attending the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, her passion for racial justice blossomed from several African American History courses—focused on understanding her identity as a person of color within the black-white binary of the U.S. Later she attended Seattle University and obtained her Masters in Teaching.
Sonya currently teaches Ethnic Studies in Seattle. As an educator who champions racial equity work, she has been involved in social justice projects over the past decade. For her, representation is important as she believes students should be able to see themselves reflected in their educators. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington with her wife, son, and dog.
 
Cody Uyeda
Communications and Program Associate
Cody Uyeda
Cody Uyeda is a 4th generation Japanese American from Orange County, California. He has a B.A. in English and Communication and a J.D. from the University of Southern California, as well as an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Cody is also the program and administrative coordinator for Okaeri, a Los Angeles organization that centers Japanese American LGBTQ+ voices. His prior experiences have been in the nonprofit, education, and legal fields. Cody’s interest in the Asian American community began with exploring his own family’s history and traditions, and he is interested broadly in the intersection of ethnic identity, culture, education, and using research and advocacy to advance knowledge and social justice. In his free time Cody enjoys reading, cooking/baking, and being outdoors.
 
Samantha Chang
Manager of Operations
Samantha Chang
Samantha Rui Xue Chang is a 1.5/2.5 generation (depending who you ask) Asian American based in the Bay Area. Samantha is currently a 4th grade educator and enjoys reading, rituals, and rest. She graduated with a B.A. in Sociology with minors in English and Education, and a Masters of Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
According to family legend, Samantha’s paternal great-grandfather came to America in the 1800s to work on the railroads, eventually leading to the rest of her family immigrating in the 1970s. This story, like a few others, has gone through many iterations and it is unclear where the truth ends and fable begins. According to her great-grandfather's headstone, he was born in the late 1800s, so it is clear that the filters of memory may have seeped into her family’s American origin story. Nonetheless, her family history has led to four generations that still comes together to share stories.
 
Richard Crowe
Finance Consultant
Richard Crowe
Richard Crowe has over 20 years of experience in the Accounting and Financial arenas. After graduating from Florida A & M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance and passing the CPA examination, Richard began working for Chase Bank as a finance specialist evaluating complex loan transactions in overseas markets. After a multi-year stint at Chase, he then earned a Master’s in Finance from the prestigious University of Chicago.
After the University of Chicago, Richard moved to Los Angeles and joined Columbia College Hollywood as Chief Financial and Operating Officer when the school’s enrollment was at an all-time low. Richard was instrumental in turning around the college and increasing its enrollment to record levels through educational transfer agreements with Chinese educational institutions.
Richard is currently VP of Finance/CFO at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, a civic and social services nonprofit in Southern California. His hobbies include tennis, golf and seeing the world.
 
Antony Wong
Editor
Antony Wong
Antony Wong is Program Coordinator at the Asian American and Asian Research Institute, of The City University of New York. Born in Long Island and raised in Manhattan's Chinatown, Antony received his B.A. in English from Hunter College/CUNY, and M.B.A. in Accountancy from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College/CUNY. He also serves on Manhattan Community Board No. 2 as Board Treasurer and member of the Traffic & Transportation and State Liquor Authority committees, and is a former Co-Chair of the Chinatown Working Group. He was honored in 2018 at the Office of the Manhattan Borough President’s Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration for his activism and achievements. His interests include digital photography and running.
 
JL Mayor
Copyeditor, Proofreader
JL Mayor
JL Mayor worked on the Untold Civil Rights Stories: Asian Americans Speak Out for Justice book project in 2009 for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles and the 2020 PBS docuseries Asian Americans. JL has also copyedited various volumes of CUNY FORUM: Asian American / Asian Studies, published by the Asian American / Asian Research Institute, of The City University of New York. He is an avid hiker and has hiked the Colorado and Arizona Trails with his beloved dogs. Currently a resident of Denver, Colorado, JL has previously lived in Manila, Moscow, New York City, Los Angeles and Houston.
 
Esther Lee
Web Developer, Web Designer, Graphic Designer
Esther Lee
Esther Lee is the Web Developer and Designer launching The Asian American Education Project’s website in 2021. Esther worked on this project in order to teach new and current generations about what actually happened in Asian American history by providing students an understanding of how history affected their relatives, and to spark curiosity in discovering their own family roots and recognizing the importance of keeping traditions.
After obtaining a B.A. in Fine Arts with a focus in programming, graphic arts, and teaching, Esther is grateful to have received opportunities to work for various industries including education, hospitality, non-profit, and politics. Visiting different parks and trying new fast casual takeout from small business owners are just a few activities that she, her husband and their two sons look forward to on weekends.
 
Thang Lian
Communications and Operations Assistant
Stewart and Pat Kwoh
Thang Lian (he/him) is lai mi or Chin (an indigenous group in Myanmar). Thang was born in Hakha, Myanmar, and immigrated to Michigan in 2008 when he was five years old. Thang is a rising sophomore at Duke University pursuing degrees in History and Asian American Diaspora Studies. Much of Thang’s experiences as a youth organizer, primarily as the Youth Fellowship Coordinator at Rising Voices, have been shaped by his enduring philosophy of communities in power for communities with power. 
Thang began writing to meet the rising tides of traumas inflicted by war and violence, grappling with his escape from the clutches of the Burmese military. Thang’s journey as a writer deeply reflects his fervent passion for an inclusive and expansive education that renders visible histories relegated to the footnotes. Thang is also notoriously nostalgic. One of his rituals includes rewatching Spirited Away each new year as a reminder of how far he’s come and how much further he can go.
 
Kristen Luo
Intern
Stewart and Pat Kwoh
Kristen Luo is a 2.5-generation Chinese-Taiwanese American from the San Gabriel Valley. Her mother was born in Los Angeles Chinatown, while her father was born in Taiwan and came to the United States when he was two years old. Kristen’s maternal great-great-grandfather worked on the railroads, which sparked her curiosity in familial and other Asian American histories. 
She is currently studying Integrated Educational Studies with a community emphasis and creative & performing arts focus, in addition to minors in Sociology and Creative & Cultural Industries at Chapman University. Her interest in the nonprofit sector and APIDA community stems from her experiences living in the 626 (San Gabriel Valley area in CA.) When Kristen is not busy with schoolwork, she enjoys reading webtoons, playing Animal Crossing, and fangirling over idols with her friends. 
 
Lauren Kim
Volunteer Intern
Stewart and Pat Kwoh
Lauren Kim is a 2.5 generation Korean-American from Riverside County, CA, who found her passion for Asian-American history through her historical research projects and recognizing the lack of Asian-American representation in her high school education. Her 2020 documentary Masking the Truth: What Japanese-American Internment Camp Propaganda Communicated won the Japanese-American National Museum Award.
During the Korean War, Lauren’s maternal grandfather escaped (what is now) North Korea with his seven siblings and made the long trek to a new life in the South. Her maternal grandparents eventually immigrated to the United States in the mid-1970s. Having a very close tie to her grandparents, Lauren now enjoys her free time crocheting, running, and watching wholesome K-dramas.
About Us

The Asian American Education Project
The history of Asian Americans in the United States is an integral part of American history. Since their arrival as far back as the 1800s, Asian immigrants have contributed and shaped the way the country is today. From labor activism to fighting for school integration and citizenship rights in the courts, and against model minority and perpetual foreigner stereotypes, Asian Americans have faced adversity and fought for opportunities to create roots here in the U.S. From building coalitions with other minority groups, Asian Americans have been a vital part of major historical achievements including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, and Title IX. Today, as one of the fastest–growing populations, Asian Americans continue to make further positive and effective changes towards a better future for the United States, together with all their fellow Americans.
The history of Asian American is deeply intertwined together with America’s own history, yet often forgotten or ignored within today’s classrooms and public discourse. Our online lesson plans here provide a tailored K–12 curriculum for educators to teach this rich history to students. These lessons are but just a brief snapshot into the long journey of Asian immigrants and their native–born children within America’s timeline—both dark and bright, from exclusion to acceptance. By showcasing the struggles and triumphs of Asian Americans over the course of two centuries, our lesson plans amplify the importance and voices of this growing, integral segment of the U.S. population in building the country into what it is today and can become tomorrow, together as Americans. It is important for all Americans, young and old, to join in on this learning experience.
 
History
In 2005, Stewart Kwoh, a civil rights activist, saw a dire and essential need to tell the stories of Asian Americans in K-12 learning. Both he and Russell C. Leong of UCLA, were co-editors of a project to tell the stories of how Asian Americans impacted civil rights in the United States. They organized a team of writers that included Julie Su, Helen Zia, Dale Minami, Angela Oh and Casimiro Tolentino, among others. The stories told included that of Fred Korematsu, Philip Vera Cruz, Vincent Chin, Joseph Ileto, Asian American Pacific Islander Women, and Amric Singh Rathour. Through these stories, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center co-edited the book Untold Civil Rights Stories: Asian Americans Speak Out for Justice.
In 2009, Untold Civil Rights Stories was published utilizing generous contributions from friends and colleagues to the Beulah Kwoh Memorial Fund. The Fund, in honor Stewart’s mother, was established to teach young people about Asian Americans. In 2014, Patricia Kwoh managed a team of teachers to develop 12 lesson plans with the stories from Untold Civil Rights Stories.
During 2014, the executive producers of Asian Americans, a docuseries for PBS, CAAM (Center for Asian American Media) and WETA (Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association), approached Stewart on the production of their film project. Subsequently, Stewart and Patricia were engaged as partners to produce 36 lesson plans based on the stories and topics that took place from the 1850s to 2000s in Asian Americans, for PBS LearningMedia and Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Now 36 lesson plans have been developed between WETA, CAAM, and The Asian American Education Project, as the engagement and education partners.
In 2020, Stewart and Patricia engaged the Stanford University Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) to develop a teacher’s guide with five thematic units based on the 48 lesson plans from Untold Civil Rights Stories and Asian Americans. Waka Takahashi Brown, Curriculum Specialist, from Stanford SPICE created the teacher’s guide.
In 2021, Stewart and Patricia formed The Asian American Education Project, using the learning resources created in partnership with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, Stanford University SPICE and PBS LearningMedia, in order to bring the history, contributions, challenges and triumphs of Asian Americans to students across the country.
The value of Asian American and other ethnic studies cannot be underestimated. “The (2010 to 2014) Stanford study (with SFUSD) found that the attendance for those enrolled in ethnic studies classes increased by 21 percentage points, GPA by 1.4 grade points and credits earned by 23. It also found significant effects on GPA specific to math and science achievement suggesting that exposure to ethnic studies could increase performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).”*
The Asian American Education Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
 
*“Stanford University Study Affirms Ethnic Studies,” 3 Feb 2016. San Francisco State University. https://ethnicstudies.sfsu.edu/content/stanford-university-study-affirms-ethnic-studies
 
Stand Against Hatred
The perpetual foreigner stereotype is a form of systemic racism against Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI). AANHPIs have been scapegoated in the past by their fellow Americans: Vincent Chin, mistaken for Japanese, was murdered for the downturn of the auto industry in Detroit during the 1980s. In the 1940s, Japanese Americans, many U.S. citizens, were incarcerated in concentration camps after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. South Asian Americans and Muslims were attacked and unjustly surveilled after the events of September 11, 2001.
And now in 2021, AANHPIs have once again been scapegoated, being blamed and attacked for the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationwide, AANHPI teachers and students have faced harassment and microaggressions from other students—due to no fault of their own. This anti-Asian hate is learned from adults.
AANHPI teachers and students have reached out to our team for help. We are working with school administrators, teachers and unions on solutions to the current challenges. We have to design innovative strategies to solve this current problem because AANHPI teachers and students are going through a lot pain and trauma right now, while also struggling to survive the pandemic.
 
Meet Our Team
Stewart and Pat Kwoh
Stewart and Pat Kwoh
Co-founder and Co-Executive Director
Virginia Loh Hagan
Virginia Loh-Hagan
Co-Executive Director
Sandy Sakamoto
Sandy Sakamoto
Director of Creative Development, and Counsel
Samantha Chang
Samantha Chang
Manager of Operations
Richard Crowe
Richard Crowe
Finance Consultant
Jayson Chang
Jayson Chang
Professional Development Manager
Prabhneek (Niki) Heer
Prabhneek (Niki) Heer
Curriculum Developer, Research Analyst
Lorine (Erika) Saito
Lorine (Erika) Saito
Consulting Instructor, West Coast Regional Manager
Courtney Wai
Courtney Wai
Consulting Instructor, Southern Regional Manager
Laura Houcque Probhaka
Laura Houcque Prabhakar
Consulting Instructor,
Midwest East Coast Regional Coordinator
Shirlie (Mae) Peralta
Shirlie (Mae) Peralta
Consulting Instructor
Ashley Chu
Ashley Chu
Curriculum Developer
Antony Wong
Antony Wong
Editor
JL Mayor
JL Mayor
Copyeditor, Proofreader
Esther Lee
Esther Lee
Web Developer, Web Designer, Graphic Designer
Thang Lian
Thang Lian
Communications and Operations Assistant
Kristen Luo
Kristen Luo
Intern
Lauren Kim
Lauren Kim
Volunteer Intern
 
Advisory Board
Sefa Aina
Associate Dean and Director, Draper Center for Community Partnerships, Pomona College
Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder in Residence, PolicyLink
Gemma Chan
Actress, Producer
Joan Chen
Actress, Director
Andrea Cherng
Chief Brand Officer, Panda Restaurant Group
John Cho
Actor
Judy Chu
Congressmember
Denise Dador
Journalist
Snehal Desai
Producing Artistic Director, East West Players
Deena Ileto
Social Justice Activist
Ismael Ileto
Social Justice Activist
Lisa Ling
Journalist, Producer
Melvin Mar
Director, Producer
David Ono
Filmmaker, News Anchor
Manuel Pastor
Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity and Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change, USC
Sonal Shah
Interim Executive Vice President for Network Advancement, United Way
George Takei
Actor, Social Justice Activist
Tamlyn Tomita
Actress, Singer
Janet Yang
Producer
 
In The Media
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2023
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May 31, 2023
"It is fitting that on the last day of AAPI Heritage Month we are announcing PS 244 will add an AAPI history component to its current curriculum, a year ahead of the citywide rollout of the Department of Education’s own AAPI history curriculum,” said Councilmember Sandra Ung."
“This new pilot program is vital given the current environment of rising hate and violence towards our communities,” said Maria Castaneda, Senior Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU. “It’s an opportunity for school children to be educated in a multicultural and multiracial curriculum, where they can learn and appreciate one another and know that America is their home, and this is where they belong.”
“Our curriculum will foster respect, sense of belonging, and a good relationship between students of different backgrounds,” said Leny Cordero, New York Coordinator for the Asian American Education Project. “The history of AAPI is deeply intertwined together with American’s own history, yet often forgotten and ignored in today’s classrooms and in public discourse. Our goal is to teach the teachers, who teach the students, who in turn go home and teach their parents and start a discussion.”
 
2022
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June 7, 2022, The Hechinger Report, By Wayne Zhang
“as nearly 1 in 6 Asian American adults reported experiencing a hate crime or incident in 2021.
These findings only validate the pain that has been felt in the community since the coining of the term “Chinese virus.”
“Other survey results have implications for young Asian Americans’ sense of not being seen or represented in American society. When asked to name one prominent Asian American individual, over half (58 percent) of Americans replied, “I don’t know,” followed by 7 percent responding “Jackie Chan.”
“In education, national groups such as The Asian American Education Project, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and Immigrant History Initiative and local groups such as the Yale-China Association and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago have invested resources to create accessible curriculum materials.”
 
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June 3, 2022, NBC News, By Michelle Cho and Jo Ling Kent
“I actually had someone cough on me, like take off their mask and cough on me, when I was out with my parents. And at the moment, I didn’t really understand,” Huang said. “I was very confused because it seemed very, just the look on his face, very hateful and like spiteful.”
“There’s a lot of ignorance, I guess, that’s where lack of awareness starts. Well, racism starts with lack of awareness,’ Huang said.”
“Stewart Kwoh, co-executive director of the Asian American Education Project, whose organization provides online lesson plans for K-12 educators on AAPI history, said that “there’s a number of steps in the implementation that could go wrong. And so, it’s very important to have the implementation cover 80 percent of the energy that goes into these packages. It’s fine to pass a law, but it’s more important to implement it well.”
 
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May 31, 2022, NBC News, By Tat Bellamy-Walker
“New York City will launch a new pilot program in schools this fall that aims to teach students about the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the city’s Department of Education announced Thursday … Hunter College, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and the Asian American Education Project are among the organizations developing the new curriculum.”
 
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May 20, 2022, Washington Post, By Marian Chia-Ming Liu
“At the helm of this movement is longtime activist and lawyer Stewart Kwoh, leading the charge with his wife, Patricia, and their nonprofit Asian American Education Project. Alongside other teachers, they have created 53 lesson plans on subjects including racism and immigration, training more than 1,000 educators over the past year online.”
 
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May 1, 2022, Axios, By Russel Contreras
“Why it matters: The Wong Kim Ark case affirmed that American-born people of Asian descent were U.S. citizens — giving protections to millions of Asian Americans, Latinos and even Native Americans decades later. It's an overlooked example of how Asian American civil rights fights transformed the nation.”
“The Wong Kim Ark story is regularly cited to show how vital Asian American history is to the nation's narrative.”
“Groups like Make Us Visible and the Asian American Education Project are promoting Asian American history initiatives to fight a surge in anti-Asian violence.”
 
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April 29, 2022, NBC News, By Hanna Kang
“In what the mainstream media labeled as race-related violence that lasted for six days, more than 50 people lost their lives, and the city sustained $1 billion in damage, 40 percent of which was suffered by the Korean American community in the city’s Koreatown.
(Angela) Oh protested the media’s coverage of Korean Americans as racist, gun-toting vigilantes and faulted the media for failing to discuss what they saw as the real culprit behind the unrest: the decades of neglect of inner-city L.A.”
“‘Educating people is an ongoing necessity,’ said Stewart Kwoh, founding president of Asian Americans Advancing Justice and co-founder of the Asian American Education Project. ‘We need to bring history to light. I feel that if you don’t educate, then people are buried.’”
 
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April 14, 2022, Harvard EdCast, By Jill Anderson
“Stewart Kwoh: ‘So I think that education, when you look at the intersectionality amongst the groups like Frederick Douglass speaking out on behalf of Chinese immigrants in 1869, 4 years after the civil war. A former slave speaking out for Chinese, it was the first instance I found of solidarity from non-Asians for Asians. And he was eloquent in arguing for Asian immigration, Asian citizenship, Chinese being able to vote. He wanted a composite nation of all different nationalities. There's many examples where Asians have supported Blacks and other minorities. The NAACP wrote articulate, passionate articles against incarceration of Japanese American during World War II. So there's a history of solidarity that nobody knows about.’”
“Stewart Kwoh believes education is the best tool to fight back against ongoing anti-Asian American violence and damaging stereotypes. As co-executive director of the Asian American Education Project, Kwoh has been dedicated to developing curriculums and trainings for educators.”
 
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April 11, 2022, LAist, By Josie Huang
“The past year has seen Asian American teachers and parents push through laws requiring their history be taught in Illinois and New Jersey public schools, with similar campaigns underway in other states.”
“The largest online curricula at the moment is housed at the Asian American Education Project, which is expanding beyond the 53 lesson plans it’s already crafted with input from dozens of teachers.”
“Kwoh, who started the project with his wife, Pat Lee Kwoh, more than a decade ago, said their goal is to reach a million K-12 students over the next several years.”
 
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March 22, 2022, CNN, By J.B. Pritzker and Phil Murphy
“Falsely blamed for the global spread of the virus, the AAPI community has been subjected to violent attacks over and over.
In the last year alone, there has been a 339% increase in anti-AAPI hate crimes nationwide.”
“Change needs to happen at scale so that throughout our nation's education system the stories of AAPIs are told accurately and comprehensively. Initiatives like The Asian American Education Project (AAEdu) — which provides K-12 curriculum lessons on AAPI history for teachers and school districts nationwide — are helping make this happen.”
 
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March 15, 2022, USA TODAY, By Alia Wong
‘Carla Cariño plugs Asian American history as often as she can – even by advocating for Spam.
“when the American military liberated the Philippine islands from Japan. Upon their arrival, according to accounts, GI Joes distributed cans of Spam – enshrining the meat in Asian cuisine.”
“Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S. They make up more than 7% of the population, projected to grow to 36 million by 2060”
“Partnering with UCLA and Stanford, the Asian American Education Project has developed more than 50 lesson plans and, starting early last year, offered trainings for teachers.”
 
2021
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Aug 21, 2021, AsAmNews, By Briana Lim
“Kwoh sees a connection between the lack of Asian American history in our schools and the stereotypes that persist about the community.
“When there is no history, there’s apt to be stereotypes. So when bad things happen, people believe bad stereotypes.”
“The stereotyping that Asians often confront are the perpetual foreigner: we’re always the foreigners, so we’re not real Americans and we can be treated in different ways.”
For example, Kwoh describes how although Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps, none were convicted of espionage, unlike some European Americans. “We were treated as the foreigner.”
 
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July 11, 2021, USA Today, By Grace Hauck
“Gong-Gershowitz became emotional at the signing ceremony. She said her grandparents came to the USA in the 1920s, but it wasn’t until law school that she first learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act signed in 1882 that restricted immigration for decades and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.”
"The TEAACH Act will ensure that the next generation of Asian American students won’t need to travel across the county or attend law school to learn something about their heritage," Gong-Gershowitz said.”
“Kwoh's nonprofit Asian American Education Project spun out of the group Asian Americans Advancing Justice last year. The project offers more than 50 lesson plans for teachers and started hosting free teacher training.”
 
Testimonials
I spoke to a few colleagues throughout the state who have attended APIDA workshops or had your organization present to their Social Studies educators, and all came up with rave reviews!
- Supervisor of Social Studies, New Jersey
I like that everything is there for the lesson and the connections to history that is often taught in class, so a teacher could easily integrate the Asian American history in with their district curriculum. I am glad there is both 3-5 and 6-12 because often younger students are left out of lessons like this.
- Math Teacher, Nebraska
These workshops helped me to better understand Asian American history.
- Special Education Teacher, California
My school community has a very small APIDA population, but this is an extremely important topic to bring back to my students. Discrimination and hatred is felt by many marginalized groups in this country and the story of the APIDA community can be connected back to the group of students that I work with. The knowledge that Black and Asian people have had a strong history together was somewhat new information to me. This speaks to how working together is always better than against one another.
- Middle School English Language Arts Teacher, New York
Lessons against hate must be known to all to fight it effectively.
- High School Math Teacher, New York
I know I can't use everything, but I look forward to looking through your lesson plans. THANKS for making my job easier.
- High School English Teacher, California
America, although flawed, learns from her past, and remains the greatest country on earth.
- Educator, Nevada
I feel better qualified to talk to my young students about acceptance and empathy, no matter their skin color/how they look
- Special Education Teacher, California
 
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