“When I think about the word solidarity, I think about sticking together. As a Chinese American, I grew up between two cultures with a language barrier between my A-ma (grandma), who mainly speaks Mandarin. When making dumplings with my A-ma, a cross-generational tradition, it’s important to fill a dumpling with just the right amount of filling and then seal the edges shut with pleats. Sometimes it’s easy to tell the difference between my messy dumplings and my A-ma’s masterful dumplings. Dumplings are better when they don’t fall apart. I am grateful to be able to try dumplings across cultures including Chinese xiao long bao or soup dumplings, mandu, a Korean dumpling, gyoza, a commonly served Japanese side dish, and South Asian samosas. I think it’s great how different cultures have different types of dumplings, each having a delicious story to tell.” - Evie Quan

“When I envision solidarity, I envision Asian solidarity beyond our own communities and the persistent bonds of interracial solidarity shared between APIDA and BIPOC people. These links of solidarity are remarkable and consistent throughout history in the shared struggles and resistance against discrimination and injustice. The first names that come to my brain is the remarkable friendship between Yuri Kochiyama and Malcom X towards advocacy in civil rights and the anti-war protests regarding the Vietnam War. I choose to depict the two together, side by side, linked by one of Yuri Kochiyama's quotes, to demonstrate the solidarity between not only the two figures, but between the communities they share.” - Connie Lin

“Growing up Korean American, I rarely saw myself represented in the books I read or the media I consumed– or if I did, it would be a minor character without a real story to tell or a role to play. Even though I went to a school that was predominantly Asian, we didn’t learn about Asians in US history or Asian history, and this shaped how I saw my place in the world. I chose “know the whole story” as my message to encourage others to look beyond the dominant narrative, the story that has been told by the majority, and what they might think they know. I chose water lilies because they symbolize universality, koi fish for strength and perseverance, and a book for spreading knowledge.” - Ena Bahk-Pi

“As a proud member of the AAPI community, it is important to me that we are well represented. This includes acknowledging that “AAPI” is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide group of people of many different backgrounds and ethnicities — around 50 different ethnic groups make up the AAPI community! I think that is beautiful and wanted to do my best to have this represented in my design. It is my love letter to my family, community, and AAPIs everywhere.” - Karoline Huang

“As part of the Asian American community, it hurts that us Asians are viewed as the cause of COVID-19. It hurts that people are using the virus as an excuse to be racist. The inspiration behind my design is about anti-racism. I chose the mask to be significant because over the past few years, all I heard from my mom was, "Do you have a mask?" With this design, I wanted to send a message about destroying oppression and reducing violence, not only for Asians, but for other minorities as well. I wanted to also let people know we aren't a virus, therefore why choose violence? I'm sure it's been hectic for everyone ever since the pandemic started. It is also why I added "a multitude of stories," because we all have a different perspective on how everything has impacted our lives the last few years.” - Bernadine Tanglao