We Are Here

2022Naomi HiraharaBiographyNon-fiction4-stars

May 14

“We Are Here” is a book highlighting 30 inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) who have shaped the history of the United States. This book was written during the global spread of COVID-19 by Naomi Hirahara in collaboration with Smithsonian Enterprises and illustrated by Illianette Ferandez to highlight the achievements and diversity of AAPI stories.

“Stories are canoes/vessels that carry our languages, customs, values, practices, knowledge, memories, dreams, hopes, hurts, traumas, histories, beliefs, and much more.” Craig Santos Perez

Throughout my Southeast Asia trip, I have focused on Asian American stories to discover leaders with similar heritage. Of the 30, Amanda Nguyen’s story caught my eye the most because I had seen some of her work through social media during COVID-19. Her chapter highlights a glimpse of her motivation into becoming a civil rights activist for sexual assault survivors. Her story is one of many that opens up how vast the AAPI community is.

Overview

“We Are Here” highlights the diversity and upbringing of each leader in a short essay format. This format provides a bird’s eye view of the main events each leader went through. Some of these people such as John Kneubuhl, known as the “spiritual father of Pacific Island theater,” and Chien-Shiung Wu, known as the “first lady of physics,” have passed on whereas others are still pursuing their passions today.

The book showcases how impactful the AAPI community is in multiple industries. From the arts of literature to tech entrepreneurship, there is at least one story that all readers can resonate with. These stories are all written in a precise manner that doesn’t confuse the reader with additional details.

Even though this book did provide a large breadth of leaders, the stories were extremely short. The book provides you a glimpse of who the person is, but after about 1,000 words, you finish their story and don’t have enough time to build an emotional connection.

Nevertheless, this book provides anyone looking for other AAPI leaders some direction as to who to look into. Some people I would look into further include Naomi Osaka, someone who became a pro player at 14 under the Women’s Tennis Association, and Lydia X Z Brown, a creative writer who advocates for disabled people.

Main Takeaway

The main takeaway from this book was that no matter what your background was, you can make a difference. This was a message highlighted through all the leaders, but some that stood out were Carissa Moore, the first woman to win gold in the first-ever surfing event in the Olympics, and Jerry Yang, one of the pioneers of Yahoo.

Conclusion

All in all, “We Are Here” provides a scope into leaders who have helped pave the path for others to create their stories in the AAPI community. With the recent events of AAPI being highlighted more in media and entertainment, this is only the beginning of more stories being shared.