May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).
AAPI heritage month was first recognized on a federal level in 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation—first introduced to Congress by Representative Frank Horton of Rochester, New York—which established Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week to take place in early May. The week-long celebration was extended to last for the entire month of May in 1990. Later, in 1992, Congress passed a law that officially designated an annual celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.
Learn more about AAPI Heritage Month at https://www.asianpacificheritage.gov