AAPI history gets the superhero treatment in graphic novel series
Why it matters: Over half of Americans can't name a significant event or policy related to Asian Americans, according to the nationwide STAATUS Index released earlier in May.
Meanwhile, 1 in 4 Americans has no personal relationship with a person of Asian descent, often basing their views on what they hear from politicians, social media and cable news instead.
State of play: "Fighting to Belong!" published its first volume last February, introducing readers to a group of middle school protagonists who revisit key moments in AAPI history.
Spearheaded by The Asian American Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, the planned three-part series aims to bring forgotten chapters to life for young children, though it's also easily accessible for adults.
What's inside: The second volume covers events of the 20th century, ranging from the Philippine-American War and Japanese American incarceration during World War II to history-making lawmakers like Dalip Singh Saund and Patsy Mink.
Bay Area-related incidents include the case of Wong Kim Ark, anti-Asian violence during the Driving Out period, the Delano Grape Strike and the fair housing push in San Francisco's Manilatown.
Other notable figures covered in the book are surfing pioneer Duke Kahanamoku, actress Anna May Wong, civil rights activist Fred Korematsu and social justice leader Grace Lee Boggs.
The big picture: The series, a partnership with Third State Books, is written by Amy and Alexander Chang and illustrated by Louie Chin.
The first volume traced early AAPI experiences during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Each book comes with a curriculum guide developed by The Asian American Education Project for educators who want to bring its contents into the classroom.
What they're saying:"This is the history my generation was never taught in school — and the one our children deserve," Stephanie Lim, Third State Books co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Dangerous nostalgia: Trump wants to turn back time
In the 1978 film 'Superman,' the hero performs many impossible feats, including traveling backward in time by flying around Earth at super speed. Donald Trump, who seems to fancy himself an all-powerful Super President, appears eager to go back in time as well in an effort to return America to 'the good old days' of his youth. Trump was born in 1946, eight years after Superman made his comic book debut. Discrimination based on race, sex and other characteristics was widespread and legal. Most schools taught children a whitewashed version of America's story, glossing over racism and largely ignoring the achievements of people of color. Movies usually portrayed Black people as slaves, servants, cowards, criminals or buffoons. Consequently, 'the good old days' for Trump — born rich, white and male — were 'the bad old days' for many people of color, women, LGBT individuals and those not born to wealth and privilege. Obstacles to advancement facing these Americans — among them my Black parents — were far greater than they are today. Trump grew up at a time when white men dominated the ranks of most professions and elected offices far more than they do now. Only about 34 percent of women were in the workforce in 1950, compared with 57 percent today. Key civil rights laws were not enacted until Trump was in his late teens and 20s. They include the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which together outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin in federally funded programs, employment, public accommodations, voting and housing. America has made great progress to become a more just and equitable society since Trump was born. But now the president is sparing no effort to roll back that progress and harm millions of Americans. Trump is obsessed with ending programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. He has falsely denounced DEI programs as illegal discrimination against white people and men, when in truth they simply open the doors to the American dream a little wider to take advantage of the talents of all Americans. Trump's Department of Education is investigating more than 50 universities for their DEI programs and has cut billions of dollars in federal funding to higher education, prompting schools to end DEI efforts in hopes of restoring aid. Trump has halted DEI programs in the federal government and demanded a halt to DEI in the private sector. The Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission required that Paramount (parent company of CBS) and the movie studio Skydance agree to not operate DEI programs as a condition for approving the companies' $8 billion merger. The president seems to believe that white Americans — particularly white men — are hired for jobs based on merit, while many people of color and women are less qualified and get into college and jobs primarily because of DEI. He has forced highly qualified federal officials and members of the military who are not white men out of their jobs. Trump fired the chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, a Black man, after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to end DEI in the military and claimed Brown placed a higher priority on DEI than on the effectiveness of the armed forces. The first women to head the Coast Guard and the Navy were both forced out of their jobs, as were women who served as the senior military assistant to Hegseth and the head of the Defense Health Agency. Trump successfully pushed Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, to resign after denouncing her as 'a strong supporter of DEI' and fired Carla Hayden, the first woman and first Black person to head the Library of Congress. The president and the Republican-controlled Congress have turned back the clock on American progress in many other ways. The White House launched a program designed to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants, reminiscent of Operation Wetback, which deported an estimated 1 million people to Mexico in 1954, including some who were in the U.S. legally. The administration is seeking to increase U.S. oil, natural gas and coal production, along with nuclear power generation, by reducing environmental protection regulations imposed starting in the 1970s. Trump and Congress have also cut federal support for renewable energy programs enacted under the Biden administration. Trump has called global warming a Chinese hoax designed 'to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.' The White House and Congress eliminated all $1.1 billion in previously approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was created under a law enacted in 1967 to help fund PBS, NPR and their member stations. The Corporation soon announced that it would be shuttering. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. It is understandable that Trump has fond memories of growing up rich in a world of white male privilege before most Americans alive today were born. But nostalgia should not drive public policy. Our country has achieved greatness because — until now — our leaders have been focused on the future, rather than fixated on recreating the days of their youth. Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman traveling back in time was great entertainment. But it was fantasy. We need a president who accepts reality and works to build an inclusive and equitable future for everyone in our diverse population.
The Hill
43 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump promised lower grocery prices ‘on Day One.' Here's what happened
(NEXSTAR) – Campaigning for office a year ago, standing in front of a table loaded up with bags of flour, cartons of eggs and gallons of milk, President Donald Trump told voters, 'When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.' Unfortunately for him – and money-strapped Americans – it hasn't worked out that way. Nexstar employees around the country tracked a selection of grocery items over the past six months to see if prices would rise, fall or stay the same after Trump took office in January. Our observations, as well as federal data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), show grocery prices overall have remained stubbornly high and even increased slightly. The overall cost of food at home has ticked up between 0.2% and 0.4% almost every month since January, according to BLS tracking. One exception was in April 2025, when prices went down 0.1% from the month before. All those tiny increases have added up to a 3% increase in food prices year-over-year. The situation at any given grocery store is more nuanced and varied than the top-line national average would indicate. Goods that are shelf-stable also turned out to be pretty price-stable at the grocery stores we checked in San Jose, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Bismarck, North Dakota between January and July of 2025. The price of a box of cookies didn't change at all over the six-month period. 'Tariff rebates' proposed: How would they work? But with fresh fruit, the time of year made a difference. Strawberries, for example, were much cheaper in the summer than they were in February. Why eggs are down, beef is up Some of the price changes also come amid industry impacts. Egg prices, for example, were inflated last year due to an avian flu epidemic. Those prices were expected to remain high into 2025, with some restaurants even imposing surcharges on egg orders. Since spiking in March, egg prices have been on the decline, but remain historically high. The latest Consumer Price Index shows the cost of eggs is up more than 27% between June 2024 and June 2025. They are, however, down nearly 11% from May to June this year. Beef prices are not bouncing back as well. Experts were warning in early 2024 that beef prices could reach record highs due to the lowest inventory since 1951, brought on by drought conditions and the rising costs of maintaining herds. Other factors that popped up this year, like tariffs and a flesh-eating screwworm, have pushed beef prices northward. New tariffs could raise prices of Ozempic, Wegovy Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that beef prices had jumped more than 8% since the start of the year. Beef and veal prices, combined on the CPI, are up more than 10% year-over-year. Between May and June, prices jumped almost 2.5%. Americans worried grocery prices will stay high The vast majority of U.S. adults are at least somewhat stressed about the cost of groceries, a new poll finds, as prices continue to rise and concerns about the impact of Trump's tariffs remain widespread. About half of all Americans say the cost of groceries is a 'major' source of stress in their life right now, while 33% say it's a 'minor' source of stress, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Only 14% say it's not a source of stress, underscoring the pervasive anxiety most Americans continue to feel about the cost of everyday essentials. Citing a report from the Tax Foundation, Nexstar's The Hill reported late last month that about 75% of the nation's food imports are expected to be impacted by Trump's latest round of tariffs, which took effect at the start of August. Days prior, an analysis by the Yale Budget Lab estimated food prices would rise more than 3% over the short term. Some foods that could see price hikes, according to The Hill, include seafood, coffee, rice, alcohol, and chocolate.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
GOP mayoral candidate urges Trump to stay out of New York City race
New York City Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa said that President Trump's interference in the New York election could embolden Democratic candidate Zohran Mandani. 'In this situation, it doesn't help if he intervenes in New York City,' Silwa told Fox 5's Morgan McKay on 'Politics Unusual' on Friday. 'Every day it's Trump versus Zohran Mamdani, it's a good day for Zohran Mamdani. Every day that Cuomo and Adams talks about you, 'you drop out, you job out,' it's a good day for Zohran Mamdani,' he continued. The New York City race for mayor has sparked heavy tensions. Zohran Mamdani, the democratic nominee, surprisingly won the Democratic primary against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo is now running as an independent alongside the current NYC Mayor Eric Adams. Trump has been adamantly opposed to Mamdani's campaign for NYC mayor. He has called him a ' communist lunatic ' and said that if he is elected in November, 'He better behave. Otherwise, he will have big problems.' The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump had multiple phone calls with Cuomo and was considering 'getting involved' in the mayoral race. Sliwa, who is the only Republican candidate and in an underdog position, said he was not surprised that the president called Cuomo, as 'Cuomo's been talking to Trump for years.' He added, 'I would just say to the president, spend your time where it's needed more, on geopolitical interests that affect all Americans. This election in New York City does not affect all Americans.' Other candidates also raged against Trump's move. Mamdani posted on X, 'Today we learned Andrew Cuomo is directly coordinating with Donald Trump, even as this President sends masked agents to rip our neighbors off the streets and guts the social services so many New Yorkers rely on,' posted Mamdani on X. 'It's disqualifying and a betrayal of our city,' he added. But Cuomo on Thursday pushed back on the report. 'I can't remember the last time I spoke to President Trump,' Cuomo said during a press conference, adding that he has 'never spoken to him about the mayor's race.' Silwa has previously attacked Mandani and blamed Adam's mayoral term for Mandani's win in the Democratic primary. 'There is no Zohran Mamdani if Eric Adams had done a decent job,' Sliwa said.
