May Is Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month

[OneEyedDiva]

I have Asian ancestry in my family. My maternal grandmother's great grandfather was from India (South Asia). I also have Asian-American cousins. A couple are half Japanese and a couple are half Chinese.

Some notable Asian Americans are notable because they are celebrities but we may not be aware of others. From Wikipedia, these are just a few of the many Asian Americans who have excelled in business:
~Steve Chen, currently 45, co-founded YouTube.
~Justin Kan co founded Twitch, a live streaming service.
~Ramani Ayer is chairman and CEO of The Hartford Financial Services Group.
~Ajay Banga is President and CEO of Mastercard
~Amar Bose, chairman and founder of the Bose Corporation.

I couldn't find a similar page about Pacific Islanders in business. Notable celebrities with Pacific Island heritage that I know off the top of my head are:
~Former wrestler and actor Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, who's mother is Samoan. His father was Black wrestler Rocky Johnson. He's very proud of his heritage. He's also a businessman who launched a Tereman, tequila company in 020 and is involved in other ventures.



~Actor Jason Momoa, who's father is a native Hawaiian and who's mother is a mixture of German, Irish and Pawnee. Jason very much identifies with his Hawaiian roots.



I will be adding to this thread. Feel free to do so as well.

 

[Jace]

(saw the ad/notice on TV)
Good of you to post.

 

[MarkinPhx]

Seeing this post reminded me of the 100th Infantry Battalion that fought in Europe during WW2.

"The 100th Infantry Battalion, comprised largely of second generation Nisei, bravely fought in Europe and became one of America's most highly decorated units of World War II."

Going for Broke: The 100th Infantry Battalion | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

 

[OneEyedDiva]

(saw the ad/notice on TV)
Good off you to post.

Thank you Jace!

 

[OneEyedDiva]

~If you follow fashion, I'm sure you've heard of Vera Wang who designs wedding and other gowns for the rich and famous. Vera at an event:



~Kenneth P. Moritsugu was the first Asian-American Surgeon General of the US.



~Connie Chung was one of the first Asian American national correspondents for a major TV news network, reporting for CBS in 1971. She later co-anchored the CBS Evening News from 1993 to 1995, becoming the first Asian American national news anchor.[135]

~Dr. Sanjay Gupta is currently CNN's chief health correspondent. Lisa Ling, a former co-host on The View, now provides special reports for CNN and The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as hosting National Geographic Channel's Explorer.
Click on the names above in blue to take you to their Wiki pages.

~Many Asian actors we have come to know and love are easily recognizable as being Asians, but some with Asian heritage are not. These actors have Asian heritage:
~Dean Cain (Lois & Clark - father Japanese descent)
~Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved By The Bell, Will Trent & Found -Indonesian mother)
~Kristin Kreuk (Smallville and Beauty & The Beast - Chinese mother)
~Sonja Sohn (Will Trent - Korean Mother)

Pictured: Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Sonja Sohn

 

[Jace]

All such great posts!

 

[Pinky]

Thank you for posting this, @OneEyedDiva
My brother sent me a kit for 23andme ancestry. I was deluged with notices of other Asians to whom I share a blood-line .. Chinese/Japanese/Korean. Interesting stuff!

 

[OneEyedDiva]

When I first saw Michael Paulo, he was playing in Al Jarreau’s band at their 1984 London concert. First thing I thought when I saw him was "Damn he's fine!" Then when he started playing I was like “This brother can really blow!” It was while reading comments on the Al Jarreau video below that I found out that he was born in Hawaii, Michael is of Filipino and Japanese descent. In the video below from 2006 he expresses pride and appreciation for that heritage before starting to play.

Michael started his own labels, Noteworthy Records and Apaulo Music Productions.
Michael Paulo - Wikipedia

He plays flute and saxophone in this concert. I've watched this so many times!

@Jace and @Pinky I'm so glad you are enjoying these post Thank you for letting me know. Pinky I have a friend who's Black. Ancestry found quite a few of her Asian cousins, some of whom she's connected with. I didn't stay on long enough to follow up on all of my matches. Ancestry notified me of some White cousins and I wouldn't be surprised if they find more Asian cousins for me as well.
@PeppermintPatty

 

[Ruthanne]

Thanks for sharing this. I have Asian in my ancestry. My brother found that out when he did the family research for many years.

 

[Della]

Kazuo Ishiguro, my favorite modern writer.

Winner of the Nobel Prize for, "Never Let Me Go" and of course many others, like, "Remains of the Day," and "Klara and the Sun." His books are absolutely brilliant and original.

 

[Pink Biz]

 

[OneEyedDiva]

Here's a list of notable Asian Americans from Wikipedia:

• Jeremy Castro Baguyos, M.Mus. – Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska Omaha and Principal Bass of the Des Moines Metro Opera Summer Music Festival Orchestra[2]
• Jose B. Cruz, Jr., Ph.D. – Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Ohio State University
• Conrado Gempesaw, Ph.D. – 17th President, St. John's University, New York City[3]
• Ruth Elynia S. Mabanglo, Ph.D. – Professor of Philippine Literature, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Presidential Citation for Meritorious Teaching, 1996[4]
• 
  
• Kevin Nadal, Ph.D. – Professor of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; author, Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice; former president of Asian American Psychological Association[5]
• Baldomero Olivera, Ph.D. – Distinguished Professor of Biology, University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah; first Filipino American member of the United States National Academy of Sciences; 2007 Harvard University Scientist of the Year[6]
• Rhacel Parrenas, Ph.D. – Professor of American Studies and Sociology at Brown University
• Talitha Espiritu, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of English at Wheaton College
• 
  
• E. San Juan, Jr., Ph.D. – Fellow, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University
• Craig Abaya. – Director of Digital Media & Entertainment Programs, San Francisco State University, 2000–2014
• Trinity Ordona, Ph.D. – Professor of American Studies, City College of San Francisco, 2001–present
• Vivian M. Vasquez, Ph.D. – Multi-award-winning Professor of Education at American University in Washington, D.C.
• Leon O. Chua, Ph.D. – Contributor to both the nonlinear circuit theory and cellular neural
• network theory, and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at University of California at Berkeley and Purdue University
• 
  
• Raymundo Favila, Ph.D. – Mathematician contributing to stratifiable congruences and geometric inequalities
• Robyn Rodriguez, Ph.D. –Professor and Chair of the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Davis
• Catherine Ceniza Choy, Ph.D. – Professor of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley
• Vicente L. Rafael, Ph.D. – Professor of Southeast Asian history at Cornell University

Pictured are Dr./Rev. Trinity Ordona and Dr. Kevin Nadal. Click on the links above to read more about each of them.
Rev. Trinity Ordoña is a lesbian Filipino-American college teacher, activist, community organizer, and ordained minister currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is notable for her grassroots work on intersectional social justice. Her activism includes issues of voice and visibility for Asian/Pacific gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals and their families,[1] Lesbians of color,[2] and survivors of sexual abuse.[3]

Kevin Nadal is an author, activist, comedian,[1] and Distinguished Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.[2] He is a researcher and expert on the effects of microaggressions on racial/ethnic minorities and LGBTQ people.[3][4]