“Understanding Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage” presented by NBCU Academy explains the history behind this cultural observance in May.
Vicky Nguyen, NBC News Senior Consumer Investigative Correspondent, Dominic Chu, CNBC Senior Markets Correspondent and Kimmy Yam, NBC Asian America Reporter, highlight recent and historic firsts in the AAPI community.
NBCU Academy’s “Understanding” series breaks down the history, context and nuances behind cultural observances and days of remembrance throughout the year.
Hawaiian children performing a native dance at the Unity Day celebration, Ho’ Olokahi, HI (Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) 
Hula dancers 
Demonstrators wearing face masks and holding signs take part in a rally “Love Our Communities: Build Collective Power” to raise awareness of anti-Asian violence, at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California, on March 13, 2021. – Reports of attacks, primarily against Asian-American elders, have spiked in recent months — fuelled, activists believe, by talk of the “Chinese virus” by former president Donald Trump and others. (Photo by RINGO CHIU / AFP) (Photo by RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images) 
Julie Tran holds her phone during a candlelight vigil in Garden Grove, California, on March 17, 2021 to unite against the recent spate of violence targeting Asians and to express grief and outrage after yesterday’s shooting that left eight people dead in Atlanta, Georgia, including at least six Asian women. – Police have said suspect Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, has so far denied a racist motive for the three shootings in the southern US state of Georgia. (Photo by Apu GOMES / AFP) (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images) 
Trish Villanueva (C) of Seattle holds a sign with the hashtag “stop AAPI hate” during the We Are Not Silent rally organized by the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Coalition Against Hate and Bias in Bellevue, Washington on March 18, 2021. – The shooting rampage in Atlanta by a 21-year-old white man that left six women of Asian origin dead has laid bare the fears of an Asian-American community on edge over a spike in hate crimes because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images) 
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 04: People participate in a protest to demand an end to anti-Asian violence on April 04, 2021 in New York City. The group, which numbered near 3000 and was made up of activists, residents and local politicians, marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. After a rise in hate crimes against Asians across the U.S. and in New York City, groups are speaking up and demanding more attention to the issue. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
