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\n Published: 5\/23\/2024\n <\/p>\n
Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month<\/a>. This annual month-long event celebrates the vast and diverse achievements of Americans of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent.<\/p>\n To celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, we\u2019re highlighting a just few of many Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who have made an impact on the history of academia, public health, poetry and broader public education.<\/p>\n Doctor Margaret Chung<\/a> was first Chinese American woman to become a physician. As a medical student, she wore masculine clothing, and was rejected as a medical missionary because of her race. Shortly after, she moved to San Francisco, where her legacy as \u201cMom\u201d began.<\/p>\n Dr. Chung connected with a US Navy Reserves ensign, who she began having dinner with nearly every night, and was asked as part of the war effort during WWII to secretly recruit pilots and submarine men for the Marines, Air Corps and Navy.<\/p>\n Referred to as \u201cMom\u201d by her recruits, Dr. Chen built a network of over 1,500 military personnel, regularly sending them letters and gifts while they were deployed, while hosting weekly dinners at her home for her \u201ckids\u201d and their guests. She became a local legend, attracting movie stars and politicians to her home, and lobbied for the creation of the WAVES Naval Women\u2019s Reserve<\/a>.<\/p>\n While you might know Ocean Vuong <\/a>\u00a0from his award-winning novel \u201cOn Earth, We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous<\/a>\u201d or his follow-up poetry collection \u201cTime Is a Mother<\/a>,\u201d you might not know that he is also a Professor of Creative Writing at New York University,<\/a> and has taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.<\/p>\n Vuong\u2019s work explores the intersection of intergenerational trauma from war, Vietnamese American identity and queer identity<\/a> through poetry and prose. \u201cOn Earth, We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous\u201d is written as a long-form letter from a Vietnamese American son to his illiterate mother. Though the novel isn\u2019t entirely autobiographical<\/a>, Vuong draws strongly on his own lived experiences throughout.<\/p>\n Born in Tutuila, American Samoa, Dr. Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard<\/a> is a poet, academic, activist and the first Samoan to become a full professor in the United States. For nearly 20 years she taught at the University of Hawaii, focusing primarily on Samoan and Pacific Islander literature, mythologies and folklore, and how traditional knowledge can be implemented in the present.<\/p>\n Fun fact: Dr. Sinavaiana-Gabbard also founded the first environmental nongovernmental organization in American Samoa, making her a pioneer of American Samoan ecological preservation.<\/p>\n Dr. Vivek Murthy<\/a> is the current United States surgeon general. Throughout his tenure, his work has been essential in dispelling health disinformation, responding to the COVID-19<\/a> pandemic and raising awareness of mental health struggles<\/a> for young people and burnout<\/a> in health care workers.<\/p>\n Dr. Murthy is the first Surgeon General of Indian descent and the youngest active-duty flag officer in federal uniformed service. He founded multiple public health resource organizations, including Doctors for America<\/a>, VISIONS<\/a> and TrialNetworks<\/a>. Between his first and second terms as surgeon general, Dr. Murthy also wrote his book, \u201cTogether<\/a>,\u201d which focuses on loneliness as a public health concern, and how building connection with others<\/a> is key.<\/p>\nMargaret \u201cMom\u201d Chung<\/h2>\n
Ocean Vuong<\/h2>\n
Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard<\/h2>\n
Vivek Murthy<\/h2>\n
Learning more<\/h2>\n