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What Does "Asian-Pacific American" Mean To You?

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month begins on May 1 in America. Here are some APA BuzzFeed staffers talking about what being "Asian-Pacific American" means to them.

by Matt Ortile, Ahmed Ali Akbar, Cathy Ngo, Will Varner, Arabelle Sicardi, Bryant Hua, Shannon Rosenberg, Millie Tran, Stephanie M. Lee, Nicole Nguyen, Natasha Umer, David Bertozzi

Cathy Ngo

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"ABC = American-born Chinese. When I was younger, I used to be ashamed of being Asian. As I got older, I realized my culture should be celebrated and cherished."

Krutika Mallikarjuna

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"Being Indian-American means loving my culture and having the resources to add to it. #ThirdCultureKids"

Stephanie Lee

Millie Tran / Via BuzzFeed

"The beauty of the fact that there is no singular 'Asian-American experience.'"

Bryant Hua

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"I'm more than just another name."

Ahmed Ali Akbar

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"I am Pakistani-American and have always fought to say that I am an American and am not Arab. My family has Pakistani, Malaysian, Japanese, white, Korean, and more members.

APA means all the things I choose for myself, a loving and diverse family, friends, and food!"

Millie Tran

Millie Tran / Via BuzzFeed

"Strong-ass women!"

Arabelle Sicardi

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"Being Taiwanese-American means I have multiple homes, multiple languages, multiple histories. Realistically, it means I'm always drifting somewhere in between. Diaspora is heartache."

Will Varner

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"Being Hapa-A.P.A. means belonging nowhere and everywhere!"

Shannon Rosenberg

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"Hawaiian + Chinese + Japanese which means I have an enormous, loving, and supportive family that makes ono kine grindz!"

Natasha Umer

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"Good food! Give me extra spice, bitch!"

Nicole Nguyen

Millie Tran / Via BuzzFeed

"Bánh cuốn is my comfort food."

Matt Ortile

David Bertozzi / Via BuzzFeed

"I'm a Filipino-American immigrant. I've had to build friendships and families in a lot of places, so I know a lot of places I can call home."

How about you? Submit photos with #WhatAPAMeansToMe in the comments and you could be featured in a a BuzzFeed post for APA Heritage Month!