Today, May 1, marks the beginning of Asian/Pacific American (AAPI) Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. At CJ Logistics America’s corporate headquarters and locations across the country, displays and activities will recognize the contributions and achievements of Asian/Pacific Americans.
May was chosen as the month in commemoration of the first Japanese immigration to the United States on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, after Chinese immigrants were most of the workers who laid the tracks.
Following the passage of a House and Senate joint resolution in 1978, beginning in 1979 presidents issued annual proclamations for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week (to include May 7 and May 10) In 1990 the observance was expanded to a month, and in 1992 Congress passed a law which annually designated May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.
Asian/Pacific references the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).
