Have Your Heard of the AAPI organization?

If this is your first time to hear about it, read this posting. This posting is inspired when I received these 3 photos of my youngest daughter Ditas Katague on her recent activity in the Washington DC political life/scene. 

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/ditas-katague-appointed-associate-director-communications.html

If you are following my blogs you know, I have been a proud Papa and Grand Papa of my children and grand children accomplishments respectively. 

 https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2021/09/my-four-children-accomplishments-in.html

Here are two photos of Ditas recent involvement with the AAPI organization Summit with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.   

Ditas posted a thank you note in her FaceBook page to U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for inviting her to address the convening of the AAPI trusted messenger ecosystem of New York State.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are an integral part of the American cultural mosaic, encompassing a wide range of diversity. AAPI communities consist of approximately 50 distinct ethnic groups speaking over 100 languages, with connections to Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Hawaiian, and other Asian and Pacific Islander ancestries.

As of the 2020 Census, 24 million people identified as Asian and 1.6 million identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, either as their only identity or in combination with another identity.

Ethnic and communal identity is considered a notable protective mental health factor for many AAPIs. The sense of communal identity, connections, belonging and family bonds is a strong predictor of resilience while facing life’s challenges. Studies have shown that a strong sense of ethnic identity is linked to lower suicide risks and predicts higher resilience in the face of racial discrimination, which is, unfortunately, an issue for many in this population.

On the other hand, second-generation AAPI immigrants may face challenges in their cultural identity, struggling to balance their familial ties to traditional cultural values with the pressure to assimilate to mainstream American society. Additionally, an emphasis on community identity can create a strong burden of expectations, which may increase stigma and shame if a person doesn’t meet those expectations.

Reference: https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Identity-and-Cultural-Dimensions/Asian-American-and-Pacific-Islander#:~:text=Asian%20Americans%20and%20Pacific%20Islanders,a%20wide%20range%20of%20diversity.