It’s May! Many of us can celebrate the seasons changing or the end of the school year, but on top of that, we can now observe Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This month’s purpose is to celebrate and bring attention to Asians and Pacific Islanders that live in the United States. Although this holiday is specific to America, as an Asian-American that feels that there is barely any acceptable Asian representation in media today, I think we could all use some exposure to a few amazing Asians and Pacific Islanders. Here’s a short list of incredible artists, performers, and creators that we should all appreciate, no matter where we’re from.
Prabal Gurung
Prabal Gurung is a Nepali fashion designer that lived in Singapore and India before coming to New York City to study at Parsons School of Design. He worked for Bill Blass, Cynthia Rowley, and Donna Karan before PRABAL GURUNG’s beginning in 2009. Fashion icons like Sarah Jessica Parker, Lady Gaga, and Kate Middleton are just some of the few that have worn his incredible designs. His new Fall 2016 ready-to-wear designs are clean and classy, in beautiful shapes and cuts. He plays with simple color palettes combined with unique elements like beautifully dyed fur and intricately placed buttons.
Check out this slideshow of his ready-to-wear collection: Click Here!
Ongina, or Ryan Ong Paolo
If you’re a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race and had the opportunity to watch The Lost Season, you’re probably also a fan of Filipino drag queen Ongina. She’s a striking bald queen with a little bit of height but a lot of punch. She’s most recognizable for her incredible creativity and her emotional moment telling the world that she is HIV positive after winning the Mac Viva Glam Challenge. I know, you can totally still imagine her striking poses and fabulously swinging those red balloons around. She went on to host the HIV and Me segment on Logo, which shined a light on the lives of different people living with HIV.
Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho is a Korean-American woman most well-known for her satirical comedy performances speaking out on issues that go hand-in-hand with topics like sexuality, sex, and race. She openly talks about her past, both the good and the bad, and recently criticized the whitewashing occurring in Hollywood with the hashtag #WhiteWashedOUT. Margaret and other fellow actors and artists are tired of the use of white actors to portray Asian characters, the lack of Asian characters in TV and movies, and the typecasting and stereotyping that happens much too often. We’re tired of seeing Asian actors having to portray roles like the socially inept father with a thick accent or the strict homemaking mom.
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Alec Mapa
Alec Mapa is a Filipino-American actor, writer, and comedian. He currently plays Renzo in the series Switched at Birth and often does his own stand-up comedy performances. His comedy special Baby Daddy (available on Amazon) speaks about his and his husband’s experiences as a biracial gay couple (Alec being Asian, and his husband being white) that adopted a five year-old black son from the foster care system.
Check out his piece from this time last year in response to Rachel Dolezal’s criticism of families like his-- Click Here!
Raja, or Sutan Amrull
Sutan Amrull, also known as Raja Gemini, is a non-binary drag queen, the winner of the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and a makeup artist of Indonesian descent. She has famously worked with Tyra Banks and Dita Von Teese and has also toured with Iggy Azalea. She still performs regularly and hosts the hilarious "Fashion Photo RuView" segment with fellow queen Raven. We fondly remember her for killing every single runway challenge and being one of the most creative contestants on the show. She’s an arsenal of references and can turn anything into something beautiful.
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George Takei
George Takei is best known for his acting ability and his prevalent role in standing up for marginalized groups and minorities, especially Asians and the LGBTQ+ community. He sees and experiences the struggles that come with being a part of these two groups, as he is a Japanese-American living and working in America in the notoriously racist field of showbusiness, and he is also openly gay. Just recently, he expressed his anger with Marvel for their casting of Tilda Swinton for a character of Tibetan descent. Things like this happen in Hollywood all the time, and George Takei has consistently been a highly insightful and outspoken person throughout it all.
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Amy Doan
Amy Doan is the Vietnamese-American founder of the cosmetics company Sugarpill. She’s an adorable person and a lover of cats, bright colors, drag queens, makeup, and all things cute. She’s also everything I want to be when I’m an adult. She found a bit of makeup inspiration years ago from drag queens, and this has now come full circle, with many queens wearing her products. Her company, which never tests on animals, by the way, makes products that come in the most beautiful packaging and that are incredibly vibrant and long-lasting. You’ll spot some favorite queens like Kim Chi and Jiggly Caliente sporting this woman’s fabulous makeup. And she's definitely not too shabby wearing it herself, either!
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Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari is an actor, comedian, and now the creator, one of the writers, and the occasional director for the Netflix comedy series Master of None. We know him best for his portrayal of Tom Haverford on Parks and Recreation. He grew up as an Indian-American in the South before studying in New York City and beginning his stand-up comedy venture. He is very politically and socially conscious, making jabs at our society in practically every episode of Master of None, which has been renewed for a second season. As an Asian-American myself, I connected with the episode “Parents,” in which the characters Dev and Brian are first generation Americans who try to understand and express their appreciation for their immigrant parents, who sacrificed and experienced plenty to provide the lives they wanted for their children. This episode captured my feelings about my own situation perfectly and even made me cry. He also highlights the problems in showbusiness surrounding the portrayal of Indians in television and the offensive or limited roles available for Indian actors in the episode “Indians on TV”.
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