Search the Media Repository
Discover the curated images, videos, and primary sources featured throughout Foundations and Futures
History is more than just text on a page; it is the photographs, voices, and artifacts of the people who lived it. The images and recordings featured across Foundations and Futures are part of a meticulously curated media repository. Whether you are building a lesson plan or investigating an artifact, you can use this database to trace the provenance of our media: discover who created an asset, the historical context behind it, and how it can be used to bring Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences into your classroom.
Multimedia
Chapters
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Image
Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Harvests Fruit
Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, who established the first Korean American immigrant community in Riverside, California, in the early 1900s.
Featured in:
Sa I Gu: Los Angeles, 1992, Module 1
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Image
Edward Lee’s First Birthday
Eddie Lee, wearing his traditional Korean dol first-birthday hanbok, with his father.
Featured in:
Sa I Gu: Los Angeles, 1992, Module 1
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Image
Lee Family Portrait
A portrait of the Lee family in happier days. (Clockwise from the top left) Jenny, Eddie, Young Hi, and Jung Hui.
Featured in:
Sa I Gu: Los Angeles, 1992, Module 1
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Image
Latasha Harlins Portrait
Latasha Harlins was a fifteen-year-old African American girl shot and killed by Soon Ja Du, a Korean store owner in 1991.
Featured in:
Sa I Gu: Los Angeles, 1992, Module 1
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Image
LAPD Officers Beat Rodney King
A still from the March 31, 1991, video shot by George Holliday from the balcony of his apartment showing LAPD officers beating an unarmed Rodney Glen King with batons while other officers stand and watch.
Featured in:
Sa I Gu: Los Angeles, 1992, Module 1
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Audio
Radio Korea Callers Seeking Help
Amid the violence of April 30, 1992, Korean immigrant store owners, who could not speak fluent English, begged Radio Korea 1540 AM reporters in Korean to call 911.
Featured in:
Sa I Gu: Los Angeles, 1992, Module 1
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2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Filmmakers from the Digital Histories program celebrating the premiere of their short films at the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
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Moana Character Design
Disney animators consulted with Polynesian experts from the Oceanic Story Trust to ensure the accuracy of details in the worldbuilding and character designs of Moana (2016) such as garments, natural elements, hairstyles, and language.
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AA&PI Fire Island Cast
Left to right) Margaret Cho, Bowen Yang, and Joel Kim Booster starring in Fire Island (2022)—the first queer romantic comedy released by a major movie studio created by and starring queer Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
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Alice Wu, Michelle Krusiec, and Lynn Chen on Saving Face Set
Director Alice Wu (right) working with actresses Michelle Krusiec (left) and Lynn Chen (center) on the set of Saving Face (2004).
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Text
We Are Mauna Kea
Honolulu-based artist Ash Kwak Lukashevsky created this art in support of Native Hawaiians taking part in a global movement supported by hashtags like #WeAreMaunaKea and #ProtectMaunaKea.
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Iron Fist Cosplay
Other Asian American and Pacific Islander fans, such as Nerds of Color writer Josephine Chang, responded to the character’s whitewashing by suiting up as the superhero themselves, cosplaying at comic conventions and posting photos of themselves online.
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Iron Fist Recast Fan Art
A popular fan recast of Danny Rand was British Chinese actor and martial artist Lewis Tan. Fans portrayed Tan as the Iron Fist through fan art, as in this sketch by comic artist Erica Henderson.
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Iron Fist Redesign Fan Art
As a response to Danny Rand’s white casting, comic artists like Kris Anka advocated for an Asian American and Pacific Islander recast, reimagining the character’s racial representation through fan art. Anka’s original design inspired other artists to post their own renditions on Twitter in support.
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Finn Jones in Iron Fist
White actor Finn Jones was cast in Marvel’s TV adaptation of Iron Fist (2017–2018) as protagonist Danny Rand—a martial artist who wields an ancient, mystical force called the Iron Fist that allows him to harness “chi” energy.
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Video
Box Office Boost for Crazy Rich Asians
The #GoldOpen campaign encouraged Asian American and Pacific Islander donors to buy out theaters screening Crazy Rich Asians (2018). The film became a box office success as a result, making over twenty-five million dollars during its opening weekend.
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Media Action Network Press Conference
Guy Aoki, president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, addressing the offensive portrayal of Japanese characters in the film Rising Sun at a 1993 press conference.
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Video
Pronunciation Guide for Victims of Atlanta Spa Shooting
Reporters Janice Yu and Frances Wang, on behalf of the Asian American Journalists Association, released a pronunciation guide for the Chinese and Korean names of the 2021 spa shooting victims in Atlanta, Georgia.
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The Joy Luck Club Cast
Joy Luck Club (1993), based on the novel by Amy Tan, was the first major Hollywood studio film to feature an all-Asian cast.
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Top Chef Judges
The cooking competition show Top Chef has featured the expertise of Asian American and Pacific Islander hosts Padma Lakshmi (center, middle) and Kristen Kish (second from left) alongside the talents of emerging Asian American and Pacific Islander chefs.
