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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Maya as Global Peace leader
As a global peace leader, Maya makes presentations around the world.
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Maya’s first children’s book, Ladder to the Moon
In her first children’s book, Ladder to the Moon (2011; illustrated by Yuyi Morales), Maya imagines what her mother would have taught her daughter, Suhaila, about the world. In the story, a young girl takes a magical journey with her grandmother and learns about the importance of world peace.
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The Peace Studio
The Peace Studio, a nonprofit organization cofounded by Maya, focuses on working with artists and journalists to develop restorative narratives and create social change.
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The Institute for Climate and Peace (ICP)
The Institute for Climate and Peace (ICP) ….. ICP foregrounds the importance of Indigenous practices and women’s leadership in addressing climate change.
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Video
Peace as action
Watch as Maya talks about “peace as action,” and why she decided to found and build community-focused non-profit organizations.
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Wayang kulit performance
As a child, Maya grew up surrounded by Indonesian artisans and Javanese culture. Her childhood memories are filled with watching painters, batik makers, woodcarvers, and other artists. This early exposure to art and culture in everyday life would shape Maya’s conviction about art’s importance for connection and healing.
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Maya describe moving to New York for college
Watch Maya describe moving to New York for college, and embracing Latino culture while living and working among Dominican and Puerto Rican communities.
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Maya, Ann, and Barack in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, ca. 1987.
(Left to right) Maya, Ann, and Barack in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, ca. 1987.
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Indonesian artifacts
Different topeng, or wooden masks, that Maya cherishes. Today, these masks are displayed in Maya’s home, reflecting the great respect and love that she has for Indonesian culture.
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Indonesian artifacts
Different topeng, or wooden masks, that Maya cherishes. Today, these masks are displayed in Maya’s home, reflecting the great respect and love that she has for Indonesian culture.
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Indonesian artifacts
Different topeng, or wooden masks, that Maya cherishes. Today, these masks are displayed in Maya’s home, reflecting the great respect and love that she has for Indonesian culture.
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Maya performing as a teenager
Maya performing as a teenager at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1986. While she was a teenager, her mother continued to encourage her to cherish and strengthen her knowledge of Indonesian culture. This photograph was taken by Maya’s mother.
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Maya describe moving back to Hawai‘i as a teenager
Watch Maya describe moving back to Hawai‘i as a teenager, and how discovered a new community as she maintained her connection to Indonesian culture.
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Rainbow over Present day Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Present day Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, as viewed from Waikīkī. Maya attended college and graduate school in New York City and has traveled around the world, but Honolulu remains her home; it is where she continued her graduate education and later raised her family.
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Maya as a teenager with her mother, Ann
Maya as a teenager with her mother, Ann, in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, where they moved when Maya was fourteen years old. Likely taken by her grandfather or grandmother, this picture shows the close bond that Maya had with her mother.
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Maya standing above wet rice fields in 1985.
Maya standing above wet rice fields in 1985.
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Maya describes the anti-Chinese riots
Maya describes the anti-Chinese riots that she witnessed as a nine year-old in Indonesia, and how we can try to prevent oppression and violence in our own communities.
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Ann Dunham’s impact on working with local women and cottage industries
Maya explains the impact her mother had working with local women and cottage industries building microfinance projects.
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Ann Dunham’s Notebook
This is one of Ann’s field notebooks, now preserved in the Smithsonian Institution. These notebooks represent Ann’s careful recording of village life and her relationships with the people who shared their knowledge with her. In her later career, Ann became a specialist in microfinance. Although she would study other cultures through her work, Ann always felt a special connection to Indonesia.
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Maya in Indonesia, ca. 1972.
Maya in Indonesia, ca. 1972. During her years in Indonesia, Maya spent much time exploring nature, as shown in this photograph.
