well celebrations for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month have been taking on a new meaning in recent years the month of May is designated as a time to honor the influence and achievements of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans but those in the community say they're still fighting for visibility and representation and Report harboring safety concerns due to anti-asian sentiment that surged during the pandemic and resulted in increased hate crimes and targeted attacks for more context I'm joined by Qing Guo an advocate for make us visible NJ and past president of the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey so Ching let me ask you first because I have spoken with a number of Asian American organizations where folks say they have a complicated relationship with this month with celebrating aapi talk to me about what it means to you so I'm glad that it's being celebrated because it's bringing about this awareness that is not talked about uh you know any other days of the year but at the same time people you know I'm sure with any other month where there's a whole you know women's History Month women should be celebrated every you know every other month of the year so it feels like we're pigeonholing but at the same time I'm glad I am glad to see the celebrations because at least people are utilizing those days because everyone's so busy to complement Asian Americans what it means to bring about the history and to learn about it so I say you know one month out of the year is better than none what would you like to see come about from having a designated month which is you know pretty much what we have right now no I'm glad you're bringing that up Brianna because uh last year was the first time that Governor Murphy signed into bill into law that requires aapi history to be taught in K-12 and New Jersey's the only the second state in the nation after Illinois to have such a requirement so even there the struggle you know continues and we think about New York and California with a larger aapi population so in terms of yes there is such a rich history there's you know there's East Asians who are different from South Asians which you know encompasses India Pakistan you know everyone looks different ethnically culturally there's socioeconomic differences across the you know the board so the disparities even you know within within one country and within one group is is so diverse so it is very difficult to teach aapi history and Heritage because it's not a monologue right yeah um well talk to me about some of the challenges that that still persist it was a tough couple of years during covid coming out of covid we saw a surge in anti-asian hate crimes um and I'm wondering if there are still concerns about security and safety within the communities no there absolutely are you know in just from my personal perspective I remember I live I live in Secaucus so I'm I usually take the bus but then you know during the pandemic I actually took a pause which I never did I'm like wait a minute I don't feel safe taking public transportation as an Asian not even just as a female but as an Asian and I'm sure you know that's felt across the board and I'm not the only one so where would you like to see these conversations go and sort of to help people you know come out of that mentality and not treating these cultures as a monolith like you said I think there absolutely needs you know education is Step number one where you know kids are taught from a young age what it means and that there's cultural diversity so I think there's strength in that and then in addition you know there needs to be a recognition on the uh the political side and also in the criminal justice system New Jersey in 247 years have never had an Asian American on the New Jersey Supreme Court so that you know that's something that needs to be remedy and we have you know able and ready candidates yeah a lot of work to be done for sure um Qing Guo thank you so much for coming in and for talking to me about this absolutely and I'll thank you for having me this is so important yeah thank you [Music]