What Motivates You as an AANHPI Leader?

Giving flowers to our AANHPI community at UCSF for their unsung dedication, passion, energy and time to improve the climate and belonging for everyone.

AANHPI Groups and Departments at UCSF

UCSF AAPI Coalition Joint Statement

A Joint Statement to address justice and inclusion for AAPI at UCSF was developed by a new coalition of the various UCSF Asian groups, students, staff, and faculty against anti-Asian hate and exclusionary practices. The Joint Statement outlined 6 recommendations and a proposed action plan intended to make a positive impact on the learning, clinical, research and working environment for AAPI, and to further advance the DEI initiatives at UCSF. The joint statement was endorsed by over 20 campus departments/groups and more than 2000 UCSF community members including our students/learners, staff, faculty, and researchers. The Joint Statement was presented to UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood and his leadership team on June 24, 2021, to discuss a plan to address the 6 recommendations. 

This is a historical moment for all AAPI at UCSF. The COVID-driven verbal and physical assaults since March 2020 have angered and terrorized many in the AAPI community at UCSF beyond their tolerance limits, giving a burst of strength and courage to unify us as a strong coalition that crosses all socioeconomic, educational and status divides. It is the goal of the UCSF AAPI Coalition to collaborate with our communities and allies to use the Statement and the Appendix to strategically address some long-time deficiencies and issues affecting our AAPI community. We are only at a starting point, and more action items can be developed later.

Read the full AAPI Coalition Statement here.

 List of major AANHPI annual events and festivals around the Bay Area in 2024

The Bay Area is one of the most diverse regions in the United States. People of color became the majority of the population in the region around 1980, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, around 65 years before the United States will be majority people of color.  Today, 27 percent of Bay Area residents — around 2 million people — identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander, and the population is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades. But Asian Americans — whether immigrants or native-born — include a variety of ancestral backgrounds and cultures and live in different parts of the Bay Area. Here is a growing list of AANHPI "towns" to visit around the Bay Area.

Chinatown, Oakland

One of the oldest Chinatowns in the United States, Oakland Chinatown was settled in the 1850s, shortly after the gold rush. In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake and fire wrecked San Francisco Chinatown, causing thousands of San Francisco Chinese survivors to move to Oakland to rebuild their lives in the East Bay.

• Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) has changing exhibitions year round to showcase arts and cultures in Asia. Performances and programs are scheduled during evenings and weekends.
• Oakland Public Library Asian Branch is located at the Pacific Renaissance Plaza. It provides the latest Asian books and DVDs in 8 different Asian languages including Chinese (Traditional/Simplified Chinese, Cantonese/Mandarin), Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Tagalog, Hindu, and etc.
• Do you know that fortune cookies were invented in Northern California? The Fortune Cookie Factory is one of the oldest fortune cookie factories in the bay area. You can schedule a 15-20 minutes tour with a small fee to learn the history and customize your own fortune cookies!

Chinatown, San Francisco

Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinese enclaves within San Francisco. Since its establishment in the early 1850s, it has been important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. 

• Top 18 things to do in SF Chinatown
• Explore SF Chinatown - SF Gate

Japantown, San Francisco 

Discover San Francisco’s Japantown, the vibrant heart of the Bay Area’s Japanese and Japanese American community since 1906. Amidst its bustling streets, you’ll encounter an authentic tapestry of Japanese culture, from traditional eateries to contemporary shops. San Francisco boasts the largest and oldest of the three remaining Japantowns in the U.S., the others being Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and Nihonmachi in San Jose, all nestled within California.

A stroll through Japantown offers a delightful immersion into Japanese traditions, blending the allure of Osaka with modern influences. From anime and kimono boutiques to sushi joints and manga stores, Japantown is packed into a six-block radius along Post and Sutter streets in the Western Addition neighborhood.

Japantown, San Jose

San Jose's Japantown (Nihonmachi) developed from where the immigrant Japanese first settled in Santa Clara Valley. More than a century following its humble beginnings, it remains one of the last three historical Japantowns in the United States.

The traditional approach to making manju is still cherished in Japantown at Shuei-do Manju Shop. For fresh produce, visit the weekly farmers’ market, open year-round. For sushi enthusiasts, Kazoo and Minato serve as local favorites. The Japanese American Museum of San Jose showcases a unique collection of permanent and rotating exhibits, chronicling more than a century of Japanese American history. 

Little Manila, Daly City

Daly City itself is known as Little Manila by a lot of people, including in the Philippines, because it has the largest concentration in the U.S. of people of Philippine background. Roughly 34% of Daly City’s population is of Filipino descent, according to a letter written by Daly City officials in 2020. You can find Filipino restaurants or other businesses at the Skyline Shopping Center on the west side, Westmoor Ave. near Skyline Blvd. But if you just look around, you'll see businesses everywhere owned by or marketed to Filipinos. 

• 10 Great Filipino Restaurants in Daly City - Eater
• The Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center 
• Daly City: The new Filipinotown

Little Manila, Stockton

Little Manila community in Stockton was the largest population of Filipinos in the world outside of the Philippines from the 1920s to the 1960s, due to job in the agricultural industry in California's Central Valley. Little Manila Rising is a nonprofit organization founded to fight the erasure of Little Manila by developing equitable solutions to the effects of historical marginalization, institutionalized racism, and harmful public policy.

The project Little Manila Virtually Recreated was completed at University of the Pacific (United States) to recreate the historical Little Manila neighborhood in virtual reality.

Vietnam Town, San Jose 

With over 180,000 residents, Vietnam Town has more Vietnamese residents than any other city in the world outside of Vietnam, according to Visit San Jose. Located in East San Jose, between Story and Tully roads, Vietnam Town is the epicenter of Vietnamese culture in San Jose. Combining both traditional Vietnamese and modern American culture, Vietname Town gives visitors unique opportunities to experience authentic Vietnamese food and drink, as well as to learn about the history of the Vietnamese population in the area.