May is AAPI Heritage Month and we are excited to kick it off with a few notable pieces of content, including quotes from Dr. Russell Jeung (Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate) as well as commissioned work from GIPHY Artist Lily Xiao Haselton. At GIPHY, we realize that our responsibility as a content partner transcends simply just hosting content that’s entertaining, weird, fun, etc. But with that there is also an inherent responsibility to ensure our content library is inclusive and that we are using our resources to help promote social good any way we can.
We know these actions might seem small, but we hope that by ensuring that our content on GIPHY is as representative as possible and making it available in any platform, social post, or conversation — that maybe it can still make a big difference to someone’s day.
Quotes from Dr. Russell Jeung
At GIPHY, we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Russell Jeung, Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate. Dr. Jeung graciously gave his time to educate employees about the #StopAAPIHate movement as well as what’s happening in terms of anti-Asian racism, why it’s happening, the impacts of racism, how the community is resisting, and how we as GIPHY employees (and as everyday people) can help. It was an incredibly informative talk, and to help share the knowledge, we’ve captured some quotes below:
GIPHY Arts Commission
In addition to some amazing work from Katharine Kow and Sarah Palmer (see more in this post!), the GIPHY Arts team commissioned artist Lily Xiao Haselton to create content for AAPI Heritage Month. We could go on and on about how incredible her work is, but will let Lily speak for herself:
“As an Asian-American adoptee, identity and culture have been something that I’ve struggled to conceptualize in the past, but wholly embrace today. For as long as I can remember, art has helped me safely explore myself and the world around me. It’s an honor to create this collection of stickers celebrating Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Drawing inspiration from experiences close to my own, I realize that ‘AAPI’ means something different to everyone. There is no right way to grow up Asian-American Pacific Islander, and there’s no single story to tell. We are a diverse and beautiful community.
I hope this collection reminds its users to loudly, proudly, and lovingly embrace ourselves, our cultures, and one another.”
Stay tuned for more partner content that celebrates AAPI Heritage Month (which will be featured here and on GIPHY Identity’s Twitter and Instagram)!
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