Our Voices, Our Histories: Asian American and Pacific Islander Women

Abstract

Since Asian American history became an established field in the 1970s, the study of women in Asian American and Pacific Islander (Aapi) communities has made rich contributions to U.S. history scholarship. Their experiences have not only challenged the narrow understanding of women's agency surrounding the Black-white binary but also brought fresh insights into U.S. history by critically examining its histories of colonialism, globalism, and neoliberalism. Discovering Aapi women's voices was initially challenging. Early collections such as Making Waves: An Anthology of Writings by and about Asian American Women (1989), edited by Asian Women United of California, vividly showed the need to break the silence that continued to surround Aapi women. More recently, anthologies have matured, as seen in Linda Trinh Võ and Marian Sciachitano's edited collection Asian American Women: The Frontiers Reader (2004), Asian/Pacific Islander American Women: A Historical Anthology (2013), edited by Shirley Hune and Gail M....