One theme that is reflected throughout this special issue on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) is a paradox of anti‐oppressive education activism, namely, the paradox of defining a group for which to advocate while refusing to say what makes for that group. This Afterword reflects on the challenges of developing educational research and practices that address this paradox, and that, in doing so, hold promise for advancing social justice for all students, including AAPI students. After briefly examining the challenges and contradictions of defining an AAPI experience/community/culture, this Afterword explores what it could mean to research AAPIs with attention to these contradictions, and turns to several anti‐oppressive theories within AAPI studies that attempt such a move and that, therefore, hold promise for new directions in education research.