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#CrossLines: It's our lives. It's our work. It's who we are.

April 26, 2016 at 1:58 PM ET by Jeanny Kim, Acting Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
Summary: 
CrossLines will cap off Heritage Month, continuing the rich tradition of recognizing and celebrating the AAPI experience.

At the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, intersectionality is not the exception to the norm—intersectionality is our norm. It is our lives. It is our work. It is who we are. Every day, we cross lines, push boundaries, meet at crossroads, bridge divides in conversations about race, gender, disability, immigration, class, and much more. Crossing lines is a fact of life in Asian Pacific America—and the America in which we live.

That is why CrossLines is our theme for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), or Asian Pacific American, Heritage Month 2016. 

CrossLines begins with you and your stories—the stories that illustrate how the rich diversity of the AAPI experience is vitally threaded through the stories of other communities and intersects with many categories of identity. We want to hear these stories first-hand from you. Tell us:

How Do You #CrossLines?

 

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Selected responses will be unveiled online and at our culminating event, CrossLines: A Culture Lab of Intersectionality on May 28 and 29, 2016, at the Arts & Industries Building in Washington, DC.

CrossLines will cap off Heritage Month, continuing the rich tradition of recognizing and celebrating the AAPI experience begun nearly 40 years ago when Representatives Frank Horton and Norman Y. Mineta, and Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga compelled the designation of the commemorative month, which had originated as ten days and was later extended into a month-long celebration.

CrossLines will gather arts installations, live performances, and interactive maker spaces in what was our first National Museum for this unprecedented convening in recognition of our thriving, resilient, and vibrant communities. Your ideas, art, and words will CrossLines with established and emerging artists, scholars, and social activists. We couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this with you and I hope you will join us this May as we transform this historic building into a museum of the people.

So join in and CrossLines with us!

Jeanny Kim is Acting Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.