May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander month. KEXP host Kevin Sur shares why broad terms don’t always speak to communities like his own.

AANHPI Heritage Month is coming to a close. 

May is widely recognized as a time to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, or AANHPI, communities. There have been different versions of this acronym over the years – from Asian Pacific American (APA) to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI).  

For some community members, these acronyms are a little too broad.  

In this episode of Northwest Reports, host Maleeha Syed speaks with Kevin Sur, a Native Hawaiian who co-hosts Sounds of Survivance, a KEXP show that spotlights global Indigenous music. Sur talks about why he thinks terms like AAPI fall short in capturing the nuances of the communities they cover.   

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Credits 

Host/Producer: Maleeha Syed and Sara Bernard

Guest: Kevin Sur

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

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