Easiest Ways to Learn Asian American History for Adults and Teens
If you grew up in the 80’s or 90’s like us, odds are you didn’t learn much about Asian American history in school. We learned next to nothing. Essie’s 8th grade English class read Farewell To Manzanar about Japanese American incarceration camps during WWII, but Hsin-Fu doesn’t remember learning anything. So we thought we would share the resources we have found most helpful in educating ourselves on Asian American history. Whether you prefer documentaries, podcasts or books/audiobooks, this post has you covered. (Note - The links here are affiliate links, as an Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you prefer to order in a way that supports the authors, Resilient Panda, and local bookstores, the Bookshop.org affiliate links are at the bottom of this post.)
Documentaries
If you want a quick but through overview of Asian American history, we recommend the PBS documentary Asian Americans. This documentary is well-done, interesting and comprehensive. It starts in the mid-1800’s and covers different threads of Asian American history – South Asians fighting for citizenship, post-Vietnam War era immigration, and modern times. It is in five one-hour parts and can be watched on PBS Documentaries (they have a 7 day free trial) or bought from Amazon for only $7.99 SD.
Another documentary we have found very helpful for the story of Chinese Americans specifically is Far East Deep South. Made by a family that went in search of their roots in Mississippi, it is a moving and enlightening story. We don’t want to say too much because this story has some surprising twists, but we think you will love it. (Essie watched it three times in 2 weeks!) It is available on PBS Passport, free on Tubi, and on Kanopy through many public libraries.
Podcasts
Asian American History 101 with Gen & Ted is an 1882 Productions podcast about “Asian Pacific Islander Desi American contributions and history”. Lots of variety here - the history of Hmong Americans, nuclear testing in the Pacific Islands, Filipino nurses, the history of ketchup, just to name a few! They interview current AANHPI leaders and talk about current events and issues as well.
Season 5 of Centering: The Asian American Christian Podcast is about Asian American history. It is Asian American history largely in a Christian context, but there are interesting discussions about the Hawai’i sovereignty movement, 20th Century activists Mable Ping-Hua Lee and Yuri Kochiyama, and more. Vietnamese, Filipino and South Asian American Christianity are also discussed.
Books/Audiobooks
The Chinese in America by Iris Chang is a very readable and informative book for the history of Chinese in America. It is not available as an audiobook but is well worth the read!
Strangers From A Different Shore by Ronald Takaki is a fascinating look at Asian American history - East, South East and South Asian are all included. Ronald grew up in Hawai’i as a third generation Asian American and he draws on his own experience and his research as a professor of Ethnic Studies at Berkeley. It is engagingly written and the history is narrative and humanized with many moving poems and even folk songs composed by immigrants. For an comprehensive history of Asian Americans, this is the most in-depth resource listed here. It is a hefty tome, but thankfully it is available as an audio book!
These are not the only great documentaries, podcasts and books out there about the story of Asians and Pacific Islanders in America. Especially in the category of books there are other great ones out there, but we wanted to keep things simple. We hope these resources will be as enlightening to you as they have been to us. These are also good for teens, but preview for your own family. If you have a favorite resource for learning Asian American history for adults, leave it in the comments below!
Bookshop.org affiliate links:
Strangers from a Different Shore