Methodology

We pieced together Our Narrative from a variety of sources. We did our best to cross-reference information, pulling from both official records and oral histories to provide a well-rounded perspective. The process, however, was not without its challenges.

As with telling any history, we were faced with countless choices. What should we lead with? Which events or voices should take center stage? Who were the key figures we needed to talk to? What details were important to mention, and what could we afford to leave out? Each decision had consequences for how the story ultimately took shape.

Time was another factor—given our constraints, not everything could be included, and some avenues we wanted to explore were simply not feasible. We made the best decisions we could with the resources we had, but we know this is just one version of a much larger, more complex history.

Below, we share the sources we relied on. Perhaps, within these materials, there's another story waiting to be told...by you. 

De Anza Website

Asian American Studies: A Quick Primer. This “in-house” webpage connects the Asian American and Asian Studies program at De Anza to a broader historical movement, beginning in the 1960s and originating in the Bay Area, to bring a more community-oriented, grassroots approach to higher education. It also gives a current lay-of-the-land to students, educators, and community members who are interested in learning more about the field.

Ethnic Studies at De Anza. This “in-house” webpage draws on material from La Voz to give a short history of the Ethnic Studies program at De Anza and connects it to a broader literature review of the educational benefits of Ethnic Studies, particularly for K-12 students.

Material from Tom Izu

Tom Izu (former Director of the California History Center) kindly lent us a physical file folder of documents he had collected pertaining to the development of Ethnic / Asian American Studies at De Anza and its surrounding schools. All source materials have since been scanned and digitized.

Chronologically, this material covers the 1960s to 2000s, spanning the Civil Rights movement and inception of Asian American Studies, through periods of conservative backlash, and into a new age of Asian American activism and political involvement at the dawn of the millennia.

1969: Notes from Taketa

Notes from Vicki Taketa, Fall 1969. This short note from former De Anza counselor Vicki Taketa records a discussion between a number of early Asian American Studies proponents, including De Anza/SJ State faculty member Stephen Ngin, to develop an Asian American Studies class (“Asian/American Experience”).

1970: SJSU Request for Approval of a Minor in Asian American Studies

“Request for Approval of a Minor in Asian American Studies” submitted to the San Jose State College School of Humanities and Arts, April 1970. This proposal, written by a group of SJ State students including Michael Honda, was written shortly after two notable events:

  1. De Anza establishing its Ethnic Studies program in 1969, and
  2. SJ State rejecting earlier that year a proposal written by the same students for a BA in Asian American Studies.

The proposal argues for the creation of an interdisciplinary minor at SJ State to serve its largest ethnic minority of Asian American students. The proposal raises a number of arguments that may be of interest to our project:

  1. The proposal highlights Sections 8553 and 8576 of the CA Education Code to highlight the importance of training future K-12 teachers in Asian American Studies.
  2. SJ State anticipates many transfer students from nearby community colleges, including De Anza, that already offer Asian American courses.

1970: “Our Heritage” Asian Week

Program for “Our Heritage” Asian Week held at De Anza College, April 25 to May 1, 1970. The Asian American Students Association held its inaugural event celebrating Asian heritage at De Anza, attended by notable Asian American politicians such as March Fong and Norman Mineta. Mineta clearly appreciated the event, as seven years later he introduced a resolution to the US House of Representatives to officially recognize the first week of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Week.

1975: “Why…America” Panel

Program for “Why…America” panel held at De Anza, November 15, 1975. Jointly sponsored by AACI and De Anza’s Multicultural Department, this half-day panel brought together Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese American business people, teachers, activists, and organizers to discuss Asian American issues and identity. This panel also showcases De Anza’s involvement at the forefront of social issues and activism within the local community.

1980s: SJSU Documents

Two documents written in the wake of the South Bay AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) Labor Council officially recognizing SJ State’s 50+ year-old Asian American Studies Program:

  1. “The Founding of Asian American Studies at SJSU - Serving the Valley for 53 Years.” A chronology of the founding and development of Asian American Studies at SJSU from 1970 to mid-1980s (estimated). While it does not mention De Anza, it does document the involvement of individuals such as Stephen Ngin, Vicki Taketa, and Donna Fung who were also active at De Anza around this time.
  2. “Founding Alumni and Students in Asian American Studies” (same link as above). An accompanying document highlighting the important role that pan-Asian students at SJ State played in establishing their Asian American Studies Program, as well as their commitment to the local community.

1990s: Intercultural Studies Division - A Chronological History

“Intercultural Studies Division: A Chronological History”. An early timeline of the Ethnic Studies (then renamed to ICS) Division at De Anza, researched and authored by the fifth Dean, Duane Kubo. It includes key events and notable individuals, mostly from an institutional perspective. We incorporated this into our master timeline and used it as a framework to structure our thematic periods. The document is undated but ends in the 1990s.

2002: Asian Pacific Heritage Month Events

In 2002, the ICS division and California History Center jointly held a series of events and exhibits in May celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage Month. These events focus on Asian Pacific American social justice movements and activists, particularly during the Civil Rights era from which Asian American Studies emerged.

  1. Program for “Asian American Youth and Social Justice Movements: Then and Now” held at De Anza College, May 13 to 25, 2002.
  2. Flier for “Silicon Valley De-bugged: Organizing Workers in Silicon Valley" event, May 16, 2002. 
  1. Flier for “The Whole World’s Watching: Peace and Social Justice Movements of the 1960s and 1970s” photo exhibit held at the CHC, April 15 to June 10, 2002.
  2. Flier for “Latino Activism - 1960s and 1970s to the present” held at the CHC, May 2, 2002.
  3. Flier for a talk by Jack Hasling about his novel Hillview held at the CHC, May 30, 2002.
  4. Flier for “Voicing a New Consciousness: Chicana Activism of the 1960s and 1970s” event held at the CHC, June 5, 2002.

Material from Michael Chang

Michael Chang (first Chair of Asian American Studies at De Anza) kindly lent us a physical file folder of documents relating to the development of Asian American Studies from the 2000s onwards. All source materials have since been scanned and digitized.

This material dovetails nicely with the material from Tom Izu, which left off in the late 1990s / early 2000s. Michael Chang's documents, focusing on the inception and development of APALI and APASL, correspond to a period of renewed activism and social organizing—this time, led by Asian Americans, which had by then become the largest ethnic group at both De Anza and in Santa Clara County. 

1990s: APALI

The Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI) was founded at the tail-end of the 1990s, a period of ongoing conservative backlash against the Civil Rights movement of the 60s and 70s. As the Asian American population grew at De Anza and the surrounding municipalities of Cupertino and the Santa Clara Valley, Michael Chang wanted to create an organization that would get young people involved in organizing and political action. From its inception, APALI has had close ties with De Anza's ASAM department, with key players involved in both institutions.

Founding

Program for “Together We Advance” opening ceremony for APALI held at De Anza, December 11, 1997. Includes list of speakers, donors, and organizing committee. Highlights the collaboration between individuals across multiple institutions: APALI, De Anza IIS and Multicultural/International Center, FHDA Board of Trustees, AACI, as well as local schools, businesses, and banks. 

Youth Leadership Academy

The Youth Leadership Academy was APALI’s flagship program. Beginning in 1999, it consists of a month-long course offered at De Anza over the summer that involved classes and workshops on civic responsibility and leadership skills.

  1. Yearbook for APALI Youth Leadership Academy, Summer 2005.
  2. Flier for Summer Youth Leadership Academy, Summer 2010.
  3. Flier for Summer Youth Leadership Academy, Summer 2011.
Leadership Education Programs

Since the launching of Youth Leadership Academy, APALI has started a number of additional leadership education programs listed below.

Brochure for APALI Leadership Education Programs including:

  • College-Level
      • Youth Leadership Academy (since 1999)
      • Leadership Training Internship (since 2004)
  • Community-Based
      • Civic Leadership Program (since 2007)
      • Senior Fellows Program (since 2006)

and notable alumni including Betty Duong and Evan Low.

Reports
  1. Donor report, 2006.
  2. 10-year report entitled “1997-2007: A Decade of Leadership Education”, 2007.
  3. 15-year report entitled “The Power of Leadership Education”, 2012.
  4. Report on 120 under 40 notable APALI alumni, 2017.
  5. 25-year report entitled “Leadership Lessons”, 2022.
News Articles
  1. “Personal History Lessons: Institute aims to expand students’ perspectives by blending education with emphasis on public service”, Katherine Corcoran, Mercury News, July 28, 2004.
  2. “Asian group reaches out to adult leaders: Valley institute’s influence is growing”, Katherine Corcoran, Mercury News, March 11, 2006 (same link as above).
  3. “Asia Minors: Institute offers Asian youth inroad to civic leadership”, Sarmishta Ramesh, Cupertino Courier, August 3, 2005.
  4. “Wuz Crackin, My Asian Homies? APALI: Learning about Asian American Issues”, Annie Kim Tomita Noguchi, Nichi Bei Times, August 12, 2005.
  5. (Chinese) 「亞太裔領袖共商合作爭權益」 “Asian and Pacific Islander leaders discuss cooperation to fight for rights”, Sing Tao Daily, March 12, 2006.

2000s: APASL

The Asian Pacific American Students for Leadership (APASL) was a politically-involved student group at De Anza established in 1999.

  1. Flier for an introductory meeting of student group APASL (Asian Pacific American Students for Leadership), January 13, 1999.
  2. Constitution of APASL
  3. Constitution of APASL, revised
APA Conferences

The Asian Pacific American (APA) Conference (also called YSOM: Your Story, Our Movement) was an annual conference held at De Anza starting in 2013 and focusing on AAPI issues. Beginning in 2014, members of APASL helped with organizing the conference. 

  1. Program for “Here/Hear For a Reason” annual APA Conference at De Anza, May 2014.
  2. Program for “The Power of Now” annual APA Conference at De Anza, May 30, 2015. 
  3. Postcard for “The Power of Now” annual APA Conference at De Anza, May 30, 2015. 

2000: Student Protest against Bloodhound Gang

A group of 50 De Anza and UC Berkeley students, in national solidarity with students from the University of Maryland, protested rock band Bloodhound Gang’s racist lyrics in front of their performance at the Fillmore in SF.

Flier for “Demonstration against the Bloodhound Gang for their racist lyrics” in SF, May 24, 2000.

IMPACT AAPI reports

In addition to the materials available on the ASAM website, we used the following materials related to the development of the IMPACT AAPI program:

  1. AANAPISI grant project communications update, Fall 2008.
  2. IMPACT AAPI newsletter, Spring 2009.
  3. IMPACT AAPI newsletter, Fall 2009.
  4. IMPACT AAPI newsletter, Spring 2011.
  5. IMPACT AAPI final report.

Asian Americans Building a Better Nation

“Asian Americans Building a Better Nation with Courage and Community Involvement,” Allen L. Seid, Primedia eLaunch LLC, 2022.

This book is written by Allen Seid, the founder of activist group Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), and details the group’s history and developments over the last 50 years. A psychiatrist by training, Seid’s experiences working with recovering drug addicts and his observation of low Asian American participation in politics galvanized him and his wife, Mary, to start an advocacy group to empower Asian Americans in Santa Clara County. 

This book details the close ties that AACI has had with De Anza since its founding. In addition to holding their first conference at De Anza in 1974, many of AACI’s founding members were key players in Ethnic Studies at De Anza (as well as throughout the Bay Area).

Oral Histories

We used the recordings and transcripts from group interviews to provide a narrative layer and put a (literal) voice to the people involved over the years with the founding of ASAM at De Anza. These interviews, which function as kinds of collective oral histories, recount the political and ideological struggles associated with advocating for Ethnic Studies at the institutional level throughout the years.

  1. "Filipinx Class History", December 29, 2020. Panel featuring key players who helped develop the Filipinx American History and Culture class at De Anza, including Elizabeth Ramirez, Matthew Dumanig, Rochelle Gatus, Melissa-Ann Nievara Lozano, Sherwin Mendoza, Tony Santa-Ana, and Francesca Caparas (recording kindly provided by Francesca Caparas).
  2. “Asian American Studies at De Anza”, May 25, 2023. Group interview with key players who helped develop Asian American Studies at De Anza, including Duane Kubo, Michael Chang, Tom Izu, and Susanne Chan. Facilitated by Mae Lee and Francesca Caparas.
  3. “Ethnic Studies Summit Panel”, June 1, 2023. Panel featuring past Ethnic Studies instructors and current students at De Anza including Caroline Wilkins-Green, Ruben Abrica, Michael Chang, and keynote speaker Paul Fong. 

Course Catalogs

Our search to figure out what Ethnic Studies courses were offered, and who taught them, led us to the course catalogs archive in the library. The course catalogs, which list the courses offered for each school year as well as a directory of faculty and administration, helped us trace the institutional inception, evolution, and, in many cases, gradual extinction of Ethnic Studies courses and instructors throughout the years. 

Relevant pages have since been scanned and digitized. 

Catalog. De Anza College Library, 1967-2020.

La Voz

La Voz is the student-run newspaper of De Anza College. For this project we looked through the physical and digital archives of La Voz from 1967 to the present. We scanned issues for relevant keywords including:

  • ethnic / Ethnic Studies
  • race / racism
  • minority / minorities
  • multicultural / intercultural
  • Asian / Asian American / Asian American Studies

From this, we found a rich treasure trove of articles and voices to provide narrative layers for and round out the dates, events, and names of our timeline. Going through La Voz, while one of the most time-consuming tasks of this project, was invaluable in tracing the narrative and emotional valences of the history of ethnic studies at De Anza, from its inception during the Civil Rights movement through waves of growth and backlash. 

  1. La Voz News. De Anza College Library, 1967-2018.
  2. La Voz - The De Anza College Student Newspaper. Foothill-De Anza Community College Historic Archives, 1967-2018.
  3. La Voz News. Issuu.com
  4. La Voz News. Lavozdeanza.com
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