Kansas City’s AAPI Community Enriches the City for Everyone

As we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month this May, we’re especially struck by this year’s theme.

“Renew and Rebuild: Our Communities and Beyond” is the focus for this year’s celebration, and it’s a theme that dovetails perfectly with what we at LISC Greater Kansas City do every day.

Our mission, in part, is to strengthen existing alliances while building new collaborations, and to drive policy changes – at the local, regional, state, and national levels – that foster inclusive communities of opportunity. 

The past two years have been unusually challenging for Americans of every ethnicity, but for our friends and neighbors who identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander, the challenges have often been terrifying and life-threatening.

Violence against people who are Asian has skyrocketed. According to the FBI, there were 279 anti-Asian incidents reported in 2020, a 77% increase over 2019.

The tapestry of our community is enriched beyond measure by the lives and contributions of our neighbors with Asian American/Pacific Islander connections. Kansas City’s population includes thousands of individuals who have ties to China, Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines, and Japan, as well as South Asian nations such as India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Kansas City is fortunate to have a close-knit community of Hmong immigrants, who settled here after the Vietnam War; a Filipino dance troupe; an Ethnic Enrichment Festival that brings together individuals of many nationalities; a vibrant annual Chinese New Year celebration put on by the Kansas City Chinese Association; and so much more.

And at LISC KC, we’re proud to partner with many community organizations, including Asian Americans for Equality. Each one of our partner organizations is vital, helping us to make Kansas City better for everyone.