This collection was created by Aira Matin, a Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center intern. Aira applied one of our Culture Lab Manifesto tenets, "A Culture of Action: Stay woke. We have a social contract with one another to protect the vulnerable and ensure human rights for everyone," in her search for objects that may add to, challenge or spark this dialogue. Below is a statement of her process and inspiration for this collection, and may support classroom discussions on race, immigration, migration, activism, gender, inclusion and social media.

"What were the different forms of marginalization and discrimination against Asian Pacific American communities, and how did such oppression lead to action being taken to assert their place as equal citizens in the United States? For this collection, I examined different principles and foundations for oppression and prejudice against Asian Pacific Americans, as well as the different ways that these communities took action against such marginalization to represent themselves as equal Americans." --Aira Matin