You're listening to Civics 101, I'm Hannah McCarthy.

Today we're bringing you a little something different.

It's an episode from our friends at the podcast Future Hindsight.

Their show is predicated on the idea that civic participation is fundamental to a successful

democracy.

As you know, that is something we could not agree with more.

In this episode, host Mila Atmos speaks with Sung-Yan Choi-Maro, the executive director

of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, whose mission is to elevate AAPI

women and girls to impact policy and drive systematic change in the United States.

Mila and Sung-Yan discuss life under the broad Asian American label, the myth of the model

of morality, anti-Asian hate and stereotypes, and how Asian Americans can find their civic

power in modern America.

So without further ado, here's Mila Atmos for Future Hindsight.

I've lived in this country for more than three decades, and over the years, while filling

out official forums to categorize my identity, I never knew which box to check.

I used to check other, quite a lot.

At one point, and this is a little embarrassing, I would take Pacific Islander because I was

taking it very literally, and Java, the island I'm from in Indonesia, is indeed in the Pacific.

When I got to college, the Asian student societies never seemed to be for people like me.

They celebrate a Chinese New Year, and the members were mostly Chinese American students.

It wasn't until I became an American citizen that my identity became solidly hibernated.

I became an Asian American.

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