Covid-19 Asian American Oral History Project: reflecting on identity and oral history at a community college

Authors

Thomas Cleary, CUNY La Guardia Community CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 2025

Abstract

In this article, I share narrators’ stories from the Covid-19 Asian American Oral History Project based at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY, to illustrate how Covid-19 and increased anti-Asian hate during the pandemic shaped Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) identities in Queens, New York. Narrators’ stories shed light on how Black Lives Matter impacted their own understanding of race and racialization, particularly as AAPI identity and race relate to the Model Minority Myth. This project also laid the groundwork to develop a broader oral history culture at the college, developing faculty pedagogy to incorporate oral history interviews and interviewing into their curriculum.

Comments

This is the author's pre-publication manuscript of an article originally published in Oral History, 53(2), 103-113.