The site introduces a series GIFs featuring Asian and Pacific American communities.
May is celebrated as the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in the United States. This year, a private online database has joined iconic American institutions, such as the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Institution, in celebrating the contributions of Asian and Pacific Americans.
Giphy, a searchable database of GIF — graphic interface files — has launched a project to celebrate the Asian and Pacific Americans. The company, an internet newbie, allows users to search for and share short, looping videos which are popular on the web these days.
On May 1, Giphy introduced a series GIFs featuring Asian and Pacific American communities. As part of the project, it has also organized some of the best content on Asian American history, in fields such as entertainment, politics, sports, history and art.
“It was very important for us to showcase Asian Americans,” Yosub Kim, Giphy’s content strategy director, told NBC News recently. “We saw a lot of success with our Black History Month channel and our Women’s History Month channel, so we wanted to use our channel to work with our community of GIPHY artists to create custom artwork. We really wanted to showcase people who have made an impact.”
Giphy has showcased mainly two major sub-channels to commemorate the Asian and Pacific Americans. In the first one, the I AM series, Editor Jasmyn Lawson has interviewed 25 Asian Americans in New York about their experiences growing up in the United States. It also captures reaction GIFs of these interviewees to help diversify and expand the original content series.
The second one features commissioned work from Asian American artists, featuring themes such as Asian beauty, and being Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian. It also highlighs the key figures of history.
The lives and achievements of five notable Asian Americans are featured here. They are Ellison Onizuka, who was first astronaut of Asian descent; Patsy Mink, the first Asian-American congresswoman; Kamala Harris, the first Indian American senator; Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi; and AIDS researcher David Ho.
“They shared personal stories about their lives,” Lawson told NBC News, explaining that she had conversations with the group about everything from the first time they experienced racism to their hobbies.
“We talked to Asian Americans who were gay, or who came from religious backgrounds,” she said. “And we talked to young millennials and older people about really hot topics.”
Super excited to share @GIPHY's Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month channel. #RepresentationMatters https://t.co/6VK1QZql8r pic.twitter.com/171TIcY7Xb
— Jasmyn (@JasmynBeKnowing) May 1, 2017
Lawson also smashed the stereotypical idea that conversations are bound only into the media field of television saying, “A GIF is another part of media, and we are part of that conversation.”
The celebration of Asian/Pacific American Heritage started in 1979. Initially, it was Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week—in the first week of May. In 1990, Congress designated the whole month of May for celebrating the Asian and Pacific Americans.
Launched in 2013, as a search engine for GIFs, today Giphy allows users to search and share files. According to the Wall Street Journal, it was valued at $600 million last October.
Related: 10 Asian American, Pacific Islanders to be honored by the White House for being ‘Champions of Change’ (May 2, 2016)