Do I count as ‘Asian American’? What the history behind the term taught me TODAY 5/1/2021 Maura Hohman During Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, TODAY is sharing the community’s history, pain, joy and what’s next for the AAPI movement. We will be publishing personal essays, stories, videos and specials throughout the entire month of May. When I saw the photos of the six Asian American women who died in the Atlanta spa shootings in May, I saw my mother, my grandmother and my godmother. The victims may have come from different places from my family and lived their own unique immigration stories, but poring over interviews and GoFundMes, I imagined their excitement amid loss when trying to build a life in a new country, and their dedication to their children felt deeply familiar.