" " Night falls in Chinatown, San Francisco, the largest Chinatown outside of Asia as well as the oldest in North America. John Elk III/Getty Images Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is a celebration of the 22.6 million Asians and 1.6 million Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders living in the United States and the role they played in shaping American history. Although Americans have celebrated AAPI Heritage Month every year since 1992, when President George H.W. Bush signed legislation that permanently designated May as the commemorative month, it started out as a weeklong celebration in 1979 – thanks to the efforts of a woman named Jeanie F. Jew.