Coining of the term 'Asian American'

During the Third World Liberation Front student strikes of 1968, University of California Berkeley graduate students Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka first coined the term 'Asian American' in the naming of their student organization, the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA). Not only did 'Asian American' combat the racist and colonial connotations of the term 'Oriental,' it increased the visibility and political unification of all activists and citizens of Asian descent.