SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation declaring May 2026, as “Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.”
The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below:
PROCLAMATION
California is home to more than 7.2 million Californians of Asian or Pacific Islander descent, each invaluable to our state and nation. During Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we celebrate all the ways in which AAPI Californians enrich and strengthen our society as part of California’s incredibly diverse heritage.
Throughout history, AAPI communities have been the backbone of this country. Since the first days of statehood, immigrants have come from far and wide to find their future here, even when this state was not kind to them – even when it was downright cruel. And yet, they did not lose faith in our state, and its capacity to change, even when they had to drive that change themselves. Few movements and turning points in this state’s history were not shaped, at least in part, by AAPI leaders, who fought not just for themselves but in solidarity and partnership with other communities.
Today, California is proudly home to the largest AAPI population in the country, which has grown by over 25% from 2010 to 2020 – one of the fastest growing racial groups in the state, and the only that is majority foreign-born. Californians from over 30 different countries and communities, and their pride in their heritage and themselves, have always been and continue to be foundational to this state.
We have come a long way from discriminatory and xenophobic policies of our past, echoes of this dark history are still evident in shameful anti-Asian hate acts seen across the country, and in this state. We must confront past and present racism and fight for the safety and inclusion of our AAPI friends and neighbors, who continue to show strength and resilience in the face of this discrimination.
During Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, California takes the opportunity to pay tribute to the irreplaceable legacy of our AAPI communities, their incredible strength and resilience, and their essential role in driving our state and nation forward. This month and every month, let us celebrate all members of our California family and work together to achieve the promise of a California for all.
NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 2026, as “Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 27th day of May 2026.
GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California
ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.
Secretary of State