Our Story
The Asian American Heritage Coalition (AAHC) is a not-for- profit educational organization founded in the spring of 2022 by Andrea Jenkins and Maureen Marx. We are two Asian women immigrants who have been living in Macomb, Illinois for many years and where we have raised our families. AAHC came about as our reaction to the escalating resurgence of anti-Asian sentiment we were witnessing at that time across the United States. Motivated by both fear and rage, we decided “to do something” to mitigate the rise in attacks and harassment on Asians and Asian communities, which was prevailing in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic and, based on our observation, was being stoked by misinformation and factual distortions from specific media sources.
It is our belief that one of the most effective ways to counter anti-Asian propaganda is to challenge misguided stereotypical notions held by non-Asians about us by disseminating accurate and comprehensive information about the diverse histories, backgrounds, and contributions of Asians and Asian Americans over our four hundreds of years of presence in the United States. While there are many root causes of discriminatory racialized behavior, we are of the opinion that misinformation or lack of information about “the other”, wrongly perceived as a threat or an enemy, is a major factor.
On this belief, the Asian American Heritage Coalition was founded. We are an organization that seeks to promote a much better, fact-based knowledge of Asians and Asian Americans by those living in Macomb and surrounding communities. By knowing who we are as a very diverse group of people, hearing our varied stories, music, languages, and reasons that led us to America, we hope to be seen not as a monolithic and dangerous adversary but as individuals who have been and are still instrumental in building this country.
It is the fervent hope of AAHC to strengthen ties with the people in West Central Illinois by enhancing our understanding, deepening our respect, and fostering our genuine acceptance of each other’s differing cultures for the ultimate enrichment of all.
Our Mission
The mission of Asian American Heritage Coalition is to
- provide the West Central region accurate and comprehensive information about the background history and contributions of Asians and Asian Americans who United States in the last 500 years;
- dismantle misguided and harmful historical and contemporary stereotypical assumptions about Asians and
- mitigate and eventually halt the resurgence of the ongoing assaults on Asians and Asian communities, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and compounded by the proliferation of incendiary rhetoric.
Asian American Heritage Coalition By-Laws (here, see attachment) file: AAHC By-Laws
Board of Directors and Officers (here, incomplete attachment) file: AAHC Board Members with Bios 2