Stories Within delves into a diverse cross section of 14 individuals from the AAPI community in Austin. It allows each participant the opportunity to speak to their younger selves about the acts of racism and discrimination they’ll face and messages of empowerment to bring with them to the present. The series shatters the notion that Asian Americans have homogenous experiences and backgrounds. Stories Within is a community-led and created project from Austin, TX created in the aftermath of the March 2021 Georgia Asian Spa Shootings and during a heightened time of the pandemic-related rise in hate crimes against Asians.

Select participants from the series include:

Amy (she/her) - 60s, Chinese American from Hong Kong, a community leader who has run and operated the Austin Asian American Cultural Center for over 20 years.

Khushboo (she/her) - 20s, queer, Muslim first-generation Gujarati and Pakistani woman who speaks on accepting her intersectional identities and grieving family members’ deportations.

Eric (he/him) - 40s, Chinese American, University of Texas at Austin Center for Asian American Studies Director and associate professor of African/African American studies who speaks about building a truly antiracist movement and the path of his own antiracist journey.

Kai (they/them) - 18 year old trans Hindu who discusses combatting transphobia to find a space for themselves in the South Asian community.

Lilly (she/her) - 20s, Chinese American transracial adoptee who overcame being othered to use her voice to speak up for justice through her blog and Youtube channel.

Kristi (she/her) - 30s, Vietnamese American immigrant who recalls struggles of being fetishized as Asian woman and working at a local AAPI domestic violence agency .

Vince (he/him) - 60s, Filipino American founder of the Central Texas World Tai Chi & Qigong Day who speaks of his Civil Rights and anti-war movement activism, the anti-Asian sentiment around the Vietnam war period, and the fear of being drafted to fight his Asian brothers.

Erica (she/her) - 30s, biracial Taiwanese American who is the host and writer of the PBS Digital Show OTHERWORDS, who tells her younger self about growing up to find friends who helped her shed feeling half of anything and embrace her whole, full self.

Win Win (he/him) - 30s, Burmese American who poses questions to his younger self of whether it was worth leaving the refugee camp in Thailand for a place where people frown upon refugees taking benefits and resources from the government.