AAPI Heritage Month: All Together with frog
On strengthening our community & taking action with a grassroots initiative
By Eclair Junchaya
This year for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we’re revisiting a frog program called Take Action (TA) to reflect on how it has evolved since its launch in summer 2020. Especially during the last two years, it’s been encouraging to see AAPI voices in the arts leading the way for more vulnerability and honesty in sharing our stories and showing how we can help bridge the racial and generational divide.
A grassroots initiative out of the frog San Francisco studio, the goal of TA was to better advocate for social and racial justice within our community. Initially, it started out as an opportunity for frogs to share bite-sized resources and a call to action during our weekly Monday studio meetings. Over time, we archived enough of our weekly presentations to create a shareable toolkit for anyone interested in trying TA themselves, allowing it to expand organically to other studios.
The TA toolkit made it easier for frogs to have difficult conversations, to encourage all frogs to share and get more involved and for anyone to be able to have a voice on issues that mattered to them. From sharing resources on how we can support our community when there was anti-Asian hate crimes in SF, to actionable conversations on how to be anti-racist, or even advocating for better sustainable practices within our lives, it’s an opportunity for frogs to voice for an ideal future together. Since then, it’s been energizing to see how TA has changed and grown with the way society has been more involved with activism.
While we still have segments in our Monday studio meetings for TA (and there are new frogs leading the initiative—such as the brilliant Whit Jardine, a Director of Product Management) we are also more active in sharing, and we no longer have to wait for a specific moment to share resources. Rather, these conversations happen more organically and more frequently. I’m excited to see how the desire to express our authentic selves in society at large can help influence our culture here within frog. I hope that we can continue to share resources, have authentic conversations about our identities and show up for one another better.
Film and media have helped to shine a brighter light on our stories, showing how we can work together to unite not only our cultures and generation, from Everything Everywhere All At Once, Crying in H-Mart, The Farewell, Minari, Amphibia, Never Have I Ever and more.
For AAPI month, in the Take Action tradition of sharing resources, I’d like to recommend Liquor Store Dreams by So Yun Um, a deeply personal documentary-memoir that follows two Korean American children of liquor store owners. It’s an inspiring film that shares how we can be courageous in trying to bridge generational divides, even if it’s difficult. While it examines how the legacy of Los Angeles’s racial landscape between Asian and Black communities has shaped today’s landscape, it’s a story that many can resonate with—and shows how important solidarity is between our communities for a better tomorrow.
Together with frogs across the pond, we’ve collected AAPI resources to help shed light on our stories from past and present, including resources on how we can get more involved and support one another better too.
“Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) is of personal importance to me, being a Vietnamese refugee and an artist. Additionally, DVAN have reached out to my dad who has published an academic book (used by Cornell) on the history of the Vietnam war told from the perspective of the Vietnamese people and government.”
— François Nguyen, Chief Design Officer, North America, frogNY
“I’d like to share The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray. This cinematic journey is essential viewing to me for its immense beauty and poetry. It’s a powerful and honest story with vivid characters, stunning cinematography and timeless sitar music.”
— Krishna Rammohan, Industrial Designer, frogNY
“Asians Are Strong is a Bay Area non-profit dedicated to providing the AAPI community resources like free self-defense classes for all ages, free meals for those in need and the language for members of the community to engage, uplift and support one another. Their goal is community outreach; to begin fostering a larger community of all races that encourages understanding of the cultural and political factors that create racial divides, especially between the Black and Asian communities.”
— Jimmy Yi, Senior Visual Designer, frogSF
“Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou was so relatable to me. Like the protagonist, I am also a Taiwanese American woman in her late 20s/early 30s who’s been through it with academia. It’s hilarious, it’s satirical, it’s going to make you think about society and your place in it. Though the book has moments of absurd and dark humor, it is underpinned by real experiences and events—check the notes section at the end of the book.”
— Beverly Chou, Senior Design Technologist, frog San Francisco
“I’d like to give a shoutout to Mott Street Girls. (Instagram here). Their mission is to make Chinese American history and culture more accessible to the public by hosting Chinatown walking tours, sharing educational content and partnering with community organizations. I had the opportunity to go on one of their tours. The Mott Street Girls have strong, personal relationships with every spot they introduce you to. Seeing their interactions with shop owners along with their respect for the history in itself shows you how special the community is within any Chinatown, and within Chinese culture in general. Mott Street Girls create a bridge for visitors who might usually skip trying to experience a new spot or food, or not even know it existed at all.”
— Katie Lim, Senior Industrial Designer, frog New York
“I started listening to Time To Say Goodbye soon after it launched in mid-2020, at a particularly weird moment to be Asian in the U.S. Three years later, hosts Jay Caspian Kang and Tammy Kim continue to pack in layered and wide-ranging conversations that take Asian-American identity seriously without flattening its complexities. I usually queue up an episode when I want to have my perspective deepened — I don’t always agree with its analysis, but I always find TTSG to be an invigorating antidote to the easy-bake hot takes that crowd my information ecosystem.”
— Shining Li, Associate Strategy Director, frogTX
“Ever since having finished her deeply personal story of injustice, tragedy and triumph, “Know my Name,” I have loved following Chanel Miller. She was one of the first voices I read that made me feel less alone. She continues to remind me to be bold, have courage and to just be yourself. In hard times, I’ve needed to look around me, especially to artists, to light the way.”
— Nick Chan, Associate Design Director, Service Design, frog San Francisco
Eclair Junchaya, Senior Interaction Designer
Eclair Junchaya deploys her versatile skillset across the entire design process — from researching and concepting to prototyping, building and shipping digital products. Her multicultural background helps her connect with others and cultivate inclusion both through her work and within frog. She’s passionate about elevating others, building culture and advocating for genuine teamwork through playful collaboration.
