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Northwest Reports

KEXP Host Kevin Sur on the Limits of an Acronym

KEXP Host Kevin Sur on the Limits of an Acronym

KEXP Host Kevin Sur on the Limits of an Acronym

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander month. KEXP host Kevin Sur shares why broad terms don’t always speak to communities like his own.

AANHPI Heritage Month is coming to a close. 

May is widely recognized as a time to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, or AANHPI, communities. There have been different versions of this acronym over the years – from Asian Pacific American (APA) to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI).  

For some community members, these acronyms are a little too broad.  

In this episode of Northwest Reports, host Maleeha Syed speaks with Kevin Sur, a Native Hawaiian who co-hosts Sounds of Survivance, a KEXP show that spotlights global Indigenous music. Sur talks about why he thinks terms like AAPI fall short in capturing the nuances of the communities they cover.   

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Credits 

Host/Producer: Maleeha Syed and Sara Bernard

Guest: Kevin Sur

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

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