In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Visit Philly has debuted a new multi-part video series aimed at celebrating the city’s diverse AAPI community as part of their ongoing project, ‘In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union.’
‘Within Us‘ delves into the dominant narrative that “overlooks the depth that makes Philadelphia’s AAPI population so dynamic.’ As a release notes, this series was created to amplify stories that reflect a community whose businesses, cultures and contributions are deeply woven into the fabric of the city. In total, Philadelphia is home to more than 120,000 AAPI residents, representing dozens of ethnicities, languages and cultures.
“We have an incredibly diverse AAPI community, yet so many voices still go unheard,” explained Daniel Davis, director of diverse marketing at Visit Philadelphia. “The stories in this series go beyond surface representation. They highlight culture, resilience and identity in a way that feels deeply local and long overdue.”
‘Within Us’ features a trailer and three original short videos, plus, behind-the-scenes content. The series follows Roshni Shah, a South Asian influencer and series host, Raquel Villanueva Dang, co-owner of Baby’s Kusina + Market in Brewerytown, and Anh and Anou Vongbandith, owners of Das Good Cafe in Germantown. Each episode was filmed at the location of the featured businesses or within the surrounding neighborhoods.
The series delves into the idea that food represents both heritage and home. The Vongbandiths of Das Good Cafe use cuisine to showcase Laotian identity, while at Baby’s Kusina + Market, Villanueva Dang infuses Filipino identity into every dish and detail.
“Being Filipino is core to who I am, and I want Baby’s to reflect that,” Villanueva Dang states.“I’m proud to be part of Philadelphia’s rich immigrant history, and I believe that honoring our cultures by educating others only makes us stronger.”
The series launched on May 5 with the debut of the main trailer. Episode one followed on May 10, episode two will premiere on May 17 and the final episode will be unveiled on May 24. All air on Visit Philadelphia’s website and social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
‘Within Us’ is the sixth installment of ‘In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union,’ Visit Philadelphia’s ongoing series that reimagines how the birthplace of the nation honors heritage and history months. It follows on the heels of ‘Legacy & Love‘, which came out in February. The four businesses highlighted in that series focused on Black-owned, family-run establishments.
Other previous installments from Visit Philly’s series included ‘Drag Queen Story Time’, which followed Philadelphia setting a Guinness World Records title for the largest attendance at a drag queen story time reading at the National Constitution Center, last year’s AAPI initiative titled ‘Common Threads’, plus ‘Little Free(dom) Libraries‘—an initiative that encourages residents and visitors in Philadelphia to pick up a free banned book at one of 14 locations throughout the city—and finally, the ‘Hispanic Voices’ series.
The series and more information is available on visitphilly.com
