The Stockton Cultural Wealth Project: Episode 1 Sikh Americans in Stockton & Vaisakhi Day

As we closed out AANHPI Heritage Month, EMAC was elated to launch The Stockton Cultural Wealth Project, a digital storytelling project that we hope provides the opportunity to learn from the lives of Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders in Stockton, humanize our experiences across communities, and find healing and empowerment in sharing our stories.

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The project name derives from Dr. Tara Yosso’s definition of Community Cultural Wealth, “an array of knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts possessed and used by Communities of Color to survive and resist racism and other forms of oppression.” Dr. Yosso outlines six forms of cultural capital that we possess: aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistance. We use this lens to showcase and learn from the incredible Community Cultural Wealth of Stocktonians.

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In our first episode, Stocktonian and Ph.D. student Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal, highlights almost all six forms of cultural capital through sharing the unique and rooted history of Sikh Americans in Stockton and the rich history and significance of Vaisakhi Day.

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Stay tuned for new episodes of the Stockton Cultural Wealth Project each month! Help us continue to lift up stories like these by donating to EMAC at emacstockton.org/donate

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Aerial Stockton footage courtesy of Aldrich Sabac (@aldrich.209)

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“209 Scripture” by Milya Brethren (@iam_lennon@lomadanko@djekspoe)