The Yellow Papers is a digital publication focused on exploring the Asian American voice and identity.

The political and social landscape of America is rapidly evolving and Asian Americans play an important part in shaping what the future of America looks like. By surfacing stories around our roots, culture, and experiences, The Yellow Papers hopes to give our community a deeper sense of connection and empowerment about cementing our place in this country.

Vision

We were brought together because of a shared excitement in exploring our cultures and identities in a way that felt original and substantial. At The Yellow Papers, we believe:

The Asian American identity is still nascent, so we want to be part of deciding what that canonical thesis ultimately looks like. We each participate in the conversation using our own personal, authentic ways.

Storytelling is one of the most universal ways to educate, inspire, and heal. We’re excited to push the boundaries and explore the intersections of mediums ranging from writing and illustration to film and technology.

In an age of short attention spans and quick paced online discussions, we want to slow things down a bit. We strive to put out uncompromising, high quality work and accomplish this through depth and specificity.

There have been so many talented and courageous Asian Americans that inspire, teach us, and ultimately laid the foundation that allowed us to even be able to explore this project. It’s important for us to be informed about what’s already been said, and to contribute something original to the discussion.

Pitch

We’re excited to hear some of the other ideas from the community, and are always looking for opportunities to collaborate. We offer a $225 stipend for participation - read more and apply on our submissions page. Here are a few guidelines around that process:

Relevancy: how does your idea help explore, define, or celebrate the Asian American experience? We’re looking for potential contributions that can help advance our mission.

Originality: is there already ample literature or media pushing this topic in a similar way you would like to? Even if the particular subject itself is already broadly discussed, maybe you have a creative or novel way of approaching it!

Craft: how are you specifically going to contribute to this idea, and what will you need help on from the team/others? Ideally, you have a general skeleton of what the end product will look like, and also a realistic picture of what you want to handle on your own (are you a writer? photographer?), and what you might need help on (an illustration? data analysis?).

Team

The Yellow Papers is an all volunteer team scattered across the U.S., with folks in the Bay Area, New York City, and Texas. We come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from media to technology to journalism.