Did you know that elephants live in a matriarchal society, where the head cow, along with her sisters, will teach the children everything they need to know to survive, including “elephant manners”? As a consequence of poaching and culling practices, however, if the head cow of a herd is killed, there will no longer be a role model to teach the youth how to behave. Orphaned adolescent elephants have been seen “pushing around [other animals like] rhinos and hippos,” even to the point of killing them simply because they no longer had a mother to show them “how to live in a diverse, multicultural society.”*
We could learn a thing or two from elephant society. One thing is to be able to respect peoples of other cultures and backgrounds. One way to be able to do so is through education.
That was exactly one of our goals when we first founded the Asian Pacific Islander AJET (API AJET) special interest group. We are now exploring different avenues to achieve that goal, such as organizing events, facilitating discussions, and creating publications like “@API” in order to educate ourselves and each other about the diversity and multiculturalism we all contribute to.
In this 2013-2014 JET year, we hope to bring more content, more substance, and more support for everyone as a whole, so please look forward to more API AJET activity brought to you by the National Representatives and newly appointed Block Representatives here to serve you.
Let’s learn and grow together. We are all part of the same herd, after all.
Albert David R. Valderrama
API AJET Co-Founder
API AJET National Co-Representative
@API Chief Editor
Asian Pacific Islander AJET 