King County Metro’s AANHP video nominated for Emmy

King County Metro was honored with a Northwest Regional Emmy Awards nomination for a video celebrating American Asian Native Hawaiian Pasifika (AANHP) culture.

The 10-minute video, created entirely in-house by the transit agency, features Metro employees and artists Vance Sakado, Linh Hoàng, Keiko Budech, and Wan-Lin Tsou.

“Our four Metro colleagues created powerful art pieces as part of the AANHP Visibility Project,” said Metro Multimedia Producer Thomas Hawthorne, who directed the Emmy-nominated video. “While their art was selected to be placed in the community—as a bus exterior, at Metro worksites and on downtown bus shelters, this video amplifies not just their original, powerful pieces, but also the first-hand perspectives and backgrounds of the artists themselves.”

“Following the mass shooting of AANHP community members in Monterey Park, Calif., in 2023, Metro put out a call for employee artwork to visibly convey solidarity with our AANHP colleagues and neighbors—and publicly recognize their contribution and impact on this region,” said Marissa Sindall, who served as project manager and producer of the video. “We’re grateful for and inspired by the selected artists— Sakado, Hoàng, Budech and Tsou—and all those who generously shared their creative work. While the approach, focus and media vary across the art pieces, each expresses unique personal and cultural experiences.”

Sakado’s design, entitled “Go for Broke,” was selected to cover the entire exterior of a 60-foot Metro bus as it serves the riders of King County. Sakado shared his reaction and explained how his culture and family inspired his work.

“It’s pretty amazing that my design is floating around on a 60-foot billboard,” said Sakado. “The left-front of the bus has Polynesians paddling to find the Hawaiian Islands because my father’s side were all born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii.”

“The left-rear is Japanese American, primarily based on my mother’s side although my father is Japanese American as well,” continued Sakado. “That section of the bus features two of the most decorated units in U.S. military history: the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100^th Infantry Battalion. Those two units were created for Japanese Americans to prove their loyalty to their country. I have relatives who were in the 442^nd, one of whom received a Purple Heart and the other was killed in action. Also depicted are the internment camps during World War II—where my mom’s family was relocated to and stripped of their rights—and astronaut Ellison Onizuka, who was the first Japanese American in space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery but who later passed away in the Challenger disaster.”

“The right-front is for the Chinese Americans who worked so hard in this country, including to help build the Transcontinental Railroad,” said Sakado. “My wife is Chinese American. There is also a little star with ‘91754’ to remember the people of Monterey Park. The right-rear is about me and features the initials of my mom, dad, wife and daughter; depicts our four cats; and shows my love of music—as well as me in my Metro mechanic’s uniform.”

Hoàng and Budech’s project, entitled “Celebrating the Strength of AANHP Moms,” comprises four illustrations of mothers in front of symbolic elements of their person. The pieces are on display at Metro’s Ryerson bus base and have been touring Metro’s operational spaces since May 2024. They will be permanently added to Metro’s King Street Center location when that building’s redesign is complete.

“No one had ever celebrated my mom, her success, her strength,” said Hoàng. “What a life that she has had and she’s not alone. There are so many other women who are similar to her who have not been celebrated and have no representation. My mom thinks it’s normal to work 13-hour days, seven days a week. That’s not normal. Someone needs to talk about that and bring out these awesome people who exist among us.”

“All of the four mothers in our project have amazing, resilient stories,” continues Hoàng. “Bringing out these stories makes you appreciate who you are around, and I got closer to my colleagues who shared stories about their moms. I couldn’t believe some of the things that these mothers went through.”

“In a white-dominant, patriarchal society, these stories are really hidden along with the oppression that American Asian women face,” said Budech, who collaborated with Hoàng. “The stories get lost. There also is internalized oppression that make these women feel that their value is lower than others. We were able to lift up their stories and allow them to see how powerful their stories are and that they have a big impact not only on their children, but on Metro and King County.”

Tsou’s “Dragon Scales of the Beloved AANHP Diaspora” work appears on downtown Seattle bus shelters, including in the Chinatown – International District.

“It’s exciting and feels fantastic to have my work featured,” said Tsou. “It was an honor to be affiliated with the AANHP Visibility Project. At Metro, we always try to promote equity and racial and social justice. It’s awesome to have Employee Resource Groups and Affinity Groups at Metro, and to see this process move from a concerning moment in history toward positivity in our representation.”

“AANHP groups have a huge diaspora,” continued Tsou. “I sought to encapsulate that vastness of countries and languages through amazing national landmarks, cloth patterns, and cultural, delicious food. I used dragon and koi scales as a unifying theme.”

“My family emigrated to the United States when I was three years old,” said Tsou. “My father wanted us to be assimilated immediately. He had my elementary school principal and teachers rename my siblings and me with English names. I grew up known as ‘Liz’ for the first 25 years of my life. That name separated me from my Asian heritage and culture. I had to reclaim that. I went back to using my current name, which is my birth name: Wan-Lin. I’m very proud of it. That’s why it’s so important to have this type of representation. I want folks to be able to ride transit, see the AANHP bus traveling through their communities, see AANHP art when they are waiting at the bus shelter, and have that sense of pride in their heritage and culture, just like I do now. It’s exciting to represent and to see that representation out there.”

This is the second year in a row that Metro’s in-house Creative and Marketing team has been nominated for an Emmy. Last year, the agency was similarly honored for its musically inspired “Tap for Transit” video.

Related resources:

• Metro website: “AANHP Visibility Project”
• Metro Matters blog post: “King County Metro unveils bus wrap and art installations,” May 21, 2024.