Joseph Guitierrez
Joseph Gutierrez had never heard of Murfreesboro until he moved from California — to South Korea.
It’s not a typical moving-to-Middle Tennessee tale: The Los Angeles native attended UCLA and dreamt of living abroad, so he moved to Incheon, South Korea, to teach English. Once there, he fell in love with an Asian American woman named Monica and eventually followed her when she moved back home to be closer to family in Murfreesboro. (For any romantics reading, the couple are now happily married and living with their English bulldog, Donut.)
But this circuitous road to Nashville was illuminating for Gutierrez, who grew up surrounded by Filipino culture in Southern California — everywhere from his family’s church to his local Jollibee restaurant. In Nashville, where only 3 percent of people identify as Asian or Pacific Islander, where could he find community?
“I never had to question being Asian in California until I got to Korea, and then I never had to question being American until I got [to Tennessee],” Gutierrez says. “That kind of distinction of navigating my own identity is very much tied to the places I was in.”
He’s still navigating those questions, and he’s helping his Asian and Pacific Islander neighbors in Nashville do the same as they build community together. Gutierrez is the founding executive director of API Middle Tennessee, a nonprofit whose mission statement is to “[work] towards racial justice by building API community, lifting API voices, and celebrating API identities.”
You may have seen Gutierrez at the kickoff for Nashville SC’s second-ever home game, which was also the first official API night in Major League Soccer history. Perhaps you’ve attended one of their many community arts events, like the Bahay Works exhibit at Fido in Hillsboro Village featuring Filipino artists. Local government observers will recognize Terry Vo, the group’s director of partnerships, who also represents Metro Council District 17.
“Our work is focused on place- and space-making,” Gutierrez says. “How do we create place here? How do we hold space for our community in spots that we can?”
The group incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020, and its early history was colored by the coronavirus pandemic. “People were asking about, like, self-defense classes,” Gutierrez recalls, reflecting on the rise in discrimination. But some of its work has been less dramatic: Since they launched during a federal census year, for example, they spent countless hours educating community members on the importance of responding to the survey so they could be accurately represented federally.
Gutierrez is proud that the group is celebrating its fourth year with a new cycle of board members and a slate of events planned for API Heritage Month in May. As its executive director, he’s also looking forward to helping shape its future.
“What do we have to do now?” Gutierrez wonders hopefully. “What can we do and what can we accomplish for our long-term vision where our community is connected to each other, connected to their histories, connected to their culture and connected to Tennessee?”
Photographed by Angelina Castillo at 100 Taylor
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