Scope and Contents This collection consists of materials mostly related to the work of Asian Americans for Fair Media. These materials include audio-visual materials (a photograph album and two filmstrips); correspondence and mailings (including posters and brochures); and full issues of journals and newspaper clippings. Most items are dated between 1969-1974, although the photograph album is from 1989. The majority of the materials deal with the racist portrayal of Asian Americans in the media and how to...

Abstract Charlie Lai along with Jack Tchen are founders of the Chinatown History Project, which has gone on to become the Museum of Chinese in America. In this five part interview conducted over the course of several months Charlie talks about his childhood in Hong Kong and how his family eventually decided to immigrate to the United States when he was nine years old. He talks about living with his uncle when they first arrived in the states and saying on Long Island. His family eventually moves into...

Abstract As the Co-Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, Cynthia Choi and her organization has played an integral role in running the Stop AAPI Hate task force during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout her career, Choi has been working extensively in non-profit sectors focusing on issues ranging from immigrant rights to gender-based violence and reproductive justice. According to Choi, her current organization CAA advocates for systemic changes in the fields of educational equality, immigrant...

Abstract During the interview, David Chen discusses his experience as a Chinese American activist and director of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), and his theory of activism. When Chen was younger, he rarely spoke. He would always wait for someone else to say the right thing, to which he would then agree. One time, as a younger student, he was forced to present a project because two of his partners did not show up. One of his classmates expressed how well-spoken he was and at that moment,...

Abstract Delamot Wah describes her life growing up with her mother in their family hand laundry store in Newark, New Jersey during the 1920s through 1950. Topics covered included Delamot dealing with racism as a mixed-race child, her work in the hand laundry from a very young age, and her family relations, as her mother had children with different partners, resulting in her having different step-siblings. Delamot relates stories of her Chinese stepfather, Charles Chin Wah, and describes how she was...

Abstract Capturing daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian American Photojournalist Eric Lee roamed the streets of Washington D.C and New York recording his experience through street photography. Selected shots from the project have been put together for his photo series “a distanced memory” which explores his feelings of despair, isolation, loneliness and hope. In this interview, he discusses graduating from Corcoran College of the Arts and Design during the pandemic and his thesis exploring...

Abstract Frank Wu is a civil rights lawyer, professor, and award-winning author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White. His book has become an essential text in Asian American Studies. He currently teaches law at Howard University and frequently lectures on civil rights law. “When I was a kid growing up, the last thing I ever would have wanted to do was talk about or think about race, ethnicity,” he recalls in this interview. Frank grew up in Detroit, Michigan in the 1970s. His...

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In this oral history interview, Genia Blaser shares her experience working as a staff attorney at the Immigrant Defense Project and how her work informs contemporary immigration laws and policies. She talks about how she is connected to the Golden Venture story and what must be done to bring about meaningful change to help at-risk immigrant communities in the United States today.