Famous Asian Americans I Want to Meet
I bumped into a buddy of mine on the T today and he mentioned to me how recently watching the Karate Kid 2 reminded him of his encounter with a certain Asian American celebrity. That got me thinking. I’m not a huge fan of making lists, but since my mind has been totally frazzled by my day job, I thought I would take a break from bits, bytes, and brain waves and make a list of “Famous Asian Americans I Want to Meet” in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. I use the term famous somewhat loosely here. Or maybe the people I admire are different from the people you admire.
Yuri Kochiyama. This woman needs no introduction. I have attended various talks where political activists talk about patriarchy, hegemony, colonialism, sexism, but I have never met an Asian American activist of her stature. I would love to be able to sit down and listen to her talk for 30 minutes. Just 30 minutes.
Jim Yong Kim. Jim Kim co-founded Partners in Health, a non-profit organization that believes that high quality health care is a basic human right regardless of nationality, race, gender, or socioeconomic status. He doesn’t get as much PR as his pal Paul Farmer, but in my mind he’s every bit as cool if not cooler. His resume is long and filled with notable awards and recognitions. Yeah, so he’s an MD, but he’s no model minority. I think his pursuit for truly global universal health care and endeavors in social medicine sets him apart from the average MD, Asian American or not.
Grace Park. When I was in high school, I was quite the Star Trek fan. I even attended a Star Trek convention where Marina Sirtis (”Deanna Troi”) signed autographs. The original Star Trek was groundbreaking for me because they had Ensign Sulu—a person of Asian heritage—at the helm. Moreover, they cast an Asian American, George Takei, to play him. Generally speaking, I’m a fan of space science fiction. Grace Park, as most people know, stars in the show Battlestar Galatica—a space show. I would love to talk to her about her role and science fiction. Of course, she’s also on this list because she’s a Canadian and she has cute dimples. My reasons don’t all have to be cerebral right?
Gish Jen. I love her books A Typical American and Mona in the Promised Land. Mona made me cry at the end. But maybe I’m just a weeper.
Chang-Lin Tien. I had to throw in an engineer into the mix. Dr. Tien was most well-known for being the former Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley. What made him extra cool was that he was a strong proponent of affirmative action. According to Wikipedia, “after the [UC] Regents’s 1995 ban of using of racial preferences in university admissions, Tien launched the “Berkeley Pledge,” an outreach program designed to recruit disadvantaged students from the state’s public schools. Sounds to me like he was a social justice activist. Since he died in 2002, this meeting will most definitely not happen.
Eugene Chung. What? You don’t know Eugene Chung? Eugene Chung was the first player of Asian descent to be selected in the first found of the NFL draft (1992, 13th overall). Plus, his name is Eugene and he was selected by New England. So that’s two more things working in his favor. And don’t tell me he was a bad first round pick. Don’t.
Other celebrities I considered: Gary Locke (oops… I already met him), Bruce Lee (cause he’s Bruce Lee), Maggie Q, Ming-Na Wen, B. D. Wong (cause he’s so fine on Law & Order), David Ho (great AIDS researcher, but there is only enough room for one MD on this list), Helen Zia.
Last 5 posts by eugene
- Yet another post on the supratarsal fold - May 12th, 2008
- As I Am: Asians In America Goes National - May 4th, 2008
- East Meets Words Welcomes Conchita Campos - April 27th, 2008
- Boston Independent Film Festival 2008 - April 21st, 2008
- Wherefore art thou... - April 18th, 2008
Tags: famous folks.
you know man, i remember when the Pats drafted Eugene Chung.
But he wasn’t the first Asian player drafted in the first round, that would be Roman Gabriel in 1962, drafted by the Rams. Gabriel was also the first Asian American player to win an NFL MVP…thus far the only one…
i think it is totally appropriate and timely to mention that the moment when eugene met gary locke is immortalized on film in the film searching for asian america.
i watched this film recently (it’s a good one for APA Heritage Month!) and nearly choked (from surprise!) when i saw eugene grinning as a new american citizen, shaking hands with gary locke.
i have a copy of the film if anyone wants to witness this with their own eyes. =)
Giles. I stand corrected. I would love to meet both of them then. One should not rely on the Internets for information sometimes. Also, one should not trust NFL news sources on the ethnic identity of folks.
Chris, my NFL news source, would have guessed Junior Seau (1st round, 5th pick overall in 1990), but apparently he is Samoan-American, which I guess makes him a Pacific Islander but not Asian-American? Chris had never heard of Roman Gabriel (or Eugene Chung).
Yeah Junior Seau is not Asian American (Asian-American), but IS API, APIA, APA, AA/PI, or whatever…there still seems to be no consistent way to go about labeling that collection of communities.
But actually all this talk of football is making me depressed. I feel like I had a bad experience with the NFL not too long ago. I can’t remember…