They Call Us Bruce 238: They Call Us Corky Lee's Asian America

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.

What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome historian and professor Mae Ngai, co-editor of the book Corky Lee's Asian America: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice, a collection of over 200 photos celebrating the history and cultural impact of the Asian American social justice movement from the lens of late photojournalist and activist Corky Lee. She talks about Corky's calling as "the inundisputed, unofficial Asian American photographer laureate" and his lifelong quest to document, empower and create community change with his camera. Also: Jeff talks about that time he and Corky lost track of time.

There will be a vigil tonight outside the home of Vincent Chin's killer

Vincent Chin died on June 23, 1982.



Thirty-five years ago today in Detroit, four nights after being severely beaten in the head with a baseball bat, Vincent Chin died. The case would become a seminal rallying point for the Asian American community. And tonight, concerned community members plan to gather for a vigil outside the home of Chin's killer.

For those unfamiliar with the case: Chin was out at a strip club celebrating his bachelor party when he got into a fight with a couple of disgruntled auto industry workers, Ronald Evens and his stepson Michael Nitz. Witnesses say they heard Ebens yell "It's because of you little motherfuckers that we're out of work!" -- referring to U.S. auto jobs being lost to Japanese manufacturers. Vincent Chin was Chinese American.

The fight was broken up, but Ebens and Nitz weren't finished. They searched for Chin outside the club, tracked him down to a McDonald's and attacked him. Nitz held Chin in a bear hug while Evens repeatedly bludgeoned him with a baseball bat until his head cracked open. Vincent fell into a coma and died on June 23, 1982.

NPR's Morning Edition aired a Story Corps interview Vincent Chin's best friend, Gary Koivu, who talks about his lifelong friendship with Vincent and hauntingly recounts the night he witnessed his murder.

Fund This: 'Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story'

Corky Lee has been chronicling the Asian American community with his camera for the last 40 years.



I recently heard about this cool film project, Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story, directed by Jennifer Takaki. It's a documentary on photographer Corky Lee, who has been chronicling the Asian American community with this camera for the last 40 years. He has been called, with good reason, the "undisputed unofficial Asian American Photographer Laureate," and this documentary aims to tell the world why. Check out this video, which includes a glimpse of some of his photos: