Healing Racism Public Dialogue Series

"In 1982, at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments, Vincent Chin was murdered in Detroit by two white autoworkers who said, “It’s because of you mother that we’re out of work.” When the judge fined the killers a mere $3,000 and three years of probation, Asian Americans around the country galvanized to form a real community and movement. Through interviews with the key players at the time, as well as a whole new generation of activists, this film explores the history of the case, as well as other important touchstones in Asian American history including the Chinese Exclusion, Japanese Internment, the 1992 LA Riots, the recent murders of Joseph Ileto and Cha Vang and post 9/11 racial profiling. Vincent Who? asks how far Asian Americans have come since then and how far we have yet to go." -vincentwhomovie.com

In this timely presentation, producer Curtis Chin will screen Vincent Who? and discuss the reasons why he made the film. This presentation, as part of the Healing Racism Public Dialogue Series, will also include a roundtable discussion with Curtis and local community members to discuss racial issues for Asian Americans in Maricopa County today. This event is free and open to the public.

Curtis Chin is an award-winning writer and producer who has written for ABC, NBC, Fox, the Disney Channel and more. A member of the Writers Guild of America, he has also won awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the San Diego Asian American Film Festival and more. He has also served on panels for the New Yok State Arts Council, the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, Liberty Hill Foundation and more. As a community activist, he co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop and Asian Pacific Americans for Progress. In 2008, he served on Barack Obama’s Asian American Leadership Council where he participated in helping the campaign reach out to the AAPI community. He has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, Newsweek and other media outlet. He has personally toured to over 200 colleges, libraries and corporations for Vincent Who?

Call 480-731-8211 or e-mail diversity.initiatives@domail.maricopa.edu by February 13 for disability or other accommodations and/or for other information.