Duke TAASCON 2014 : SELF
Stories Empowering Love and Fortitude
APRIL 12, 2014, 10 am
CURTIS CHIN
Documentary Film Writer/Producer
Introducing, our lunchtime keynote speaker and presenter: CURTIS CHIN!
Curtis Chin is an award-winning writer and producer who has written for ABC, NBC, Fox, the Disney Channel 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 outlets. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at NYU. He is currently work on his second documentary, Tested, and a memoir entitled, "Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant."
We will be screening Curtis's documentary, VINCENT WHO? during lunch, after which he will give a short speech and Q&A session.
Keynote 3: CURTIS CHIN
Photo credit: Curtis Chin
VINCENT WHO? (2009, 40 minutes) - 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 judged fined the killers a mere $3,000 and three years probation, Asian Americans around the country galvanized for the first time to form a real community and movement. This documentary features interviews with the key players at the time, as well as a whole new generation of activists. "Vincent Who?" asks how far Asian Americans have come since then and how far we have yet to go. Featured interviews include: Helen Zia (lead activist during the Chin trial), Renee Tajima Pena (director, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"), Stewart Kwoh (Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Lisa Ling (journalist), Sumi Pendakur (Univ. of Southern California), Dale Minami (civic rights attorney), Doua Thor (Executive Director, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center), and a group of five diverse young APA activists whose lives were impacted by Vincent Chin.