Episode 45: Ron Chew - Unforgetting Our Stories

Can a museum be a force for social change? Can history heal? Can our stories be unforgotten? Ron Chew says, "YES!, YES! YES!, and Much More!"

Ron Chew has spent his life telling stories. Stories that reveal hidden history. Stories that inspire and mobilize. Stories that nurture and heal. The power of these stories has improved the lives of Seattle's Asian Pacific Islander Community, and by extension help that city reckon with its unsettling history with that community.

Chinese Exclusion Act: The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. Exclusion was repealed by the Magnuson Act on December 17, 1943, which allowed 105 Chinese to enter per year. Chinese immigration later increased with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which abolished direct racial barriers, and later by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the National Origins Formula.[3]

Wing Luke Museum:  is a history museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, which focuses on the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans. It is located in the city's Chinatown-International District. Established in 1967, the museum is a Smithsonian Institution affiliate and the only pan-Asian Pacific American community-based museum in the country.[1][2] It has relocated twice since its founding, most recently to the East Kong Yick Building in 2008. In February 2013 it was recognized as one of two dozen affiliated areas of the U.S. 

Can a museum be a force for social change? Can history heal? Can our stories be unforgotten? Ron Chew says, "YES!, YES! YES!, and Much More!"

Ron Chew has spent his life telling stories. Stories that reveal hidden history. Stories that inspire and mobilize. Stories that nurture and heal. The power of these stories has improved the lives of Seattle's Asian Pacific Islander Community, and by extension help that city reckon with its unsettling history with that community.

Chinese Exclusion Act: The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. Exclusion was repealed by the Magnuson Act on December 17, 1943, which allowed 105 Chinese to enter per year. Chinese immigration later increased with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which abolished direct racial barriers, and later by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the National Origins Formula.[3]

Wing Luke Museum:  is a history museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, which focuses on the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans. It is located in the city's Chinatown-International District. Established in 1967, the museum is a Smithsonian Institution affiliate and the only pan-Asian Pacific American community-based museum in the country.[1][2] It has relocated twice since its founding, most recently to the East Kong Yick Building in 2008. In February 2013 it was recognized as one of two dozen affiliated areas of the U.S. National Park Service.[3],

Chinatown International District: The Chinatown–International District of Seattle, Washington (also known as the ID) is the center of Seattle's Asian American community. Within the Chinatown International District are the three neighborhoods known as Seattle's Chinatown, Japantown and Little Saigon, named for the concentration of businesses owned by people of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese descent, respectively. 

International Examiner: is a free biweekly Asian American newspaper based in Seattle, Washington's International District. It was founded in 1974 by Gerald Yuasa and Lawrence Imamura to serve what the founders thought were the business interests of the Asian American community in Seattle's International District.

In 1975, the Examiner was purchased by the Alaska Cannery Workers Association for $1 and became an activist, community-based newspaper.

Wah Mee Massacre: was a multiple homicide that occurred during the night of February 18–19, 1983, in which Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng, and Benjamin Ng (no relation) bound, robbed, and shot fourteen people in the Wah Mee gambling club at the Louisa Hotel in Chinatown-International District, Seattle. Thirteen of their victims died, but Wai Chin, a dealer at the Wah Mee, survived to testify against the three in the separate high-profile trials held in 1983 and 1985. It is the deadliest mass murder in Washington state history.

King Dome controversy: Completed in 1976, the Kingdome was Seattle Washington’s first professional sports venue. During the Kingdome's official groundbreaking ceremonies on November 2, 1972, some 25 young Asian protesters hurled mudballs at the dignitaries in attendance. Several hundred spectators watched as County Executive Spellman's speech drew chants -- "Stop the Stadium!" Dissent continued throughout the stadium's construction. International District groups prepared for the worst, thinking the Kingdome would overwhelm the scale of their neighborhood, create noise and light pollution, clog the district with traffic, and escalate parking problems.

Wing Luke: Wing Chong Luke is a pioneer in Asian American politics. In 1962, at the age of 37, Luke, despite an active smear campaign, became the first person of Asian ancestry elected to public office in the Pacific Northwest and the first person of color elected to the Seattle City Council.

U S office of War Information: The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other forms of media, the OWI was the connection between the battlefront and civilian communities. The office also established several overseas branches, which launched a large-scale information and propaganda campaign abroad.

A Challenge to Democracy: Government-produced film attempting to defend the massive internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II.

Kong Yick Buildings: In 1910, with no financial backing from a bank, 170 early Chinese pioneers pooled their money to fund the construction of two twin buildings – the West and East Kong Yick Buildings – which would become the anchors of Seattle’s new Chinatown.  Also known as the Freeman Hotel, this building served as the cultural hub and living quarters for hundreds of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants who came to the United States in the pre-World War II era. 

Chinese family associations: Chinese family associations were created with membership based on the same surname. With the rising wave of immigration, family associations grew and eventually purchased buildings. The elders of the family associations were responsible for maintaining order within the association by settling disputes, helping the needy,

International Community Health Services: International Community Health Services (ICHS) is a nonprofit community health center that offers affordable health care services to Seattle and King County’s Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, as well as other underserved communities. Each year, ICHS provides direct patient care, health support services, and preventive education to over 28,300 individuals.

My Unforgotten Seattle: Third-generation Seattleite, historian, journalist, and museum visionary Ron Chew spent more than five decades fighting for Asian American and social justice causes in Seattle. In this deeply personal memoir, he documents the tight-knit community he remembers, describing small family shops, chop suey restaurants, and sewing factories now vanished. He untangles the mystery of his extended family’s journey to America during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act. 

Pangea World Theater: Pangea World Theater builds bridges across multiple cultures and creates sacred and intersectional spaces. We create authentic spaces for real conversations across race, class and gender. Through a nuanced exploration of privilege, our own and others, we craft ensemble-based processes with a global perspective. Through art, theater and creative organizing we strive for a just world where people treat each other with honor and respect. We believe that artists are seers giving voice and language to the world we envision. (From the Pangea website)

If Tired Hands Could Talk: This film, directed by Shannon Gee presents 35 first-person oral histories, presented in English, Chinese and Vietnamese, documenting the long hours, low wages and nearly forgotten details of daily life in a garment factory. People who normally would not have been attracted to a museum were drawn to Wing Luke to learn history as their neighbors had lived it. In 2002, the Western Museums Association honored "Tired Hands" as the region's best exhibition.

Finding Home in Chinatown:  ... a documentary weaving images and voices from the past and present. It tells the story of Seattle's Chinatown through the eyes of two decaying buildings, which were once the center of a vibrant immigrant community, but are now passing into an uncertain future"--Container.

Shannon Gee: is the General Manager of Seattle, Washington’s Seattle Channel, Gee worked at KCTS 9 public television as an independent documentary filmmaker. She was part of the station’s national unit, where she worked on high-profile projects such as Greg Palmer’s American Masters documentary on the history of vaudeville. As a freelance film critic and features writer, Gee contributed to newspapers and websites, including Seattle Weekly, imdb.com, film.com, The Stranger, The Rocket, International Examiner, and The Seattle Times.

One Generation's Time: This film provides a detailed account of the 1981 murders of two Filipino American labor activists. The film was awarded Best Documentary by the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon and received an audience award at the Workers Unite! Film Festival.