Remembering Corky Lee
Corky Lee, 1947-2021. He was a good friend. His spirit continues in the decades of images documenting the Asian American experience, in countless lives, forever strong.
On May 3rd, we gathered at the American Society of Landscape Architects National Headquarters for a conversation on Chinatowns, past, present, and future. Convened by Jenn Low, longtime partner of the 1882 Foundation, this conversation aimed to explore the multitude of ways that Chinatowns can be shaped and fostered by community organizing, public arts, and reclamation. Ernie Wong, founding principal of site design group, introduced his work in Chicago's Chinatown advocating for public art, green spaces, and anti-gentrification. Yin Kong of Think!Chinatown gave an overview…
On Sunday, April 16th, the 1882 Foundation and friends gathered at the I Street Conference Center to convene a panel discussion on the experiences of Chinese adoptees. Panelists included MeMe Collier, Lina Freeman, Ren Freeman, and Mia Owens, 1882 Foundation program associate. In the panel discussion, the four adoptees explored notions of family, community, language and culture, and identity and intersectionality. Mia and MeMe discussed the dually-layered experience of being a Chinese adoptee in the South, having adopted siblings, and how being an adoptee has…
On May 30th, 2023, the 1882 Foundation and friends gathered with the National Building Museum for a conversation with interdisciplinary designers Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu of Neri&Hu, historical preservationist Michelle Magalong, PhD, and landscape architect Jenn Low. A part of the NBM's Spotlight on Design series, the lecture and panel discussion explored the relationship(s) between public memory, architecture, and poetic place-making in times of unprecedented cultural destruction and reform. Neri and Hu began with a lecture entitled 'between them', exploring their design approach in the…
On April 17th, 2023, we convened for a panel conversation to explore the impact of public policy on Chinatowns, drawing specifically on the Washington DC and Philadelphia Chinatowns. This conversation opportunely comes in the recent news of a plan to build a new sports arena in Philly's Chinatown, mirroring a similar decision made in the 1990s in DC that devastated the ethnic community that called it home. 1882 Foundation Executive Director Ted Gong and Jennifer Li of the Harrison Institute for Public Law gave a…
The Literature & Arts Corner Library is an online platform that was launched at last month’s Talk Story to highlight Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) media representation. The event featured developers Lauren Eng and Jasmine Soni, author Jenny Cho, and Literature & Arts Corner Director Stan Lou. Days before the launch, Everything Everywhere All at Once, a film depicting the multiverse adventure of a Chinese immigrant tasked with saving existence, won seven Oscars, including best picture. It is one of many works that the…
Having roots in the Civil Rights Era and the community activism movement, Asian American community leaders in Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco and New York City addressed the legal needs of their local communities in the 1970s and 80s. In this panel, held as a part of the Association of Asian American Studies Conference 2023, four leaders both within and outside the legal profession reflected on the historic ties between the Asian American movement, Asian American studies, and community-led lawyering practices that laid the foundation…