As part of C4SO’s celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I asked several lay members of C4SO churches to share their “Asian American hero”—someone who inspired them. This was a harder exercise than you might think, because it is not normative for Asian Americans to share their stories. Our communities were rarely featured growing up, and we “stayed under the radar.”

Well, times are changing, finally, and we are finding our voice. (Can I tell you I got emotional watching Crazy Rich Asians, or when I heard my son singing a BTS song?)

Here, then, are just a few of the many Asian American men and women whose rich stories are worth telling.

—Jin Cho, Leader of the Revelation 7:9 Task Force for Racial Diversity and Inclusion

Shining the Light of Christ in the World of Mathematics

Francis Su

By Joyce Rice

As a professional math tutor, I often wonder, “How can I love God while teaching math?”  Enter Francis Su, professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College. In a world of high-stakes tests and performance anxiety, Dr. Su contextualizes the Gospel in powerful, healing ways. In “The Lesson of Grace in Teaching”—an unexpected topic for a talk given to the Mathematics Association of America—Dr. Su explains that our worth is not based on our achievements.

Instead, every human being has intrinsic dignity based on the unchanging ground of God’s love, and we honor that dignity by offering grace. For example, Dr. Su gets to know his students, offers “fun questions” on tests, and tells them about his own math struggles. In one lecture, Dr. Su shared a letter from a prison inmate who enjoys mathematics, encouraging the mathematical community to welcome those who do not seem like “math people.”  The room teared up, as Su connected math to play, beauty, truth, justice and love—an illustration of biblical shalom. Can Christ’s body incarnate to the mathematical community? Dr. Su is an exquisite proof.

Learn more about Francis Su.

Check out Francis Su’s new book, Mathematics for Human Flourishing.

 

From Illiteracy to Mastery

Carlos Bulosan 

By Preston Leung

As a Chinese American, I grew up internalizing the notion that I could only succeed within the field of STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math] — thus, I narrowly focused my studies and career aspirations within it. However, I never thought I would develop a delight for reading literature, an aspiration to write artistically, and now, a passion to study theology. A barrier had always stood before me: a scarcity of Asian American writers.

This barrier broke down, in part, due to my encounter with Carlos Bulosan’s writings. I remember swooning at his poetic writing and artistic storytelling in college. His words spoke hope to my racialized experience and resonance with the broader Asian American struggle. Despite growing up illiterate, being a foreigner in America, and tirelessly working low-waged jobs, Bulosan somehow attained mastery over the English language. And within the tension of English as both colonial and beautiful, he wrote America Is In the Heart, which potently and intellectually captures the migrant, Filipino American experience. He not only wrote well but highlighted the forgotten experience and history of Filipino migrants who lacked American visibility. His writing is personal history, beautiful poetry and convicting activism intertwined. Through them, I feel like I, too, have a voice.

Learn more about Carlos Bulosan.

 

Justice in the Midst of Pain

Vincent and Lily Chin

By Victoria Ruan

I feel a little awkward writing about my Asian American heroes, because the truth is, I’ve not thought to search for them, let alone been exposed to them in mainstream culture or academia. I may be a proud Asian immigrant in America, but I am also still learning all the stories of what it has meant to be Asian in America. But in the wake of the shootings in Atlanta and the rise in violent hate crimes against Asians, I have been thinking a lot about Vincent Chin and his mother, Lily Chin.

Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, was murdered on June 19, 1982 in Detroit, Michigan. He was beaten with a bat by two auto workers who blamed the Japanese for the plight of the American auto industry. Even though they were convicted of manslaughter, the auto workers didn’t serve any jail time, and they were fined a mere $3,000.

That verdict galvanized the Asian American community and inspired women like Helen Zia and Renee Tajima-Pena to fight for justice for Vincent and tell his story. Helen helped fight for federal civil rights charges against Vincent’s killers. Renee made an Academy Award-nominated documentary about his murder called, Who Killed Vincent Chin? But no one fought more than Vincent’s mother, Lily Chin. I see her as a hero because, as a mother myself, I feel the pain of her loss. As a daughter who has watched my immigrant mother navigate being a “foreigner” in suburban Southern California, I understand the courage it took for Lily to publicly grieve and demand justice for her son. May the Lord bless her soul.

Learn more about Lily Chin here and here.

Learn more about Vincent Chin here, here and here.

 

The Faithful Grandpas and Grandmas, Aunties and Uncles

By Drew Yamamoto

As someone who majored in East Asian Studies and minored in Asian American Studies, I think of people like civil rights leader Yuri Kochiyama, who held Malcolm X while he lay dying. I think of people like author John Okada, who wrote the first Japanese (and perhaps Asian) American novel, who died in obscurity. I think of people like the Rev. Toyohiko Kagawa, who was a prolific activist once considered equal with Gandhi.

Yet, most of all, I think of all the grandpas and the grandmas, the aunties and the uncles who faithfully cared and served at their ethnic churches as we, who speak English as our main language, left our ethnic churches. I think about those who made room for the next generation to thrive, even though they held the power. I think of all those who faced rejection by their Asian American Christian parents when they followed God’s call to ministry, those who dropped their nets to follow Jesus as he called them to be fishers of men. I think about these nameless, faithful sisters and brothers, many who have chosen to put Christ above all.

Learn more about C4SO’s celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.