Asian Americans

(melancholic music) At 13, I was watching a PBS documentary and then my mom walked into the room and she saw Vincent Chin's face on the screen and just said (speaking in foreign language). That is your older male cousin. And I was like, "What?" My mom said, "Don't be so nosy." Like she definitely didn't wanna talk about it. So I knew it was way more complicated that I could ever fathom. Over time, I realized this was just completely traumatic for my family. When Vincent was killed, Lily was all by herself in Detroit and she was fighting these court battles and her two sisters, my other great auntie, and my maternal grandmother flew from China to America to support her. And that's how my whole side of the family moved to America. Just knowing that Vincent was part of my genesis story is something that always haunts me. I remember watching "Who Killed Vincent Chin" and just watching Helen Zia in the film. I was like wow, this woman's badass. Like she's awesome. I got to meet Helen when she came to New York to do a talk about her new book. I told her how important Lily was to me. She just replies, "Yes, without Lily Chin, "none of us would know about Vincent Chin today." Over the years, we kept in touch. -

Helen

Annie. Hi, oh. Hey, Helen. - Good to see you. My mom actually tells me that I should regard Helen as an auntie. And that Lily Chin regarded Helen as her goddaughter. The bar was sort of in that direction. They ended up here at the McDonald's. The killer even comes up. He starts running but he slips and trips so somewhere in this strip, this is where it happened and ruined so many lives. Even in your family now, people don't wanna talk about it. Yeah. (truck rumbling) It's really hard because I don't think my family understands how important Vincent Chin is to just the Asian American movement and to Asian American history in general. Met a lot of Asian Americans who identify as Asian American today because of the Vincent Chin case. So your Great Aunt Lily is here. How do I live up to this in a way that honors my family? I look at you and I see her courage. Yeah. I think she would be very proud of you. One of the legacies of the Vincent Chin case has been young Asian American activists who have been inspired to get involved, to raise their voices, to see how our Asian American community is linked together with every part of the American democracy and fabric, and that standing up and speaking up is important. Had Vincent Chin not been killed, Lily would not have been alone in Detroit and then my grandmother and my other great auntie wouldn't have flown to America to support her. Not gotten my parents to America. And I might never have been born. Every time I think about that, I just know that I'm meant to do more with my life, that I'm supposed to make change. It reminds me that I have a legacy to live up to and that I always have to tell his story. (melancholic music)