Corky Lee's Asian America : fifty years of photographic justice
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references(pages 303-305 and index.

"A posthumous collection of over 200 breathtaking photographs that document the history and cultural impact of the Asian American social justice movement, through the lens of beloved photographer Corky Lee--the man who sought to change the world one photograph at a time Using his camera as his pen and sword, Corky Lee documented Asian American-Pacific Islander communities for fifty continuous years, breaking the stereotype of Asian Americans as docile, passive, and, above all, foreign to this country. Corky Lee's Asian America is a stunning retrospective of his life's work--a selection of the best photographs from his vast collection, including those he personally chose before he passed, from his start in New York's Chinatown to his coverage of diverse Asian American communities across the country. The pages in this book unfold Lee's decades-long quest for photographic justice, tracking AAPI social movements for recognition and rights alongside Corky's artistic development as a social photographer and activist. Iconic photographs of protests against police brutality in New York in the 1970s, a Sikh man draped in an American flag post-9/11, and a reenactment of the completion of the transcontinental railroad featuring descendants of Chinese railroad workers, live side by side with photos of New York's Chinatown from the inside--a child sitting on a tenement fire escape, a Chinese woman driving her taxi, an opera singer sitting on a park bench adjusting her hair, a package of laundry, waiting to be picked up. Asian American writers, artists, activists, and friends of Lee--including a foreword from writer Hua Hsu and essays from filmmaker Renée Tajima-Peña, writer Helen Zia, historians Gordon Chang and Vivek Bald, playwright David Henry Hwang, and TK--provide rich historical and cultural context to the photographs, while reflecting on their relationships to Lee. Corky Lee's Asian America represents Lee's mission to write a history of inclusion, resistance, ethnic pride, and patriotism. This is a remarkable documentary collection of that history in the moments of its making, but it's also a history that we continue to make"--,Provided by publisher.