Good evening everyone:

As Sam described this morning in our Staff meeting, this week will mark the 40th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin. The “Vincent Chin 40th Remembrance & Rededication” – from June 15-20 – was organized by members of the Asian American community (including in a leading role Kathy Ko Chin and The American Asian Foundation), including some who were involved in the original Vincent Chin case and the protests that followed.

During the early1980’s, unease, tension, and hostility grew in Southeast Michigan over the serious challenge of Japanese automakers to Detroit’s domination of the automobile markets. That hostility turned tragic in 1982 when a 27-year-old Chinese-American man named Vincent Chin was accosted and beaten to death with a baseball bat by two disgruntled autoworkers outside a bar where Chin had been celebrating his bachelor’s party in advance of his upcoming (two days later) wedding.  

Neither killer – Chrysler plant supervisor Ronald Ebens and his stepson, laid-off autoworker Michael Nitz, who apparently assumed that Chin was Japanese-American –  served prison time, instead pleading guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, paying a $3,000 fine, and serving three years of probation.  Journalist Helen Zia and lawyer Liza Chan led the fight for separate federal charges, but Nitz was acquitted and Ebens, although convicted and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, had the conviction overturned on appeal and dismissed after a jury in a re-trail found him not guilty.

The horrific murder, and miscarriage of justice, served as a watershed moment for the national Asian-American civil rights movement.

On Monday, June 20th at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, PBS will air the Academy-Award nominated film “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” on Detroit Public TV (56.1)( DPTV.org/LiveTV). Made in 1987 by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña and co-produced by DPTV’s executive producer Juanita Anderson, it chronicles the murder, the trial, and the repercussions in the Asian-American community. It will run again at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on the WORLD Channel (56.4)

Building to that:

 On Wednesday, June 15th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, “PBS Books” will host a conversation with “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” filmmakers Choy and Tajima-Peña, executive producer Anderson, and activist Jim Shimoura, to explore the film’s relevancy today. You can join the conversation here.

 On Friday, June 17th, Kathy Ko Chin and The Asian American Foundation will host a private dinner with its staff, its advisory council, staff from Kresge, Michigan State Senator Sen. Stephanie Chang to hear from two speakers: Roland Hwang of American Citizens for Justice and Dr. Abdul Aziz Khandker of the Bangladeshi American Public Affairs Committee (BAPAC).

 On Saturday, June 18th, the TAAF team and Advisory Council will convene at the Kresge midtown office to hear from Jonathan and Sam about ARPA funding.

Among the other commemorative activities will be:

 Launching the “Vincent Chin Commemorative Film Series,” including a screening of “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”;

 Holding a National Conversation on Asian Americans, America, and Democracy with Helen Zia, Michael Eric Dyson and Min Jin Lee, moderated by PBS NewsHour’s Amna Namaz;

 Convening panel discussions that reunite original Vincent Chin activists and bring together emerging leaders;

 Celebrating Asian American Arts and Community Culture, drawing on Midwest AAPI musicians, dancers and poets in a two-hour performance by a variety of artists and musicians; and

 Holding a graveside ceremony as interfaith leaders and the Chin family offer prayers and reflections on his legacy.

Information on all these events can be found on Detroit Public Television’s website: here.

Rip

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