Screening and Discussion from 6:30PM
Reception from 8:00PM

For over fifty years, New York native Corky Lee photographed his hometown's Chinatown, and Asian American communities around the country. With a strong sense of social justice, he captured activists, celebrities, and everyday heroes with equal passion, taking over a hundred thousand photos. Through his own words and pictures, Dear Corky reveals the man behind the camera, an indefatigable personality who sought to shed light on the contributions of Asian-Americans and to set the record straight about the Asian-American history.

Join us for a special screening of Dear Corky, followed by a conversation with the film director Curtis Chin and Virgo Lee, advisor to the Estate of Corky Lee, and a special report on the forthcoming book, Corky Lee’s Asian America, from Penguin Random House. We look forward to seeing you at this evening’s event to honor the life and work of a beloved photographer, who was determined to change the world, one photograph at a time.

Speakers

Curtis Chin (via Zoom) is a co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, and served as the non-profits’ first Executive Director. He went on to write for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. He has screened his films at over 600 venues in sixteen countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appetit and the Emancipator/Boston Globe. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant will be published by Little, Brown in Fall 2023.

Virgo Lee is Advisor to the Corky Lee Estate, whose mission is to promote the ideals and legacy of the renowned photo-journalist whose 50 years body of work documents the important events, daily lives and struggles of the AAHPI communities throughout the U.S. He has a history of working on AAPI affairs. He was previously a founding member of the Chinatown Organization For Media Awakening to combat stereotyping in the mainstream media and fighting anti-Asian hate in the community, served on the Asian American Advisory Council Bill Clinton Administration in Washington D.C., and was Director at the Mayor's Office for Asian Affairs for the City Of New York.

Chris Kwok (moderator) is Chair of the Issues Committee at the Asian American Bar Association of New York and serves on the board of the Asian American Federation.

This program is made possible in partnership with the Asian American Bar Association of New York.