While museums around the world are grappling with how to decolonize from their roots of white-explorer theft of artifacts, the Wing Luke Museum stands out as a museum that started on the premise that people’s stories not artifacts, in particular, marginalized people’s stories, can serve as the foundation of a museum. This revolutionary concept was realized by Ron Chew, who dropped out of UW at age 21, one course short of graduation, because he filed a discrimination complaint against the UW Daily. He went on to become a community journalist and successfully led the $23 million campaign to find a suitable home for the museum which was in precarious financial straits when he took over as Executive Director. Ron is sought throughout the country for his expertise on activist, community-based museums which mount exhibits like “If Tired Hands Could Talk” that documents the lives of women garment workers who built the US apparel industry.
The son of a Chinese restaurant waiter and a garment worker, Ron has spent his life chronicling the lives of the “forgotten”. Attend his amazing talk and “unforget” those who contributed so much to the history of our region. Event Flyer: My Unforgotten Seattle
Wednesday, October 14, 1:00 p.m.
The Faculty Commons has three copies of My Unforgotten Seattle available for check out.
Meeting ID: 977 9268 1642
For more information, contact Leslie Lum, Social Science or Jordana Maciel Abdo, Asian Pacific Islanders Student Association Coordinator.
Last Updated October 29, 2021