By Gerrye Wong, CHCP Co-Founder and Trustee
At the May 2nd Asian American Stories (AAS) Award Ceremony attended by 450 supporters, awards were given to 20 of the 70 people who composed and submitted videos on the theme ALL OF US BELONG HERE. Snippets of all submissions were shown in a summary video as well as those composed by the first to third prize winners. CHCP supported this fine program, hosted by the non-profit Silicon Valley Community Media, by being a sponsor hosting one table for its Board members in attendance. This event kicked off the Asian Pacific Heritage Month of May, with many of the 70 contestants brought on stage to win specific awards chosen by a team of 15 judges. The 2024 entries came from all over the world, with one entrant from Alaska who was introduced on stage. To support the AAS fundraising effort, CHCP President Dave Yick and Director Edith Gong were high bidders for the auction prize of a private tour and reception for 20 guests at the famed Flintstone House seen off Hwy 280 in Hillsborough.
This first-time award ceremony was well received by supporters, such as CHCP, who share the desire to encourage more Asian American stories to be told, similar to what CHCP plans to accomplish with its upcoming Oral Histories Project.
CHCP Co-Founder Gerrye Wong was honored with the 2024 Legendary Story Teller Award for her 40 years of writing about Chinese community and history in newspapers (Chinese Press and Asian Week), magazines (Vancouver's Chinatown news and Gentry), and websites (dingdingtv). She spoke of the pride she felt telling the thousands of school children, who visited CHCP's Chinese American Historical Museum, of the stories of the early Chinese communities who settled in the San Jose area, as well as her proudest moment when she and CHCP Advisory Board Member Connie Young Yu, together with CHCP support, encouraged the City of San Jose to draft and issue a Resolution of Apology to the Chinese residents who were unfairly discriminated against in their past Chinatowns in the 1800s and at the turn of the century.
Watch Gerrye's video which tells her personal story growing up to finally learn to appreciate her Chinese heritage, not only embracing it, but proudly telling the world about the many contributions Chinese have made to America’s history:
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CHCP Director Dr. Arthur Jue was awarded an Excellence Award at the dinner for his one-minute video submission of retired ABC Reporter David Louie’s speech at CHCP's January membership meeting, which highlighted David's journey and groundbreaking career as an Asian pioneer in media. Watch Arthur's award-winning video:
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CHCP Advisory Board Member Ron Chan also submitted a video, that he created by blending artificial intelligence with live recordings! Watch it below:
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