Asian American Activism, Civil Rights and a Better Tomorrow: A Conversation with Helen Zia

Celebrate the Hunter College Asian American Studies Program and the inaugural Helen Zia Deputy Director, Daniel Woo. Dr. Woo will be in conversation with writer/activist Helen Zia.

Helen Zia is a writer and activist. She is the daughter of immigrants from China and was born and raised in New Jersey. Her latest book, Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao’s Revolution, was one of NPR’s Best Books and a finalist for a 2020 PEN America prize. Helen’s first book, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American Peopk, about the civil rights struggles of Asian Americans, and it is still used as a foundational history text in colleges and high schools. She also wrote My Country Versus Me with nuclear physicist Wen Ho Lee, who was falsely accused by the FBI of being a spy.

A selection of Helen Zia’s books will be available for sale following the discussion.