The evening’s first keynote speech was delivered by Frank H. Wu, President of Queens College and former Chair of Committee of 100. An accomplished academic, Frank is also the author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White, a book that examines affirmative action, globalization, and immigration through the lens of Asian American experiences, which he graciously provided to guests at the event in addition to yellow whistles from the Yellow Whistle campaign he helped found in response to rising anti-Asian hate.
After breaking for dinner, guests were treated to a second keynote from New York Assemblymember Grace Lee, the first Korean woman ever elected to the NY legislature. In addition to representing the neighborhoods of Chinatown, the Financial District, and the Lower East Side, Grace is a mother of three and a community organizer. Grace spoke of how she's been able to use her position to advocate for—and empower—underserved AAPI communities, through allocating $30MM in the State's budget for AAPI social service organizations and sponsoring legislation to mandate AAPI history be taught in all NY public elementary and high schools.
We then honored four leaders who are spearheading efforts to advance justice and opportunity for the AAPI community with The Serica Initiative 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award and 2023 Trailblazers Award.
Our first honoree was Patricia "Miss Pat" Chin, a Jamaican entrepreneur and co-founder of VP Records, the world’s largest independent reggae label and distributor of Caribbean music. As a Grammy winning label co-founder, retailer, merchandiser, and with numerous accolades to her credit, Patricia Chin has left an indelible mark on the music she loves and impacted the lives of many around the world and bringing to global fame familiar reggae names such as Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker, Sean Paul, Peter Tosh, Bunny Rugs Clarke, Toots Hibert, Sizzla and more. Miss Pat was also the subject the third episode in our Between Black & White series, “From Kingston, Jamaica to Jamaica, Queens.”
Our second honoree was Wendy O'Neill, Life Trustee of the Asian Cultural Council (ACC), who has devoted her life to philanthropy and US-Asian exchange. Founded in 1963 to advance cultural exchange, the ACC has supported over 6,000 Asian and American artists, scholars, and arts professionals at pivotal points in their careers to travel and learn in the USA or Asia. ACC’s notable Asian and Asian American alumni include Cai Guo-qiang, Xu Ping, Shen Wei, Yayoi Kusama, Chen Kaige, David Henry Hwang, and Viet Thanh Nguyen. Wendy is currently the Chairman of the China Medical Board (CMB), a foundation dedicated to funding medical education, policy research, global health, and health equity in China and Southeast Asia. Wendy was introduced by friend and Serica Board Trustee, Charlotte Ackert.
Our third honoree was George Takei: civil rights activist, social media superstar, Grammy-nominated recording artist, New York Times bestselling author, and pioneering actor whose career has spanned six decades. George delivered a virtual acceptance speech and the award was accepted by Jay Kuo, the composer, lyricist and co-librettist for the Broadway musical Allegiance, inspired by George's early life in Japanese American internment camps. George was also featured in one of five stories of belonging and exclusion in our documentary series, be/longing: Asian Americans Now.
Our final honoree was Frank H. Wu. The evening concluded with a musical performance by renowned Chinese opera actress and singer, Wei Hai Min, herself an ACC grantee, who joined us all the way from Taiwan.
Photos of the Gala are available here and a full video recap is on YouTube. Funds from the Gala will go towards supporting Serica's AAPI partnerships with leading organizations including The Asian American Foundation (TAAF); our ongoing AAPI film and education collaborations with PBS/The WNET Group's Exploring Hate initiative to bring Asian American curriculum to students across the country; as well as our U.S.-China and Next Gen partnership with China Institute. Many thanks to all our sponsors and everyone who joined us and contributed to our annual giving campaign!
