Dean Wong—award-winning photojournalist, former International Examiner editor, and Chinatown International District activist/community member—will be receiving a 2017 American Book Award for Seeing the Light: Four Decades in Chinatown (Chin Music Press). He, along with the other 2017 American Book Award winners, will be formally recognized on Sunday, October 22, from 12:00 to 2:30 PM at the San Francisco Jazz Center, Joe Henderson Lab (201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA).
Seeing the Light: Four Decades in Chinatown explores the Chinatowns of Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, and New York and the often overlooked communities that reside there through photographs and interviews with community members.
In addition to photographing Seattle’s Chinatown International District, Wong has been an active member of the neighborhood. In 1968, Wong and Donnie Chin formed the International District Emergency Center (IDEC) after realizing that the police and fire departments were slow or non-responsive to emergencies in the Chinatown International District. The IDEC patrolled the neighborhood and responded to emergencies—fires, shootings, assaults, car accidents, medical traumas, etc.—as well as non-emergencies and personal safety matters.
This event is open to the public. The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community.
