In Berkeley, in front of a house on Hearst Avenue is a small plaque that proclaims “Birthplace of the Asian American Movement.” It was here in May of 1968 where Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, two UC Berkeley students, called a meeting with other students of Asian descent to form a political organization – the first of its kind.
In this podcast episode, we’ll hear from Harvey Dong, Ethnic Studies professor at UC Berkeley, who would become a part of the organization that was created: the Asian American Political Alliance. The term Asian-American would go on to become a rallying cry, uniting people of Asian descent, including for the fight to bring ethic studies to UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Harvey spoke with Miko Lee, host of KPFA’s APEX Express.
Photo: Plaque of the Birthplace of the Asian American Movement from the Berkeley Historical Plaque Project. Credit: Lucy Kang.