A quick chat with Curtis Chin
Noted author Curtis Chin takes a few moments before he visits 网红爆料 for BOOM! Community Day to discuss empathy, storytelling and his favorite line in his memoir.
, an acclaimed author, filmmaker and activist, is best known for his 2023 memoir 鈥,鈥 which earned national recognition and was selected for the Stonewall Honor from the American Library Association. In this memoir, he tells the story of growing up in 1980s-era Detroit as a gay Chinese鈥揂merican. His experiences led him to become a first-generation college student at the University of Michigan.
Chin served on the Asian American Leadership Committee during Barack Obama鈥檚 2008 presidential campaign and directed a documentary, 鈥,鈥 which debuted on PBS in May 2024.
He will be at 网红爆料 for the tenth annual BOOM! Community Day.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Will this be your first time at 网红爆料?
Chin: No, I鈥檝e actually been there before. I鈥檝e done more than a thousand talks at universities and colleges in 20 countries over the past 15 years, so I can鈥檛 remember the exact date I was at Mount Holyoke, but I know I鈥檝e been [there] before.
Your memoir really nails the whole 鈥渆verybody versus Detroit鈥 feeling that was going on at that time.
Chin: Oh, nice! Oh, that鈥檚 very sweet. The people back in Michigan have just been so lovely. I mean, it just exceeded my expectations. You write a book, and you really don鈥檛 know who your audience is and who鈥檚 going to fall in love with it, so that鈥檚 been an interesting part of the discovery.
It struck me in the book that the and its coverage spurred you to become a storyteller and a journalist. Talk about why it鈥檚 so important for people to tell their own stories.
Chin: I just like when people can connect and learn from each other. I like meeting people who are different from me, right? I like hearing people鈥檚 different perspectives and how they shaped their thinking and the way they communicate. I just find it really fascinating 鈥 I mean, as a people person. I think that helps build empathy. I think it helps build community, and it helps build a shared sense of responsibility toward each other. I don鈥檛 have to agree with everybody to like them and even want to fight for their rights and for their life, too, because we鈥檙e all on our own different journeys, right? And as long as we give each other humanity for that, I think that鈥檚 good.
When the judge fined those two killers in the Vincent Chin case $3,000 and gave no jail time, I was not necessarily upset that he showed compassion toward them because we should show compassion to everybody. I mean, that鈥檚 a very Buddhist way of looking at things. But, you know, he needed to show more compassion toward Vincent鈥檚 fianc茅e and Vincent鈥檚 mom, who was a recent widow. That鈥檚 my issue, right? Show compassion for everybody. Treat everybody equally in that sense. And so that was my issue.
What are you hoping that Mount Holyoke students will take away from your talk?
Chin: I think we鈥檙e living in very difficult times right now. Our country鈥檚 very, very divided, and people don鈥檛 feel safe talking about their differences, but I would like us to be able to have these conversations, where you can sit down with someone who鈥檚 different from you. And I don鈥檛 think you necessarily have to change someone鈥檚 mind. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 necessarily the goal every time you meet somebody, to get them to think like you at the end of the meal, but I think it鈥檚 important for you to be open-minded, to learn about them and hear what they have to say. Hopefully, that makes you a more well-rounded person, someone who鈥檚 more aware of the different challenges that we are all under or the diversity that we all face.
Your career is many-faceted; you don鈥檛 put yourself in any sort of limiting box.
Chin: I鈥檝e had the great fortune of being able to tell stories in a variety of different genres, whether it鈥檚 TV, film, books, magazines or podcasts, and the thing I say to young people is that it鈥檚 not really the genre that鈥檚 important, it鈥檚 what you have to say. So, if you鈥檙e doing anything in terms of trying to figure out whether you鈥檙e going to have a career in these fields, worry about what you鈥檙e going to say because if you can really, really hone in on what your perspective is on the world, then you will find these other opportunities because people will be approaching you because they want to hear what you have to say. That makes people gravitate toward you.
So, that鈥檚 what I would say to young people. Figure out what you think about the world. Think about how you want to move in the world. Think about what kind of world you want, how you want to help shape the world. And I think if you focus on those things, then all the other things sort of take shape.
What question do you hardly ever get asked that you wish that people would ask?
Chin: I know the question that people always ask that I don鈥檛 want to answer: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your favorite Chinese food?鈥 I鈥檓 tired of answering that question. You know what? People never ask me what my favorite line is in the book.
What鈥檚 your favorite line in the book?
My favorite line in the book is, 鈥淵es, my family succeeded because of America, but America also succeeded because of my family.鈥 Yeah, I mean, it鈥檚 just push and pull. We鈥檙e very grateful for America, but I would like everybody to recognize that lots of people have contributed to the success of this country. America is only a successful idea if people actually put in the work and effort to make it that idea. And sometimes we put in that work and don鈥檛 get credit for it, and that鈥檚 what I want. My family鈥檚 been in this country since the 1800s. We have a long commitment to this country and its ideas, so I want that recognized.
