A quick chat with Curtis Chin
Noted author Curtis Chin takes a few moments before he visits Mount Holyoke College for BOOM! Community Day to discuss empathy, storytelling and his favorite line in his memoir.
Curtis Chin, an acclaimed author, filmmaker and activist, is best known for his 2023 memoir “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” 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–American. 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’s 2008 presidential campaign and directed a documentary, “Dear Corky,” which debuted on PBS in May 2024.
He will be at Mount Holyoke College for the tenth annual BOOM! Community Day.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Will this be your first time at Mount Holyoke College?
Chin: No, I’ve actually been there before. I’ve done more than a thousand talks at universities and colleges in 20 countries over the past 15 years, so I can’t remember the exact date I was at Mount Holyoke, but I know I’ve been [there] before.
Your memoir really nails the whole “everybody versus Detroit” feeling that was going on at that time.
Chin: Oh, nice! Oh, that’s 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’t know who your audience is and who’s going to fall in love with it, so that’s been an interesting part of the discovery.
It struck me in the book that the Vincent Chin murder and its coverage spurred you to become a storyteller and a journalist. Talk about why it’s 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’s different perspectives and how they shaped their thinking and the way they communicate. I just find it really fascinating — 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’t have to agree with everybody to like them and even want to fight for their rights and for their life, too, because we’re all on our own different journeys, right? And as long as we give each other humanity for that, I think that’s 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’s a very Buddhist way of looking at things. But, you know, he needed to show more compassion toward Vincent’s fiancée and Vincent’s mom, who was a recent widow. That’s 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’re living in very difficult times right now. Our country’s very, very divided, and people don’t 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’s different from you. And I don’t think you necessarily have to change someone’s mind. I don’t think that’s 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’s 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’s 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’t put yourself in any sort of limiting box.
Chin: I’ve had the great fortune of being able to tell stories in a variety of different genres, whether it’s TV, film, books, magazines or podcasts, and the thing I say to young people is that it’s not really the genre that’s important, it’s what you have to say. So, if you’re doing anything in terms of trying to figure out whether you’re going to have a career in these fields, worry about what you’re 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’s 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’t want to answer: “What’s your favorite Chinese food?” I’m tired of answering that question. You know what? People never ask me what my favorite line is in the book.
What’s your favorite line in the book?
My favorite line in the book is, “Yes, my family succeeded because of America, but America also succeeded because of my family.” Yeah, I mean, it’s just push and pull. We’re 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’t get credit for it, and that’s what I want. My family’s been in this country since the 1800s. We have a long commitment to this country and its ideas, so I want that recognized.
