As I Am Credits
As I Am is a production of the , and at the .
Production Team
- Producers: Paul Watanabe, Paul Niwa, Nathan Bae Kupel
- Host: Helen Zia
- Engineers: Grady Moates, David Palmater, Chris Engles
- Remote Studio Recordings: KPFA, Berkeley California, WFUV, Bronx NY, WNPR, Hartford CT
- Music Consideration: Boston Progress Radio
Sound Track
Scott Tang – Freeway (As I Am Theme), Benny Mao - Expat, Blue Scholars – Evening Chai, [Holiday – Shelagh Delaney, Plus/Minus – All I Ever Knew, David Pajo – Insomnia Song]* Blue Scholars – Dawn (Instrumental), Cynthia Lin – Skipping in NYC, Cynthia Lin – Home, Cynthia Lin – California, Magdalen Hsu-Li – Laramie, Magnetic North – Kora (Interlude), Misha – Delovedly.Music compiled by Angela Kim, and featured in "Moving" piece
Additional Thanks
As I Am would not be possible with out contributions from the following people: Helen Zia, Patricia Monteith, WUMB Public Radio, Boston Progress Radio, Jennifer Nguyen, Bruce Gellerman, Sam Hopkins, Grace Niwa, Vijay Prashad, Angela Kim, Martin Yan, Sydnie Kohara, Rajini Srikanth, Rich Truong, SongKha Nguyen, Regie Cabico, Eugene Shih, Ash Hsie, Giles Li, Min Jin Lee, Min Hyoung Song, Shauna Lo, Michael Liu, Lisa Hickler, Clinton Christian, Collin Leslie, Son-Ca Lam, Janet Vo, and Rob Landry.
Web Design
Clinton Christian
About the Show
As I Am is an hour-long program, hosted by author-activist Helen Zia, that examines the American experience -- present, past, and future -- with an Asian American lens. Through politics, arts, popular culture, history, and everyday encounters with the famous and not so famous, As I Am offers listeners a unique opportunity to learn from and about the nation's dynamic Asian American community. In the process, those who tune in from all backgrounds will gain fresh perspectives on their own lives and experiences.
The program is produced by the and at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
About the Host
Helen Zia is an award-winning journalist and a Contributing Editor to Ms. Magazine, where she was formerly Executive Editor. She is the author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People (2000), which President Bill Clinton quoted at White House ceremonies and was a finalist for the prestigious Kiriyama Prize. She is coauthor, with Wen Ho Lee, of My Country Versus Me (2002). Their book reveals what happened to the Los Alamos scientist who was falsely accused in unsubstantiated front page stories of being a spy for China in the “worst case since the Rosenbergs.” Her articles, essays and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including Ms., New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Essence, The Advocate, Curve, and OUT
Ms. Zia testified before the US Commission on Civil Rights 1997 about inaccurate and biased news coverage of Asian Americans during the spotlight on campaign finance. She traveled to Beijing in 1995 to cover the UN Fourth World Congress on Women as part of a journalists of color delegation. Her work on the Asian American landmark civil rights case of anti-Asian violence is documented in the Academy Award nominated film, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"
A second generation Chinese American, Helen Zia received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Law School of the City University of New York and was the first recipient of the Suzanne Ahn Journalism Award for Civil Rights and Social Justice. She is an Expert Fellow with University of Southern California’s Justice and Journalism program of the Annenberg School of Journalism, and is a Writer-in-Residence at New York University’s APA Institute. She is a graduate of Princeton University and a member of the university's first graduating class of women. She quit medical school after completing two years, then went to work as a construction laborer, an autoworker, and a community organizer, after which she discovered her life’s work as a writer.
About the Pilot
The As I Am pilot features reports, analyses, and commentary on social, political, cultural and artistic topics seldom heard on traditional public radio broadcasts. Hosted by the award-winning journalist, author and scholar Helen Zia, public radio audiences will hear unique voices and perspectives on a variety of issues from across the country.
The Pilot features up and coming author Min Jin Lee as she discusses her new book Free Food for Millionaires with Boston College's Professor Min Hyoung Song. As I Am's Paul Niwa reveals the effects of gentrification on Boston's Chinatown through one man's battle against his landlord's rent increase. American Public Media's Angela Kim's journey from California to the Midwest reminds us that no matter where we may move we are often searching for something, anything, to remind us of where we came from. Nationally recognized slam poet Regie Cabico performs a piece that challenges the notion that we can be easily defined by a census box. Known for his cookbooks and popular television show Yan Can Cook, Chef Martin Yan steps out of the kitchen to talk with the award-winning broadcast journalist Sydnie Kohara. A group of UMass Boston students' trip to the Gulf Coast is chronicled as they discuss rebuilding the Vietnamese American communities ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. And International Studies Professor at Trinity College Vijay Prashad comments on why his ideal home isn't in the present, it is in the future. You can hear these stories and more, on As I Am: Asians In America.
The program will be distributed on the and is expected to have national carriage on non-commercial radio stations across the country. The program will be available for listening and downloading on our website soon. For now, listeners may go to the Institute for Asian American Studies' website to download or stream the program.
Musical consideration for the pilot has been provided by a community-based online radio station and blog focusing on independent Asian American music and art.