Eighth Celebration of Community Heroes

Ging Hawk Club

Members of the Ging Hawk Club, 1953
Courtesy of Marcella Chin Dear, MOCA Collection

Founded in 1929, the Ging Hawk Club was an association of Chinese American women that offered an alternative to traditional, male-dominated associations. The Ging Hawk-"striving for knowledge"-Club brought together some of the first Chinese American women who attended college in the United States. Over the years, they provided community services, formed the backbone of war relief efforts, and led the conversation around U.S.-China relations at a global level. By challenging traditional Chinese family values in their pursuit for education and demanding Chinese representation in American institutions, the Ging Hawk club demonstrated extraordinary courage and persistence.

Commissioner Wellington Chen

Commissioner Wellington Chen has served as the Executive Director of the Chinatown Partnership since 2006, where he aims to create transformative projects while creating a sustainable infrastructure with the NYC Department of Transportation. Commissioner Chen has a lifelong record of community service and civic engagement. As a young volunteer and student studying architecture and environmental studies, he began to see his neighborhood worsening - inspiring a lifelong interest and pursuit in community resuscitation and rejuvenation.

Chen became the first Chinese American to serve on a community board and local development corporation in Queens and was eventually recruited to serve on the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals. He led numerous initiatives and provided guidance to a number of organizations such as the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, the City University of New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Coro NY Leadership Center.

Margaret Lam

Margaret Lam is a Chinese American philanthropist who has devoted herself to uplifting Chinese community and culture in New Jersey. A resident of Montville for almost 50 years, Mrs. Lam started her journey by organizing Chinese residents to participate in the Fourth of July parade. Five years later she joined the Fourth of July Committee. In 1989, Governor Kean invited her to start the New Jersey Chinese Festival, where she continues to serve as a chairperson.

Mrs. Lam's achievements include five terms as the President of the Northern New Jersey Chinese Association. She also served on the Ethnic Advisory Council for Governor Florio. In 2004, Mrs. Lam received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. She currently serves as the vice president of the New Jersey Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce.

BUBBLE_T

Photo credit: Minu Han

BUBBLE_T is a New York-based nightlife collective centering queer Asian visibility, creativity, and expression. It started in the spring of 2017 as an impromptu gathering at a gay bar in Bushwick, a way to celebrate friends, family, and community- no translation needed. Since then, BUBBLE_T has evolved into a roving dance party, activating spaces like MoMA PS1 and Museum of Chinese in America through a confluence of fashion, art, music, and drag.

Organizers Nicholas Andersen, Karlo Bueno Bello, Stevie Huynh, Paul Tran, and Pedro Vidallon foster community through the celebration of shared references: the excesses of Asian cinema, queer Asian futurism, and late night karaoke. A recent party flier recontextualized imagery from the Vietnamese variety show Paris by Night, weaponizing its camp factor into a cornerstone of queer Asian expression. Through the collective memories of our ancestors, Bubble_T pays tribute to our family's festivals, night markets, and all night garage parties. It's a few hours of freedom, a respite from having to explain our culture, our bodies, our selves.

Celebration of Community Heroes Promo Video on Vimeo.