free chol soo lee

On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.

Q&A GUESTS

  • PANELIST – GAIL WHANG

    Gail is a 3rd generation Korean American who was influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and The Autobiography of Malcolm X . When she read KW Lee’s article about Chol Soo Lee, spurred her to get involved in the fight to free him. She was a member of the Bay Area Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee and came to know Chol Soo personally. Gail continued her work as an educator for 30 years creating anti-racist and equitable classrooms in multi-lingual, multi-ethnic school districts in the Oakland Unified School District. She currently supports the efforts of the groups organizing around anti-Asian violence and works with Third Culture Bakery to distribute safety kits to the Asian community. Gail also teaches Dayan “Wild Goose” Qigong.

  • PANELIST – CHRISTOPHER CHOW

    Chris is a journalist, community activist, educator and filmmaker. He was the first Asian American broadcast journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area hired as an on-air reporter (KPIX-TV CBS 5 from 1970 to 1973). During that time he earned an Associated Press Award for his documentary UNDER THEIR ANCESTORS SHADOWS about the emergence of Chinatown youth gangs and an Emmy Award for PASTURES OF PLENTY, a documentary about agribusiness in California.

  • MODERATOR – NATE TAN

    Nate has been involved with Asian Prisoner Support Committee since 2014: first as a volunteer with ROOTS, then core member, and now Co-Director. He brings over eight years of experience working with formerly incarcerated, incarcerated, ICE detained individuals, and impacted families. He’s excited to continue the work of APSC in bringing people home and reuniting families.