InfoGuides: Diverse Deaf Leaders: Asian/Pacific Islander Deaf Leaders

Last Updated: May 20, 2024 4:18 PM

Asian/Pacific Islander Leaders

Here are selected examples of leaders from the Asian/Pacific Islander community. Find more information via CSD re: Asian Deaf people and organizations.

Dr. Steven Kevin Chough, "Father of Deaf Social Work," advocate and professor. He is believed to be the first deaf person to earn an MSW degree. and was the first Korean Deaf to get a doctorate.

Amy (Wong) Edwards She began her career in computer animation while majoring in Fine Arts and Animation at CSUN. After graduating in 1999, she interned at Disney Feature Animation. She was a compositor and visual-effects artist for The World of Tomorrow, Inc., specializing in computer-generated imagery (CGI) for feature films.

Fat C. Lam Attended Gallaudet and was the first Deaf person from China to earn a doctorate. Works at Gallaudet as a math professor.

Eiichi Mitsui, Porcelain artist from Japan

Christine Sun Kim is an American sound artist based in Berlin.^[Working predominantly in drawing, performance, and video, Kim's practice considers how sound operates in society. Musical notation, written language, American Sign Language (ASL), and the use of the body are all recurring elements in her work

Andy Tao Got a Ph.D in health disparities in the deaf population and founded Blue20, a digital media company.

Dr JunHui Yang Is a professor at The University of Central Lancashire where she teaches a variety of Deaf Studies classes, sign linguistics, and BSL.

Sample Leaders

The Life Story of Mother Delight Rice and Her Children Ronald M. Hirano wrote this book. Delight Rice, the hearing daughter of deaf parents. This book chronicles Delight Rice's life and legendary contributions to deaf education in the United States and the Philippines.
Continuum by Chella Man (Illustrator); Ashley Lukashevsky (Illustrator) In Continuum, fine artist, activist, and Titans actor Chella Man uses his own experiences as a deaf, transgender, genderqueer, Jewish person of color to talk about cultivating self-acceptance and acting as one's own representation

CSD History by Ron Hirano

CSD History ~ Japanese American CSD Alumni

By Ronald Hirano | CSD Alum
Photos courtesy of Selena Moon | Independent Scholar & Researcher

CSD alumna Kikue Ukai, became a groundbreaking Deaf writer and editor

In 1921, Kikue Ukai’s parents enrolled her in the California School for the Deaf, from which she graduated at the age of 18.

In 1923, Kikue enrolled at Gallaudet. Kikue frequently contributed to Gallaudet’s literary magazine The Buff and Blue, providing a number of essays on women’s fashion and social commentary.

Kikue left Gallaudet in 1928 and returned to Oakland, where she entered California School for the Deaf in nearby Berkeley. In 1934, she passed a civil service exam that allowed her to work as a librarian, the first Nisei ever to do so, and thereafter was hired by the Oakland Public Library.

In 1936, Ukai began writing a literary column titled “Literary By-Paths” for the English section of the San Francisco newspaper New World Sun, or Shin Sekai Asahi.

See full story about Kikue Ukai's life (written by Jonathan van Harmelen)

Sample Leaders

My Journey Through Four Worlds With humor and devotion, Ronald M. Hirano takes us through the many adventures of his life as the Deaf son of Nikkei, Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps during World War II. Knowing that there would be no opportunities for Ron to be educated in American Sign Language in the camp, his mother made the heart-wrenching decision to send him to live with Delight Rice, who had Deaf parents.
Lovely hula hands : a Deaf island girl's story Born Deaf, Linda was of Chinese ancestry. Her family included 3 hearing sisters and 2 Deaf brothers. This is the story of Linda's growing up; marriage and family; and career as educator and community advocate. Linda loves theater and travel. She now dedicates her career to preserving her first language -- Hawai'i Sign Language

CSD History by Ron Hirano

Selena Moon is a Japanese American historian who has included Japanese American Deaf history into her research:

The first known Deaf Japanese American student at California School for the Deaf was Mary Matsuda, who attended from around 1898-1907. The second was author and literary critic Kikue Ukai (Fujii). She wrote for several Gallaudet publications. After leaving Gallaudet, she wrote for many Japanese American newspapers and eventually had her own column, "Literary By-Paths With Kikue Ukai".

When World War II broke out, 10 of the 11 Japanese American students from California School for the Deaf were sent to incarceration camps. One of them was Hannah Takagi, who came up with the name for the Helen Keller School (which was a school for disabled Japanese American children at the Tule Lake relocation camp in northern California). Hannah Takagi corresponded with Helen Keller, and read Keller’s reply during her testimony at the Redress Hearings, to petition the government for an apology and monetary compensation for the incarceration. She and other CSD alums—siblings Ernest and Nancy Ikeda (Baldwin), and Ron Hirano—have been interviewed about their experiences in the camps to preserve the history and ensure that it never happens again.

See Selena Moon’s poster