Just released in February 2024!
Sons of Chinatown:
A Memoir Rooted in China and America
William Gee Wong’s father entered the U.S. legally as the “son of a native,” despite having partially false papers. Sons of Chinatown is Wong’s evocative dual memoir of his and his father’s parallel experiences in America.
Virtual Book Talk hosted by Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 6 pm PDT
The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation will host an online event with William Gee Wong to discuss Sons of Chinatown: A Memoir Rooted in China and America and take questions from the audience. This event is free with registration.
Oakland Asian Cultural Center Honors Gee-Wong Family at 2024 Gala
Saturday, October 19, 2024 - 5:30 pm PDT
Born and raised in Oakland Chinatown, the Gee Wong siblings, Nellie, Flo, and William Wong, witnessed the rise of Chinatown and became an inspiration for their activism, creativity, and visions for the future generation. Celebrate the life and works of these Oakland Chinatown legends at Oakland Asian Cultural Center’s annual gala, Future Forward. Tickets available for purchase at oacc.org/gala2024.
Praise for Sons of Chinatown
“By the end of this ultimately uplifting narrative, Wong displays a deeper understanding of his sometimes obdurate, yet determined, perseverant parents. . . . A forthright account of a family’s success in building a strong, positive Chinese American identity.”
“Bill Wong is an original. He was prominent as a print journalist, with his own column, long before Asian Americans were accepted as chroniclers of daily life. His writing is accessible, engaging, and, above all, true. In Sons of Chinatown, he tells a family story that everyone will be moved by. Highly recommended.”
“William Gee Wong’s memoir is a master class on twentieth-century social and political dynamics that engulfed historic Chinatowns, journalism, and American society. It is told in meticulous detail by this accomplished and self-proclaimed ‘yellow’ California native.”
About William Gee Wong
William is a print journalist, author, and amateur historian.
A native of Oakland, California's Chinatown, William received his B.A. at the University of California at Berkeley and M.S. at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His print journalism career was spent at The Wall Street Journal (1970-1979) and The Oakland Tribune (1979-1996). He also worked for The San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco News Call Bulletin, and has written for the San Francisco Examiner, East West: the Chinese American Journal, and Asian Week, among other publications.
In the mid-1960s, William served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines.
From 1995-1996, he was a regional commentator for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.
William is the author of Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America (Temple University Press, 2001), Images of America: Oakland's Chinatown (Arcadia Publishing Co., 2004), and co-author of Images of America: Angel Island (Arcadia Publishing Co., 2007).
OTHER WORKS
Who are Asian Americans? Are they the remnants of the "yellow peril" portrayed in the media through stories on Asian street gangs, unscrupulous political fundraisers, and crafty nuclear spies? Or are they the "model minority" that the media present as consistently outranking European Americans in math scores and violin performances?
In this funny, sobering, and always enlightening collection, journalist William Wong comments on these and other anomalies of the Asian American experience.
Yellow Journalist:
Dispatches from Asian America
Images of America:
Oakland’s Chinatown
Chinese have been a presence in Oakland since the 1850s, bringing with them a rich and complex tradition that survived legalized discrimination that lingered until the 1950s. Once confined to a small area of downtown where restaurants stir-fried, laundries steamed, and vegetable stands crowded the sidewalks, Chinese gradually moved out into every area of Oakland, and the stands evolved into corner groceries that cemented entire neighborhoods. Chinese helped Oakland grow into a modern business and cultural center and have gained prominence in every aspect of the city's commerce, politics, and arts.