Books, like minds, work best when open

A big shoutout to Dr. Sook Wilkinson and the book she created with Victor Jew, “Asian Americans in Michigan: Voices from the Midwest.”

It is one of 15 featured in Bridge Michigan’s “15 anti-racist Michigan books to get you through the holidays and quarantine.”

Bridge’s Monica Williams wrote, “Michigan’s Asian Americans are often overlooked, even as their presence in the state has grown over time.

“This volume’s vibrant mix of the 41 contributors are both native born and immigrants. They trace their ancestry to East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan), South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan), and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Hmong), and make clear their past and present contributions to the Great Lakes State in many fields — art, business, education, religion, medicine, and politics — while commenting on their hopes for the future.”

The idea behind the book was to have Asian Americans in the middle of the country describe how their experiences are the same or different from people on the coasts. Their observations are surprising and touching, at times funny, sad and angry.

Sook Wilkinson is part of the Bias Busters family, having written the introduction to our “100 Questions and Answers About East Asian Cultures.”

Books — and minds — work best when they are open.

So, get Wilkinson’s book and, while you are getting that, get “100 Questions and Answers About East Asian Cultures,” which has her introduction. The Bias Busters guide is available from Amazon or the Front Edge Publishing bookstore. “Asians in Michigan” is available from publisher Wayne State University Press or Amazon.

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