Dr. Ken Fong
Ep 13: Embracing the Fullness of Asian American Identities with Ken Fong
"People are not half, they're whole. You can't separate someone's cells and say, this is this half, this is that half. No, we're whole."
Episode Description
Dr. Ken Fong started a podcast in 2015 at the suggestion of a colleague because Asian American voices were missing from the conversation. Since 2015, Ken’s weekly podcast explores the cultural, artistic, historical and spiritual aspects of Asian American Communities. In this episode, we ask Ken about the value of creating affirming spaces for Asian Americans, how the “model minority” stereotype is a double-edged sword, and the importance of seeing people, not as half-this and half-that, but whole human beings. From stories about creative feats, to spirituality, and building bridges, this episode will re-invigorate your sense of self and have you embracing and celebrating your identity and your culture.
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Listen to Asian America: The Ken Fong Podcast!
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST is a weekly show that explores the cultural, artistic, historical, and spiritual aspects of the Asian American community. Each podcast, host Ken Fong shares stories and thoughts from his own life, and then interviews guests across all sectors of society who are transforming what it means to be Asian American.
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About Ken
Ken grew up in California as a 3rd generation American of Chinese ancestry. After seminary, he not only became a pastor of an historically Japanese American church, he also met and married a 3rd generation Japanese American from Hawaii. He helped lead that church to becoming the first-ever English-only pan-Asian American, multi-ethnic church in the U.S. Before retiring in 2017, he led the church to become more truly affirming of queer and trans folks. When he launched his podcast in 2015, it was one of the first to focus on Asian American culture-makers and -shapers. The show has listeners in 48/50 States and in over 100 countries, and recently exceeded 450,000 total downloads.
Sheds light on some of the often forgotten aspects of racism
As an Asian person who grew up in North America, I really connected with this episode. I think that it really has shed light on many of the realities and struggles faced by Asians in North America. It is really great to hear people talk about some of the experiences that I have had growing up, but was often unable to understand or express. Excellent work and I hope that you will be able to sit down with more people of AAPI descent in future episodes!
Insightful!
What an insightful episode! I very much enjoyed learning about Dr. Fong and the struggles faced by Asian Americans. This episode has helped me understand how systematic racism affects Asian Americans.
Claire and Ken broadened my understanding about racism
Thank you, Claire and Ken, for sharing this conversation you had. I enjoyed listening to this episode and it broadened my understanding about systemic racism and the reach it has also to Asian Americans. Now I started listening to Ken’s podcast too!
Engaging Conversation! Fearless Bridge Builder!
Dr. Ken Fong is an engaging speaker whose primary focus is bringing people together. He’s a bridge builder fearlessly reaching diverse communities through his faith. Thanks Xenolearn for introducing Dr. Fong to us xenolearners. Great episode! 👍