Join us for a compelling evening with Michael Luo, executive editor of The New Yorker and acclaimed author of Strangers in the Land: The Struggle for Belonging in America, as he explores the complex and often overlooked history of Chinese exclusion and the Asian American experience in the United States.
In celebration of the release of Michael Luo’s widely praised new book, Strangers in the Land, this timely conversation will delve into the roots of anti-Asian sentiment, the legacy of exclusion, and the ongoing struggle for belonging in America. Luo will shed light on untold histories, challenge enduring stereotypes, and invite us to reexamine what it means to be American in a multiracial democracy today.
📚 Books will be available for purchase on site. Each purchase includes a book signing with Michael Luo.
🍷 Wine and light refreshments will be served.
Watch Full Video Here:
This program is in partnership with The Serica Initiative.
The Serica Initiative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that raises awareness of the Asian diaspora in America through dialogue, storytelling, and the power of convening.
About the Book
Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America is an epic history of exclusion, belonging, and the complications of America’s multiracial democracy. Told in the tradition of The Warmth of Other Suns, with the style and sweep of a New Yorker writer, this is a cinematic, character-driven, deeply researched story of race in America that places Chinese American history alongside other events that took place during a crucial period of formation for the country after the Civil War, when visions of liberty and equality foundered. This is not just the story of the Chinese in America; it’s the story of any number of immigrant groups who have been treated as strangers. It’s the story of our diverse democracy. It’s the story of us. Asian American history is American history.
“Remarkable. . . [Michael Luo] has taken a subject that most people of Chinese descent, like me, are aware of in a vaguely ominous way and turned it into a terrifying yet compelling narrative.”
—Howard Chua-Eoan, Bloomberg
“Tracing echoes of today’s debates around immigration and exclusion to the past, Luo’s vividly told, carefully researched, and deeply compassionate book is an essential contribution to the continually unfolding story of the Chinese in America.”—Hua Hsu, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Stay True
“Impressively researched and beautifully told, Strangers in the Land offers a new and much-needed history of a people and community that have always been central to the American story.”—Erika Lee, Bae Family Professor of History, Harvard University, and author of The Making of Asian America: A History
