SUMMARY

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. For NewsHour's “Hidden Histories” series, we learn about Corky Lee, a photographer who chronicled the daily lives, struggles and contributions of Asian Americans, a community that is often marginalized, unsung and unseen.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

• Who was Corky Lee?
• When did Lee start taking photographs?
• What subjects from history did Lee cover?
• Why did Lee want to feature Asian Americans in his photography?
• How does Lee's work covering protests (see photo below) support his belief in the idea of "photographic justice"?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

Corky Lee said his life's mission was the pursuit of what he called photographic justice, changing America one photograph at a time. What photographs stood out to you from this piece and why? Outside this piece, was there a photograph you came across or took yourself that changed or affected you in some way? Explain.

Media literacy: What else would you like to know about Lee's life? What questions would you want to ask him if he were alive today?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?

WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO:

• What do you know about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and the treatment of Chinese workers on the railroad? Why do you think Corky Lee took this photograph?

• With a peer or family member, take a look at a few of the photos below. Why do you think Lee took each of the photos? What feeling do you think Lee was trying to capture in each of the photos?

• According to the NewsHour piece, Lee was present taking photos of when Chinese Americans took to the streets of New York in 1975 to protest the police beating of a Chinese American man. He was also in Detroit in 1983 when protests erupted over the lack of prison time for two white men who had pleaded guilty to killing Vincent Chin. Learn more about the story of Vincent Chin here or watch the clip Revisiting ‘Who Killed Vincent Chin?’, Asian American Civil Rights Nearly 40 Years Later.

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