(triumphant music) - Hi, my name is Melinda Lee Masur, and I'm a pianist, and also, Ken David's wife.

(classical piano music) - [Interviewer] What is your American dream?

- Huh.

(laughs) So I feel like having grown up, I was born and raised in San Francisco, I really saw the American dream through my mom.

She came over to the United States as a student, and she was from Shanghai, but when communism hit, she and her family escaped to Hong Kong.

And she just sort of exemplifies, with determination and hard work, and flexibility, and creating the space to do the things that she really loves, but also to survive, that she could carve out the space for herself to experience a level of joy, and freedom, and success, and happiness here.

Happiness is a part of the American dream, but so is the pursuit of justice and all of that.

And I feel that, you know, when we landed here in Milwaukee, coronavirus hit, and so we had the opportunity to just experience things and really delve into it with our children about what's happening, and you know, why are people calling it the China virus?

Or why are people calling out at Chinese people saying, you know, "You are the coronavirus," or things like that, and when the political unrest was happening here in the States, we were able to delve into that and they were with us when we learned about George Floyd and we were, you know, marching together here in Milwaukee to protest against that.

And so I feel that for me, the American dream is the ability to speak out and to say something, and to come alongside people when they might not have the voice to do that.

When I was growing up, Tiananmen Square happened, and we knew just to speak up would cost you your life.

And I think it's a privilege and a gift to theoretically be able to do that here in this country and to be able to fight for it when it's not exercised in the way it should be.

And it's a gift and a privilege for us to pass that on to our kids, to be able to speak up, and say your story, and be truthful and authentic about who you are.

1998, the Winter Olympics, we were following the figure skating, 'cause Michelle Kwan was skating, and I remember when Tara Lipinski won, the headline that went out was, "American Beats Michelle Kwan."

And we were like, "What is that?"

You know, Michelle Kwan's an American.

Of course, they corrected the headline right away, but I think it's this, something that we're still fighting against, and I definitely think there is an upward battle of making sure that Asians feel at home here, that Asian Americans feel like this is their place and this is their country, but I think it just takes conversation, it takes representation, it takes awareness, and it's something that we're willing to engage in.

I don't think it squashes any dream, we just realize, like, there's work to be done, and there's work to be done in every country.

When I studied in Germany, I faced the same things.

People wondered why I could speak the language or I could play the Western music, you know, that kind of thing.

So yeah, I mean, I feel that for me, the American dream sort of manifests itself in being able to tell your story in an authentic way, and it's okay that it is in complete opposition to someone else's other story.

(classical piano music) There is no great film without the soundtrack, right?

So music is the thing that helps narrate these amazing stories.

The American dream is something that is so unique to each person in this country, and that's something to be celebrated.

(triumphant music)