Helen Zia is a profound journalist, author and activist. Ms. Zia is known for her many books, including “Asian American Dreams,” “My Country Versus Me” and “Last Boat Out of Shanghai.” Charlotte W. (‘28) sat down with Ms. Zia to discuss her motivation for becoming an author, as well as her experiences as an activist for Asian American and LGBTQ+ rights. 

Interviewer: So first of all, what inspired you to start writing about Asian American issues?

Zia: I had been a journalist for a number of years and never had an opportunity to write about Asian American issues because newspapers, magazines, television, the way news was produced and consumed, nobody was interested in having anything about Asian Americans. But being Asian American, I knew that there was so much to share. That was the first book I wanted to write, which was about the Asian American story. It was to break through the invisibility and the general lack of knowledge, aka ignorance, about who Asian Americans are, and that’s what inspired me.

Interviewer: And what do you hope for people to take away from your work?

Zia: Oh, that’s a very good question. What do I hope for people to take away? I hope people reading any of my work will see the humanity of the subjects, the people that I’m writing about. I have written about many, many different kinds of people, not just Asian Americans or Asian people, just running the gamut of society. And I have always wanted to share the basic dignity of those people, even people I don’t agree with, even people who did not do very good things, but they were still human beings. And so that’s what I want people to take away.

Interviewer: Another question is, what do you see as the most significant change in civil rights, or for Asian American activism, that has occurred during your career?

Zia: There are many changes that have taken place around civil rights and human rights in my lifetime, in my career. I was very fortunate to see in the early days of the modern-day civil rights movement, the idea of equality and that we all should be seen for the content of our character, not the color of our skin. To see women stand up and say, “women hold up half the sky,” and actually more than half. And to see LGBTQ people stand up and say, “We are human beings too.” And many, many more. And so I got to see that rising up as a young person, and to see laws change, and even to have a black president of the United States, and not women yet, but that will happen one day. 

Interviewer: Thank you so much for your insight for The Blue & Gold. And just to conclude this quick interview, what do you like to do in your free time?

Zia: In my free time, I love meeting with students. I do, I really enjoy it. I have learned how to do stand-up paddleboarding; it’s very scary to stand up. But even at this point in my life, I’ve learned some new things, so I really enjoy that. Of course, I love to read and learn about other people, whether that’s through reading or videos or talking to people, or traveling. Coming to TAS is really exciting to me. I get to meet with Blue & Gold staff. I get to meet with students. And I’m in Taipei, how exciting can that be? So, these are things I like to do in my free time. 

Interviewer: Thank you so much.

Zia: Well, thank you, and thank you for being a young aspiring journalist. That’s so great.