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Did you know? Yo Yo Ma left one of his million dollar cellos in the back of a NY taxi-cab. The honest driver returned it to him.
TakeawaysAsian Pacific American Heritage Month (May) was established in 1977.The World Trade Center Twin Towers were designed by Asian American Architect Minoru Yamasaki.Michelle Kwan has won more Gold Medals and titles than any other figure skater in U.S. history.Asian Americans have made so many contributions to American society that the list of Asian American cultural icons is endless. Asian American cultural icons can be found in the areas of technology, architectural design, Journalism, fashion, education, science, art, music, sports, inventions, martial arts, spirituality, culinary and entertainment, to name a few.
The following list represents only a handful of Asian American cultural icons in the areas of music, fashion, Journalism and sports: Yo Yo Ma, Connie Chung, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, Vera Wang and Margaret Cho.
Considered the greatest and most popular living cellist, Yo Yo Ma was born to Chinese parents in Paris in 1955. By the time he was four years old he was already taking private cello lessons and at age five, he played his first concert at the University of Paris. At the age of seven, he and his parents moved to New York where Ma studied with Leonard Rose of Julliard. Yo Yo Ma went on to attend Harvard University and today he has won more than a dozen Grammy Awards including the 1998 Best Classical Album Grammy Award. He has recorded more than 50 albums under the Sony Classical MusicLabel and just a few of his greatest albums include: Simply Baroque II, Made in America and Silk Road Journey: When Strangers Meet. Yo Yo Ma has also created music for the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and he has performed with The Berlin Philharmonic, The New York Philharmonic and The London Symphony Orchestra.
Yo Yo Ma is known for playing two very old cellos including a 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius and a 1773 Montagnana from Venice. Each cello is worth more than a million dollars. Today, Yo Yo Ma continues to create classical music and he manages the Silk Road Project. **The purpose of the Silk Road Project is to illuminate the Silk Road's historical contribution to the diffusion of art and culture, identify current voices that best represent this cultural legacy and support new collaborations among artists. Learn more about Yo-Yo Ma's vision for the Silk Road Project at: www.silkroadproject.org.
In 1993, Connie Chung became the first Asian American nightly news anchor for a major network—CBS. Born Constance Yu-Hwa Chung in Washington D.C. in 1946, Connie Chung is considered one of the hardest working women in Journalism. She has been a co-host, substitute anchor or contributing anchor on NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather (before becoming a regular anchor), CBS this Morning, Good Morning America, 20/20, ABC Evening News and Today to name a few. She has also hosted several of her own shows such as: Face to Face with Connie Chung, Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and Connie Chung Tonight (CNN). Her many appearances include: The View, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, Late Night with David Letterman, The Phil Donahue Show, The Howard Stern Show and Murphy Brown.
Currently Connie Chung is married to Maury Povich, host of the syndicated daytime talk show The Maury Povich Show and she is also hosting a new ½ our show, which launched January 7, 2006, called Weekends with Maury & Connie on MSNBC. The show airs every Saturday at 10 a.m. (ET) with repeats at 4 p.m., then again Sundays at 11 p.m. and 4 p.m. (ET).
Two of the country’s top figure skaters also happen to be two of the most recognizable Asian American cultural icons today—Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan. Born in Hayward, California in 1971, Kristi Yamaguchi won the Gold Medal in figure skating in the 1992 Winter Olympics. She was the world champion twice in 1991 and 1992, she was the U.S. National Champion in 1992 and she won the world juniors championships (singles and pairs) in 1988. In 2005, Kristi Yamaguchi was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and she is currently the mother of two daughters, Keara Kiyomi born October 1, 2003 and the most recent addition, Emma Yoshiko, was born November 16, 2005.
Michelle Kwan has won more titles and more gold medals than any other figure skater in the world. She won her first gold medal in the 1994 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and since then she has won dozens of gold, silver and bronze medals. Although she has never won an Olympic Gold Medal, this Asian American cultural icon is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. History. Born in Torrance, California in 1980, Michelle Kwan is only the 2nd figure skater in history to win the James E. Sullivan Award which is given to one athlete per year and today she was qualified for the 2006 U.S. Olympic team but withdrew due to an injury.
During the 2004 U.S. Nationals, Michelle Kwan wore a dress made by another Asian American cultural icon—Vera Wang. Famous for designing some of the most stunning wedding gowns in the world, Vera Wang also trained as a figure skater as a young girl and she has also designed dresses for Nancy Kerrigan. Vera Wang spent 16 years as a Senior Fashion Editor for Vogue and she also worked as a Design Director for Ralph Lauren.
Based in New York and considered the wedding gown designer to the stars, Vera Wang has designed wedding gowns for Uma Thurman, Sharon Stone, Natalie Imbruglia, Holly Hunter, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham and Jessica Simpson, to name a few. She has also created red carpet designs for celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Charlize Theron. In June 2005, Ms. Wang won the Council of the Fashion Designers of America Award for Women’s Wear Designer of the Year. Today, Ms. Wang’s designs have expanded into footwear, fragrance, eyewear and home furnishings.
Margaret Cho—actress, writer, producer and (most notably) stand-up comedian—was born “Moran Cho” in San Francisco, California in 1968. Her list of credits spans nearly two decades, but it was in 1994 that Margaret broke ground by becoming the first Asian American to star in the first sitcom featuring an all Asian American cast. All American-Girl was featured on ABC and lasted 19 episodes. Today, Margaret Cho is engaged in a series of appearances and live shows across the country.
From music and fashion to Journalism and figure skating and everywhere in between, the list of Asian American cultural Icons continues to grow each day. For more information about Asian American Cultural Icons, Asian American history, Asian American culture and Asian American issues visit Asian Nation at: www.asian-nation.org.
**From the Silk Road Project Website.
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