Emma Gee is an American activist and writer, who coined the term "

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

" with

Yuji Ichioka Yuji Ichioka (June 23, 1936 – September 1, 2002) was an American historian and civil rights activist best known for his work in ethnic studies, particularly Asian American Studies and for being a leader in the Asian American movement. An a ...

Biography

In 1968,

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

Gee and her

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

partner and future husband

, both graduate students at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, founded the

Asian American Political Alliance The Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) was a political organization started at University of California, Berkeley in 1968 that aimed to unite all Asian Americans under one identity to push for political and social action. The two main chapte ...

and coined the term "

." She was instrumental in bringing together writings from Asians in America, most notably in the work ''Counterpoint'' (1978). Gee taught some of the earliest classes in Asian American studies at Berkeley and

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Gee is also an advocate of Asian American women and urged them to write and share prose and poetry. This included editing the book ''Asian Women'' (1971), developed from the first class ever taught on Asian Women in Berkeley. She was later also involved in the

Pacific Asian American Women Writers West The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, established in 1978. In 2004, UCLA's Asian American Studies Center created the "Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee Endowment for Social Justice and Immigration Studies" in honor of Ichioka and Gee's work.

Works

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References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American historians 20th-century American women writers American academics of Chinese descent Historians from California American women writers of Chinese descent {{Academic-bio-stub