KM: What is a book that youve read during the pandemic that has given you hope? What's your favorite part about being Jewish? WANG: I think that viewpoint is deeply myopic. This is where youll see your current point status and your earned rewards. They just have these moments where you see like, oh, this kid never got to play. If my book might inspire readers to revisit their own childhood, to recognize and honor the resilience of the child self that still dwells in all of us, then it would be a dream come true. She responded with such empathy and understanding. In New York City, and Im most familiar with New York City because I practice law here and I grew up here, theres so much segregation based on the wealth of zip codes and where children are just slotted in based on who theyre born to and how much they make. Lauded by clients as "exceptionally talented" and "exemplary," Qian Julie has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in For five years thereafter, the three lived in the shadows of For many years of my life, I operated by a set of clear and abiding principles, and asked inconvenient, challenging questions, but I had no formal spiritual framework. Secrets: they have so much power dont they. Nor would it be true to the beating heart of the Swarthmore we love. Grade school was tough, wasn't it? That changed when I started gathering with my fellow Jews of Color. Qian Julie Wang is a graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College. She graduated from Swarthmore and received a law My book is a celebration of childhood, that wondrous time when we were all still so tender and open. If you have any questions, you can email OnLine@Ingrams.com, or call 816.268.6402. It made my whole year. Even with this rule though, there were months (and up to nearly a year) when I just had to take time off writing entirely. The waste I witnessed at Sharples threw into relief the hunger painted on the faces of the homeless lining the streets of Philadelphia, where I worked several part-time jobs. Second, I am delighted to be giving a speech that morning at Central Synagogue (live-streamed worldwide here) and in Radio City Music Hall. I had become a citizen six months before and felt I had a responsibility to tell my story. It wasstill difficult as I hadnt thought about the events for decades so I went into therapy to talk about what had happened. I hadto start with the happy memories to crack that door open and then start working on the harder memories. What helped me a lot, was that I didnt have lots of time. Working on 80 hour a week as a lawyer, I wrote on the subway commute and it felt like I was texting somebody my story rather than writing a book. Its why I wanted to open the book with my first lie on the plane which I told to protect my mother. Its interesting because you think about lawyers and litigators as people who work with their minds, but its also a huge toll on your body because youre working 13 to 14 hours straight. Qian Julie Wang, who is a Yale Law graduate, now an attorney, has written a memoir, "Beautiful Country." The only way to balance it with working 60-80 hours a week was a concrete rule: As long as I was on the subway platform or on the subway on my way to or from work, I was writing on my phone. personal reflection by Qian Julie Wang 09. Shondaland spoke with Wang over Zoom about education, equity, and her relationship to work, play, and joy. My parents remain deeply ashamed and regretful of the past, and I don't think they've ever forgiven themselves for my childhood years. Weve covered all you need to know Something was wrong with my relationship to the food, I figured. How one special Pink Day helps save and support cancer patients, A Jewish producer of 'All Quiet On The Western Front' sees his family history in the Oscar-nominated Netflix film, Jewish Chamber goes to a Solar Bears' game. After loading a plate with a vegetable Id never heard of, with a name I could not pronounce (arugula), I approached a table in the side room with my new friends all of us still in that precarious need-to-impress stage and marveled in awe: Can you guys believe the spread today? For me growing up, the library was my second home. I suspect that in many ways, my book feels to my father like history repeating itself: His childhood was marked by his brother writing a daring, honest and critical essay that had his entire family persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. We are experiencing technical difficulties. QJW: I wrote Beautiful Country with the hope that readers will experience it as a train ride back into that familiar, joyful, and sometimes terrifying forest of childhood. Qian Julie Wang's new book is a modern day Jewish American immigrant tale Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. Soon, she was spending all her free time in her local Chinatown library, soaking up as much English as possible. I love memoirs that read like novels the ones that are not just factual but also artistic. It was then that I realized that what I had long thought of as singularly mine was no longer my secret to keep. Has your family read Beautiful Country? A New York Times bestselling author and advocate for marginalized communities, Wang writes about the hardships she and her parents faced moving to and living in the United States. My small hope is that if my parents don't read the full book until it's available to the public, they won't know the full scale of details shared, so they won't be sitting there, counting down the days to when ICE might be banging down their doors. The act of having to keep something secret formed a cloud over me. It weighed constantly on my psyche. Thank you so much for being with us. What would you say to somebody who had read the book and felt moved to do something? WebQian Julie Wang. Her story is a modern day Jewish American immigrant tale, and over e-mail we spoke about what it means to have this book out in the world, her work with the Jews of Color community at her synagogue, and the meaningful publication of Beautiful Country on Rosh Hashanah. Help me. Nor, alas, were the circumstances of my childhood. I cant imagine going from being a lawyer to someone who has to work in a sweatshop and a sushi factory and just has to endure. I love memoirs that read like novels - the ones that are not just factual but also artistic. The stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves are the most powerful of all, and we have a lot of choice in how we allow society to tell us how to tell our story. I looked through my old diary entries; I was very inspired by Harriet the Spy, and I wrote down a lot of mundane details of my worlds in hopes that I might be able to solve some sort of mystery. It is deeply problematic, and it creates this whole system of specialized high schools. Her uncle, a teen at the time, was arrested for criticizing Mao Zedong, and her father's family lived under a hail of rocks, pebbles, slurs and worse. Without a doubt, it has been the Jews of Color community. Librarians are our unsung, modern-day heroes. QJW: Im just so grateful for that, to have had that as a child and to still have that. When she's not writing incredible memoirs, Wang is a litigator working as the managing partner of Gottlieb & Wang LLP - a firm dedicated to advocating for education and disability rights. And then, of course, there was his childhood, which was horrific. It's a voyage into the love, pain and secrets of family, a train ride through the confusion, resilience and delight of coming of age. All of us are stared at and assumed to be new converts or gentile. MEDIA KIT| I wrote the first draft of "Beautiful Country" while making partner at a national firm. Perhaps most of all though, books offered me a dependable and consistent cast of characters who would remain my friends and family no matter how far away I moved again. WANG: Yeah, when we got here, I remember the first thing we realized - that even though there were Chinese people around us in Chinatown, we were of a different kind of Chinese. Qian Julie Wang is a litigator and the author of Beautiful Country. On this front, Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" and Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"were my north stars in crafting my own book. WebAn Interview With Qian Julie Wang. Do I want to go down this path, which is just following the momentum of what Id done with my adult life, or do I want to listen to little Qian and do what she would want me to do? as a gift from my beloved third grade teacher. More than an immigrant narrative or an Asian American story, at bottom, the book is an exploration of what it means to be human, and what it means to make a home. Follow. i couldnt have done it otherwise. 04 Mar 2023 20:24:54 Wang and her parents were undocumented, and the 2016 election which occurred just after she became a naturalized American citizen spurred her to begin writing her memoir on her phone on the subway. For me, being Jewish cannot be separated from tikkun olam, the concept that calls upon us to repair the world. As utterly devastating as recent events have been, I do believe that we will look back on 2021 and see this as a marked turning pointa beginning for real and meaningful progress for the rights and equality of Asian Americans in our nations history. Did you speak to your parents about them how did you remember so much? I think that kind of background at home cannot easily be supplanted by an external education system. There was this constant fear and constant messaging that we could be sent home. It became her second home, a place of safety. The flippancy with which my peers regarded the many culinary options before them. Much like Betty Smiths A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and Frank McCourts Angelas Ashes, we are carried into the heart and mind of a child: this time, a young, undocumented girl in 1990s New York City who shows us an Its an incredibly moving, eye-opening book told through the eye of seven-year-old Wang about the struggles they endured. It was safe and I could always count on it to supply my old and new family and friends in the form of beloved characters - and all for free. The Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative, From Undocumented Child to Successful American Jewish Lawyer and Writer. I regret that the publication of my book might have awakened that sense of trauma in him, and I badly want to shield him from it. She is a commercial litigation associate in the New York office of Robins Kaplan, a law firm. In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to beautiful country.. You were only 7 when you arrived in the US and you recall the events with amazing clarity. QJW: I read Cathy Park Hongs Minor Feelings at the beginning of the pandemic and then again throughout lockdown and after the Atlanta shooting. Are you writing another book about the second half of your life? How did they react to the book? But in late September 2019, on our flight to our honeymoon, I realized that the break had allowed me to subconsciously process everything else that needed to go into my book. I mean, they were in their early 30s at the time. Review of Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang. It took me six months after the book deal to work up the courage to tell my parents. Start earning points for buying books! I would say the first year of working on the book was just me in therapy trying to break everything apart and understand what had happened. Now, she's telling her story for the first time - buoyed by QJW: Its definitely a two-way street. Your parents are such a central part to the book as you are an only child. She recalls their experience, with a childs frankness and naivety, which is really what makes this book stand out. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. An online magazine for todays home cook. There have been many times in the publication process when I have wondered whether I was crazy to go through with putting this book out into the world. The first time I stepped into that room, I think I stopped breathing because I had never seen a room of that squalor. That contrast weighed on me far more than my newfound pounds. You didn't speak English. Having been professors in China, their work was mostly intellectual through the use of their ideas and concepts and thought, and we came here, and work became very much physical. Even so, I figured I would never make it happen, because I lived under messaging from all directions, my parents included, that my past was shameful and had to be kept hidden. For many years of my life, I operated by a set of clear and abiding principles, and asked inconvenient, challenging questions, but I had no formal spiritual framework. Photo credit: When I discovered Judaism, I finally felt complete. I never even thought about it until my husband pointed out, Your parents are super-playful. It was clear early that my appreciation of Sharples was not widely shared, but I would not realize just how rare it was until one specific incident. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. They didn't have the prescription abilities. As such, our group's mission is first and foremost to build a safe space for Jews of Color to connect and engage in their religion - shelter for when we feel utterly unwanted in all other Jewish spaces. And thirds. While I grew up learning English on library books, I never found a book that depicted characters who looked like me and lived in the way my parents and I did. One cannot be passionate about demolishing systemic barriers of racism and wealth inequality while remaining apathetic to food sustainability and climate change. Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from Penguin Random House, Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network. Shifting focus, can you tell us about your work with your Jews of Color group? For the ceremony, I wore a white gown that My parents have read parts of it, and I have fact-checked certain memories with them, but they have not read the whole thing! Do you agree? This is the very reason I wrote the book: this dream that another Chinese, Asian American, immigrant, poor or hungry kid might come upon it at their public library and might find in it something that gives them hope or solace to keep going. In my book, I share my story about receiving my copy of Charlottes Web (which I still have!) It doesnt actually require you go out of your way. Another way is just to get involved for example Make The Road New York helps undocumented immigrants get same pandemic relief. Decca helpsto push forcitizenship. If people want to get involved, Id recommend they donate or volunteer. Her family escaped to the United States, New York, in 1994 but were undocumented, and they had to live, in the Chinese phrase, as people in hei (ph) - the dark, the shadows, the underground world of undocumented immigrants who work menial jobs off the books in fear that their underground existence might be exposed. WebBeautiful Country: A Memoir (2021) by civil rights litigator Qian Julie Wang tells the story of Wangs experiences immigrating from China to the United States. It made my whole year. For a decade, she has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex civil litigation. It was then that I realized that what I had long thought of as singularly mine was no longer my secret to keep. Elena Bowes spoke with debut author Qian Julie Wang about her poignant and often humorous memoir Beautiful Country, an instant bestseller that tells the childhood story of Qian Julie when she moves to New York City with her undocumented, highly educated parents. Qian Julie Wang: I had always dreamed about writing this book because while I grew up learning English on library books, I never found a book that depicted characters who looked like me and lived in the way my parents and I did. If I had all the money in the world, I probably would have become a writer right away because I loved books and thats where I lived. It was safe and I could always count on it to supply my old and new family and friends in the form of beloved characters and all for free. You were thrown into a school. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. We are experiencing technical difficulties. There were not so many immigrants from North China. Beyond that, we also work to create platforms for Jews of Color within our synagogue and in the Jewish community and to engage racial justice work and activism outside the temple and outside the Jewish world. My children have also experienced negative comments and have been discriminated against at Ben Gurion Airport. That was just natural for me. It is obvious that synagogues, where discrimination is most hurtful, have not addressed this vexing, humiliating and ongoing problem, whether by a few or by many Jewish racists. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. WebWang converted to Judaism, founding and leading a Jews of Color group at Manhattan Central Synagogue; on the day her debut memoir was released, Wang delivered a lay We speak to the author to hear more about her life and the book. QJW: I think it was very difficult for my parents to shift their relationship to work. (SOUNDBITE OF SPIRITUALS' "A NEW KIND OF QUIET"). the truth? During my undocumented childhood I arrived at elementary school every day starving.. Sep 9, 2021. Wang, 32, is known as Julie. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies. Published by Alma, a 70 Faces Media brand, PO Box 300742Fern Park, FL 32730Ph: (407) 834-8787info@heritagefl.com, Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation I think that is true for all three of us. From then on, I experienced a different Sharples. When 2016 election happened it jolted me awake. In All rights reserved. WebQian Julie Wang is a litigator and a graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College. What were some influential books for you growing up?, In my book, I share my story about receiving my copy of "Charlotte's Web" (which I still have!) After immigrating to America, I was never able to feel fully at home in a public space. One classmate referred to Wangs family not as low-income but no-income. So help us understand how you navigated through that world. Qian Julie Wang was bornthe daughter of two professors in China and when she was seven, they moved to Mei Guo (the Beautiful Country) America and became undocumented immigrants. What were some influential books for you growing up? I suspect that in many ways, my book feels to my father like history repeating itself: His childhood was marked by his brother writing a daring, honest and critical essay that had his entire family persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. Coming out of college, I was an English major. You do fart jokes. Everything thats super-immature, we do. Learning English and surviving the harsh realities of being undocumented, Qian Julie eventually made her way to Swarthmore College and Yale Law School, marrying and converting to Judaism. We are in overdrive pretty much all the time. Nowadays, we are sent a link to a video where authors have recorded a short blurb about their book. And I felt like such a complete fraud. Balance is a concept that I think few litigators know (I certainly don't!). That myopic focus in the U.S. tends to result in Jewish spaces that feel deeply unwelcoming, and often even overtly hostile, to Jews of Color. And the fact that people are willing to risk being undocumented shows just how bad it is in the home countries of people who immigrate. It was always drilled into me that literacy was my way out, and that was because I had a dad who was a literature professor, who had read Mark Twain and Dickens, and it was part of why he came here.
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