Last year, KSDK anchor Michelle Li went viral after she shared a voicemail from a viewer that criticized her for mentioning parts of her Korean heritage on air. The caller said Li was being "very Asian" and that she should "keep her Korean to herself."
When Li shared that clip, it got picked up by national media, and even led to the local anchor joining Ellen DeGeneres for a segment. Eventually, she founded the Very Asian Foundation. And now, she's been awarded the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award. She joined KMOX to talk about being surprised with the award on air.
"I think I'm still shocked. I was like, 'Wait, so are we doing this other segment or not?' And Rene was like, 'Michelle, move on.' And I was like, 'Okay, wait, I'm so confused,'" Li said. "It was really nice. Very unexpected. I just keep thinking like, okay, surely people are sick of me by now. But, I'm very humbled and appreciative."
When Special Agent Jay Greenberg gave Li the award, he said, "by being mature in response to hate, Michelle Li turned ignorance into a celebration of diversity." Li told KMOX that she wanted to share the call because she was proud of growing up in Missouri, but wanted people to know that things like this still happen.
"I think it was just where I was at that time in my life a year and some change ago, because I grew up in Missouri. And moving back was a really big decision for us and was actually started because my mom died," Li explained. "And I needed to help my dad, and my dad needed to help us. And so to me, I was just like, 'Gosh, I don't want to come back and feel like I'm a foreigner in my own state.'"
Hear more from Michelle Li as she discusses her foundation and her new award on KMOX:
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