PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Wei Chen was an unlikely activist as a 16-year-old student at South Philadelphia High School and a new immigrant from China.
He harnessed adversity and confronted injustice as a student who was bullied, harassed and assaulted while at South Philadelphia High to become a local activist making a lasting change.
"I still remember what happened to me, because it really changed me a lot," Chen said.
After experiencing these things first-hand and seeing other new Asian immigrants being targeted and beaten at school, he said he got angry and realized he could not just stand idle.
"There was a moment I say, ‘We can't just [keep] letting that happen again, again to us,’” he explained. “We need to take some action, we need to boycott the school, we need a meeting with the principal and demand the change for all students.”
For these reasons, Chen organized students in 2009 for an eight-day boycott. His efforts led to a landmark federal civil rights settlement where the School District of Philadelphia implemented an anti-harassment policy and confronted anti-Asian bias.
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"We win the lawsuit in the Department of Justice," he recalled. "We win the settlement agreement, and the most important is we changed school culture."
And just a few years later, in 2013, Chen became one of the first recipients of a $50,000 Peace First prize, a fellowship given to young people working to improve their schools and communities.
Chen, now 32, is working as the civic engagement director at Asian Americans United to elevate the voices of new immigrants by getting them to the polls. He is also training new leaders to challenge the culture of indifference, just as he did as a young man.
Through all of his work, Chen continues to send a powerful message.
"Now it's our generation's turn to continue to fight for the next generation," Chen said.
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Throughout Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, KYW Newsradio is celebrating the contributions of these diverse and essential communities with an audio series called “Asian Americans Making Their Mark.”
Asian Americans are a diverse group comprising more than 30 ethnicities and nationalities and are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States. This series, led by KYW’s Denise Nakano and Tim Jimenez, recognizes their history, culture and achievements in the Philadelphia region at a time when AAPI communities are seeing a rise in anti-Asian speech and activity across the country.
Join KYW throughout the month of May as we celebrate the journeys, cultures and unique life experiences of people from Philadelphia’s AAPI communities.