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Voices of Resilience: Documenting the Foremothers of Asian American Feminist Theologies is an oral history project that commemorates and continues the celebration of PANAAWTM's 40th anniversary, which was marked in 2024. The project aims to preserve and amplify the histories and narratives of five influential PANAAWTM co-founders, foremothers, and elders who are also significant shapers of Asian American feminist theologies in their respective fields: Rita Nakashima Brock, Jung Ha Kim, Kwok Pui Lan, Su Yon Pak, and Gale A. Yee.
The project team members are: Ahyun Lee, Ban Htang, Grace Kao, Jin Young Choi, and kristine chong.
They are PANAAWTM members who have been shaped and mentored by the PANAAWTM trailblazers they interviewed.
The project multimedia designer is Janet Chen (Ma).
This project was funded by the APAARI Working Group Grant.
Rita Nakashima Brock
Rita Nakashima Brock grew up in Japan for the first 4 years & then various parts of the US & Germany in a military family. She discusses the racism she experienced,
how/why she came to study religion/theology in college & later graduate school, her turn to social activism, development of a feminist consciousness and the leadership roles she played in various movements,
jobs, and programs.
Jung Ha Kim
Jung Ha Kim was born in 1959, the year of the pig. She moved from North Korean to South Korea, grew up between Busan, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan and moved to Atlanta, USA in 1985 after her father’s death, where she became active in Asian American community research and feminist leadership.
She earned an M.A. in Theological Education from Princeton Theological Seminary (1985) and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Georgia State University (1992). Her contributions include founding the Asian American Community Research Institute at CPACS, leading CPACS as CEO (2021–22), co‑editing Leading Wisdom, and guiding PANAAWTM’s transition from a grassroots network to a nonprofit as president (2019–22); she now serves as President of Community Resource Corporation and co‑investigator on UCLA’s NIH‑funded BRAVE study (2023–27).
Kwok Pui Lan
Kwok Pui Lan was born in 1952 in the former British Colony of Hong Kong. She was raised by a working-class family and grew up in an interreligious environment. In her teenage world, her neighbor brought her to the Anglican church in Hong Kong, and she became an Anglican. She was fascinated by the wide-ranging aspects of Christian theological tradition and pursued Christian theology in her undergraduate program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong as well as her graduate studies at Harvard University. She discusses her interests in studying theology/religion and her conmmittemnet to building up communities that advocate for gender justice, Asian women's agency, and intra-interreligious engagement.
Su Yon Pak
Su Yon Pak was born in 1960 on the Korean peninsula. In 1971, at the age of 10, Su immigrated to New York with her family members, including her mother, father, older brother, and 2 younger sisters. Su completed her BA at Cornell University in 1982, her MA at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1986, and her EDD in Religion and Education at Teachers College of Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in 1999. Su joined PANAAWTM in 1985 and played an active role throughout its four decades. serving as Treasurer when PANAAWTM transitioned to become a 501(c)3 organization.
Su is the Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Dean and Associate Professor of Integrative and Field-Based Education at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. She is the Board Chair of United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, Senior Advisor and an advisory board member of the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, a Ruling Elder of the First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, and a spiritual director grounded in contemplative traditions. She is the grandmother of two amazing granddaughters.
Gale A. Yee
Gale A. Yee grew up in Chicago in a very poor gang-ridden neighborhood. She did her BA in English Literature at Loyola University in Chicago. She also did her MA in New Testament at Loyola. She spent five years of her doctorate in New Testament at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto (Toronto School of Theology). She saw the light and spent four years in Hebrew Bible, graduating in 1985.