From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry, Paula Yoo
From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry, Paula Yoo
1 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry
The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement

Author: Paula Yoo

Narrator: Catherine Ho

Unabridged: 7 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 04/20/2021


Synopsis

America in 1982: Japanese car companies are on the rise and believed to be putting U.S. autoworkers out of their jobs. Anti–Asian American sentiment simmers, especially in Detroit. A bar fight turns fatal, leaving a Chinese American man, Vincent Chin, beaten to death at the hands of two white men, autoworker Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz.

Paula Yoo has crafted a searing examination of the killing and the trial and verdicts that followed. When Ebens and Nitz pled guilty to manslaughter and received only a $3,000 fine and three years’ probation, the lenient sentence sparked outrage. The protests that followed led to a federal civil rights trial—the first involving a crime against an Asian American—and galvanized what came to be known as the Asian American movement.

Extensively researched from court transcripts, contemporary news accounts, and in-person interviews with key participants, From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry is a suspenseful, nuanced, and authoritative portrait of a pivotal moment in civil rights history, and a man who became a symbol against hatred and racism.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Emi on April 12, 2021

When Vincent Chin was brutally murdered in Detroit by an auto worker and his laid off step-son in June of 1982, I had just finished my sophomore year of high school in the suburbs, where I was the only Japanese-American student and everybody seemed to assume that me and Kim the only Korean-American......more

Goodreads review by Alex on March 17, 2021

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry in exchange for an honest review. It's difficult with books like these to separate content and intent from impact because ultimately while I think Vincent Chin's story and the implications of it on a global scale are im......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on February 27, 2021

Overall, this book did a good job of relaying the complexity of the Vincent Chin case from the cultural context, the act itself, the trials, and its legacy, up to and including the racism surrounding the Coronavirus. That said, this retelling was a slog. If part of the intent was to sympathize with......more

Goodreads review by Mimi on March 30, 2023

This book provides the facts of the case from a very objective lens, which I think was necessary in order to ensure that the violent mistreatment and wrongful death of Vincent were not discredited. However, I feel that writing in such an unbiased manner gave the killers more remorse than should have......more

Goodreads review by Edward on September 25, 2021

A deeply researched, compelling, and heartbreaking examination of a brutal killing that resonated with Asian Americans and galvanized a movement. A bar fight in Detroit turns fatal, leaving Chinese American Vincent Chin beaten to death at the hands of two white men, autoworker Ronald Ebens and his s......more