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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2002

News Release

NEA Honors Cal-Berkeley Professor

Loni Ding to Receive Human Rights Award for Film Work

Washington, D.C. -- During her 30 years as an independent filmmaker, Loni Ding, a faculty member in the Asian American and Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California at Berkeley, has produced 16 programs for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and won four Emmy Awards. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Ding's work reflects her commitment to "give a voice to an invisible people: Asians in the United States."

But Ding's work goes beyond that. Ding not only uses Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos and Asian Indians as subjects in her films but also African Americans and Latinos as well. Her efforts to advance the cause of multiculturalism in the film industry have earned her a National Education Association Human and Civil Rights (HCR) awards.

Ding will be honored by NEA President Bob Chase before some 2,000 educators and invited guests, Monday, July 1, at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas. She joins ten other visionaries whose efforts to right social wrongs have had a far reaching and positive impact on this country.

The 36th annual NEA HCR Awards banquet takes place during the organization's annual meeting. Ding is one of two Californians being honored. The other is Senator Betty Karnette of Long Beach, a longtime champion of women's rights. Ding is also one of two higher education instructors being recognized this year. The other is Dr. David Protess, a Northwestern University journalism professor who used his investigative reporting classes to help free eight innocent prisoners, including three on Death Row.

Each individual award is named after human and civil rights leaders or NEA activists. Ding will receive the Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award. Onizuka, the first Asian astronaut selected by NASA, was killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986.

Ding's work, with its ethnic themes, appeals to audiences of all ages. Bean Sprouts is a five-part program showing situations faced by children in immigrant families. "I want all children here to recognize themselves and each other as being a part of America," says Ding. "My work and my research have shown that people are a lot more connected than they would ever dream."

The Practical English series included 65-half hour English lessons done bilingually. Two other films, Nisei Soldier and the Color of Honor, pay tribute to the Japanese American soldiers in World War II. Ding's award winning three-part series, Ancestors in America, chronicles the global, economic and political forces that brought Asians to America - and the legal battles that helped them earn their rightful place here. Parts I and II aired to a PBS audience of six million. Ding is still doing research and seeking funding for Part III.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.