Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at SU continues with commemorative lecture by actress, cartoonist Lela Lee April 20

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at SU continues with commemorative lecture by actress, cartoonist Lela Lee April 20April 19, 2007Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

The Office of Multicultural Affairs at Syracuse University will continue its celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with a lecture by actress and cartoonist Lela Lee, Friday, April 20, at 7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The title of the lecture is “Asian Americans and the Media: The Challenges, Rewards and Social Responsibilities.”

As a sophomore at the University of California-Berkeley, Lee first created “Angry Little Asian Girl” after viewing offensive and chauvinistic cartoons at an animated film festival. Using video editing equipment from a class, Lee created the first episode, “The First Day of School,” featuring Kim, who would become known as the “Angry Little Asian Girl.”

In the years that followed, Lee came up with four more episodes and sent them to festivals, where critics praised them. The episodes garnered positive reviews by the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly. Encouraged, Lee created a website and added new characters Deborah, Maria, Wanda and Xyla, and expanded “Angry Little Asian Girls” to become “Angry Little Girls.” The series was published as a book (Harry N. Abrams, 2005). It is currently in production as an animated television series scheduled to debut in 2008.

Lee was born in Los Angeles and raised in a conservative suburb. In addition to her work on “Angry Little Girls,” she has made a career as an actress, starring in films such as “Better Luck Tomorrow” (2002) and “Yellow” (1998), and on television programs such as NBC’s “Scrubs” and the SciFi Channel’s series “Tremors.”

This event is free and sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. For more information, contact Cedric Bolton at 443-9676.