In reflecting on the National AAPI Heritage Celebration, The Opportunity Network would like to spotlight three individuals who have had significant moments in May. A television adaptation of Celeste Ng’s New York Times bestseller Little Fires Everywhere was met with critical acclaim. Journalist Weija Jiang was commended by fellow journalists for directly confronting President Trump’s racist rhetoric in press briefings. Comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani co-stars in a top-streamed romantic comedy on Netflix.
Celeste Ng, Novelist
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a chemist and a physicist from Hong Kong, and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Celeste was deeply influenced by the role class and identity played in the suburban neighborhoods. She explored those complex social dynamics in her 2014 debut novel Everything I Never Told You, which rocketed to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list, and her follow-up novel Little Fires Everywhere which followed the same trajectory in 2017. Everything I Never Told You has been optioned for adaptation into a feature-length film starring actress Julia Roberts, and Little Fires Everywhere has been developed into a top-streamed, critically-acclaimed HULU series. Despite her success and a large advance, Celeste has discussed struggling with the publishing industry’s approach to promoting novels by writers of color only to audiences who share their same identities. In addition to speaking out on bias within publishing, Celeste has consistently leveraged her success into the creation of pathways for other Asian and non-white writers, consistently providing blurbs -- coveted promotional quotes published on the covers of books -- and providing advice to up-and-coming authors.
Weija Jiang, Journalist
Though Weija Jiang has been a professional journalist for fifteen years, she has recently attracted the public’s attention for her confrontations with President Donald Trump. As a CBS News White House Correspondent, Weija attends press briefings with the President, who has on multiple occasions directed derogatory remarks toward her. Most notably, after calling out the President’s suggestion that she -- a Chinese-born woman -- direct her line of questioning on COVID-19 to China, he abruptly ended the briefing and left the room. Her consistent efforts to hold the President accountable has been lauded by fellow journalists and viewers alike.
Weija’s passion for journalism began early, at age 13, when Weija won a competition to become a student reporter and anchor for Los Angeles’ Channel News One. After graduating from college, Weija went on to earn a master’s in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University, and began her career as a reporter in Baltimore, Maryland. Her work at local stations in Maryland earned her an Edward R. Murrow Award and an Associated Press Award for feature reporting. She later moved to New York to become a general reporter, covering Sandy Hook school shooting, the Boston Marathon bombing, Hurricane Sandy, and other regional events. Born in Xiamen, China, Weija immigrated with her parents to West Virginia when she was two years old. She currently resides with her family in Washington, D.C.
Kumail Nanjiani, Comedian, Screen and Voice Actor
After several years of podcasting, guest starring, and voice acting, Kumail Nanjiani’s first big role was as a coder on the HBO Series Silicon Valley. In 2017, his 2017 romantic comedy The Big Sick, written by Kumail and his wife about their relationship, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars and was selected by The American Film Institute as one of the year’s top ten films. Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Kumail immigrated to the U.S. to attend Grinnell College in Iowa. After graduation, Kumail moved to Chicago to launch his comedy career, and later to California to begin acting. His voice and screen roles have been wide-ranging, showing audiences that brown men can be romantic, comic, and soon, superheroes. Kumail will be playing the role of Kingo Sunen in Marvel’s Eternals, a character who has learned the art of the samurai and goes on to become a Hollywood action star, in the film that will be released in February 2021. In the meantime, Kumail is currently co-starring in the romantic comedy Lovebirds with Issa Rae, which has consistently been in the top ten streamed films on Netflix since its May 22 release.
