Russell Jeung

Russell Jeung profiled at the local ABC affiliate

Russell Jeung is a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. He has a profile at Sojourners.

Married to Joan Jeung.

Bio

Russell Jeung received a BA in Human Biology and a MA in Education from Stanford University. After working in China and in the Mayor's Office of San Francisco, he obtained his PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2000. After teaching at Foothill College for two years, he came to San Francisco State University's Asian American Studies Department in 2002.

Dr. Jeung is author of Sustaining Faith Traditions: Race, Ethnicity and Religion Among the Latino and Asian American Second Generation (New York University Press, 2012) and Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches (Rutgers University Press, 2004). In addition, he has co-produced with Valerie Soe the documentary, The Oak Park Story (2010), about a landmark housing lawsuit involving his fellow Cambodian and Latino tenants. His spiritual memoir--A Guest in Exile-- about his family history, his Hakka Chinese American background, and his experiences in East Oakland for the last two decades will be published in Fall 2016 by Zondervan Press.

His research interests include the Sociology of Race, the Sociology of Religion, and Social Movements. His current research project examines the worldview of Chinese Americans, who are the most non-religious ethnic group in the United States.

Dr. Jeung is extensively engaged with his students in conducting community-based, participatory research with Asian American communities.

Open Letter to the Biden Campaign on “Unprepared”

Open Letter to the Biden Campaign on “Unprepared” was released May 12 2020.

":Our demands: The country’s greatest priority at this moment is to beat the COVID-19 crisis, and this requires embracing principles of antiracist solidarity and international cooperation. The Biden campaign can and should beat Trump and the GOP with a message centered on our real public health needs and the progressive values that are required to meet those needs. The “Unprepared” ad must be taken down, and all campaign messaging that fuels anti-Asian racism and China-bashing must end. We refuse to allow the Biden campaign to sacrifice our dignity in the name of political expediency."

Signatories included Russell Jeung, Chair, Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University.

Joint Op-Ed blaming President Trump for alleged anti-Asian sentiment

Stop AAPI Hate founders Russell Jeung, chair and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action wrote a joint op-ed published at the Los Angeles Times titled "Op-Ed: Trump’s racist comments are fueling hate crimes against Asian Americans. Time for state leaders to step in" published on April 1 2020.

Excerpt:

After news of the coronavirus broke in January, Asian Americans almost immediately experienced racial taunts on school campuses, shunning on public transit and cyber-bullying on social media. When President Trump insisted on labeling the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” in early March, these attacks became more virulent and common.

The FBI now warns of an increase of hate crimes against Asian Americans, but we’ve already experienced a surge. Since the Stop AAPI Hate website, a project of the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action, launched on March 19 to track anti-Asian harassment, it has received more than 1,000 reports from people in 32 states detailing verbal abuse, denial of services, discrimination on the job or physical assaults.

Several people have reported others coughing at them, including this frightening incident: “A white man on open sidewalk approached and stepped directly in front of me and coughed in extremely exaggerated manner in my face — loudly, mouth wide open, about 2 feet from my face, said ‘take my virus.’”

Sojourners

Russell Jeung has a profile at Sojourners, where he has written articles with headlines such as: "In Many Asian-American Communities, Trump Ban Follows History of Persecution," "Trump’s Anti-Family Approach to Immigration," and "What the Bible Teaches Us on Climate Migration."

'Coronavirus-Related' Hate Crimes and 'Microaggressions' Tracker

In an article titled "Online reporting center launched to track coronavirus-related hate crimes," by Theodora Yu at the Sacremento Bee in March 2020, Russell Jeung was cited as "Lead Researcher" in a study at San Francisco State University that "found a 50 percent rise in the number of news articles related to the coronavirus and anti-Asian discrimination between Feb. 9 and March 7." According to the article, "Professor Jeung has helped set up a website in six Asian languages to gather firsthand accounts; some 150 cases have been reported on the site since it was started last Thursday."

Verbatim:

In response to rising discrimination toward the Asian community resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, Californian organizations have launched an online response form to collect and track incidents of microaggressions and harassment.

The initiative was jointly established by advocacy organizations Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and the Chinese for Affirmative Action based in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The form records the date, time and address of the incident, among other details such as contact information of the person who is filing the report. Urgent matters should be reported to the police, according to form instructions.

The form is available in English, traditional and simplified Chinese and Korean so far, and will eventually be available in seven to ten languages, said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council.

According to Kulkarni, community members who are immigrants with limited English proficiency are most comfortable filling the forms in their language of origin.

“We want to make it easy for them, especially seniors, to complete the forms,” she said.

The lack of language resources as well as fears related to the immigration statuses could be factors on why individuals have been hesitant to communicate with law enforcement about the hate crimes they’ve faced, she added.

Kulkarni said that the collected data will be used for a public education campaign, advocacy work and providing direct assistance.

It also allows the organizations to assess the extent and magnitude of these incidents and to develop strategic interventions, said Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, in a news release.

“We want community members to know they are not alone. They can speak out and help stop the spread of bigotry,” she said.

“This reporting will help us create effective policy solutions for long-lasting change with a deeper impact, so this doesn’t happen again to our communities or any other community,” said Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco and chair of the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus.

Experts and officials denounced President Trump’s labelling of COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus,” which could put Asian Americans at risk of virus-related retaliation.

Dr. Russell Jeung, chair and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, saw an increase of racist incidents against Asian Americans following inflammatory comments.

“Clearly, with such political framing, Asians of different ethnicities are being racially profiled as a foreign threat,” Jeung said.

“COVID-19 is a public health issue, not a racial one,” said Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. “Calling it a ‘Chinese virus’ only encourages hate crimes and incidents against Asian Americans at a time when communities should be working together to get through this crisis.”

All information recorded in the online forms will be kept confidential and only shared upon granted permission.

Cited in New York Times Article about American 'Bigots'

Russell Jeung was cited in a New York Times article written by Sabrina Tavernise and Richard Oppel, Jr. Published March 23, 2020 titled "Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety" with the byline "[A]s bigots blame them for the coronavirus and President Trump labels it the 'Chinese virus,' many Chinese-Americans say they are terrified of what could come next."

Verbatim:

WASHINGTON — Yuanyuan Zhu was walking to her gym in San Francisco on March 9, thinking the workout could be her last for a while, when she noticed that a man was shouting at her. He was yelling an expletive about China. Then a bus passed, she recalled, and he screamed after it, “Run them over.”

She tried to keep her distance, but when the light changed, she was stuck waiting with him at the crosswalk. She could feel him staring at her. And then, suddenly, she felt it: his saliva hitting her face and her favorite sweater.

In shock, Ms. Zhu, who is 26 and moved to the United States from China five years ago, hurried the rest of the way to the gym. She found a corner where no one could see her, and she cried quietly.

“That person didn’t look strange or angry or anything, you know?” she said of her tormentor. “He just looked like a normal person.”

As the coronavirus upends American life, Chinese-Americans face a double threat. Not only are they grappling like everyone else with how to avoid the virus itself, they are also contending with growing racism in the form of verbal and physical attacks. Other Asian-Americans — with families from Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar and other places — are facing threats, too, lumped together with Chinese-Americans by a bigotry that does not know the difference.

In interviews over the past week, nearly two dozen Asian-Americans across the country said they were afraid — to go grocery shopping, to travel alone on subways or buses, to let their children go outside. Many described being yelled at in public — a sudden spasm of hate that is reminiscent of the kind faced by American Muslims, Arabs and South Asians in the United States after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

But unlike in 2001, when President George W. Bush urged tolerance of American Muslims, this time President Trump is using language that Asian-Americans say is inciting racist attacks.

Mr. Trump and his Republican allies are intent on calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus,” rejecting the World Health Organization’s guidance against using geographic locations when naming illnesses, since past names have provoked a backlash.

Mr. Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he was calling the virus “Chinese” to combat a disinformation campaign by Beijing officials saying the American military was the source of the outbreak. He dismissed concerns that his language would lead to any harm.

Russell Jeung

On Monday evening, Mr. Trump tweeted, “It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States.” He added they should not be blamed for the pandemic, though he did not comment on his use of the phrase “Chinese virus.”

“If they keep using these terms, the kids are going to pick it up,” said Tony Du, an epidemiologist in Howard County, Md., who fears for his son, Larry. “They are going to call my 8-year-old son a Chinese virus. It’s serious.”

Mr. Du said he posted on Facebook that “this is the darkest day in my 20-plus years of life in the United States,” referring to Mr. Trump’s doubling down on use of the term.

While no firm numbers exist yet, Asian-American advocacy groups and researchers say there has been a surge of verbal and physical assaults reported in newspapers and to tip lines.

San Francisco State University found a 50 percent rise in the number of news articles related to the coronavirus and anti-Asian discrimination between Feb. 9 and March 7. The lead researcher, Russell Jeung, a professor of Asian-American studies, said the figures represented “just the tip of the iceberg” because only the most egregious cases would be likely to be reported by the media.

Professor Jeung has helped set up a website in six Asian languages to gather firsthand accounts; some 150 cases have been reported on the site since it was started last Thursday.

Benny Luo, founder and chief executive of NextShark, a website focused on Asian-American news, said the site used to get a few tips a day. Now it is dozens.

“We’ve never received this many news tips about racism against Asians,” he said. “It’s crazy. My staff is pulling double duty just to keep up.” He said he was hiring two more people to help.

No one is immune to being targeted. Dr. Edward Chew, the head of the emergency department at a large Manhattan hospital, is on the front lines of fighting the coronavirus. He said that over the past few weeks, he had noticed people trying to cover their nose and mouth with their shirts when they are near him.

Dr. Chew has been using his free time to buy protective gear, like goggles and face shields, for his staff in case his hospital runs out. On Wednesday night at a Home Depot, with his cart filled with face shields, masks and Tyvek suits, he said he was harassed by three men in their 20s, who then followed him into the parking lot.

“I heard of other Asians being assaulted over this, but when you are actually ridiculed yourself, you really feel it,” he said the following day.

A writer for The New Yorker, Jiayang Fan, said she was taking out her trash last week when a man walking by began cursing at her for being Chinese.

“I’ve never felt like this in my 27 yrs in this country,” she wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “I’ve never felt afraid to leave my home to take out the trash bc of my face.”

Attacks have also gotten physical.

In the San Fernando Valley in California, a 16-year old Asian-American boy was attacked in school by bullies who accused him of having the coronavirus. He was sent to the emergency room to see whether he had a concussion.

In New York City a woman wearing a mask was kicked and punched in a Manhattan subway station, and a man in Queens was followed to a bus stop, shouted at and then hit over the head in front of his 10-year-old son.

People have rushed to protect themselves. One man started a buddy-system Facebook group for Asians in New York who are afraid to take the subway by themselves. Gun shop owners in the Washington, D.C., area said they were seeing a surge of first-time Chinese-American buyers.

At Engage Armament in Rockville, Md., most gun buyers in the first two weeks of March have been Chinese-American or Chinese, according to the owner, Andy Raymond.

More than a fifth of Rockville’s residents are of Asian ethnicity, and Mr. Raymond said buyers from Korean and Vietnamese backgrounds were not unusual. But Mr. Raymond said he was stunned by the flow of Chinese customers — in particular green-card holders from mainland China — that began earlier this month, a group that rarely patronized his shop before.

“It was just nonstop, something I’ve never seen,” he said.

Mr. Raymond said that few of the Asian customers wanted to talk about why they were there, but when one of his employees asked a woman about it, she teared up. “To protect my daughter,” she replied.

For recent immigrants like Mr. Du who are in close touch with friends and family in China, the virus has been a screaming danger for weeks that most Americans seemed oblivious to.

Mr. Du is trying to remain hopeful. He spends his weekends training to become a volunteer with Maryland’s emergency medical workers. He is part of a group of Chinese-American scientists who organized a GoFundMe account to raise money for protective gear for hospital workers in the area. In three days, they raised more than $55,000, nearly all in small donations.

But he said he was afraid of the chaos that could be unleashed if the United States death toll rises significantly.

Already a gun owner, Mr. Du, 48, said he was in the process of buying an AR-15-style rifle.

“Katrina is not far away,” he said, alluding to the unrest in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “And when all these bad things come, I am a minority. People can see my face is Chinese, clearly. My son, when he goes out, they will know his parents are Chinese.”

For American-born Asians, there is a sudden sense of being watched that is as unsettling as it is unfamiliar.

“It’s a look of disdain,” said Chil Kong, a Korean-American theater director in Maryland. “It’s just: ‘How dare you exist in my world? You are a reminder of this disease, and you don’t belong in my world.’”

He added: “It’s especially hard when you grow up here and expect this world to be yours equally. But we do not live in that world anymore. That world does not exist.”

One debate among Asian-Americans has been over whether to wear a mask in public. Wearing one risks drawing unwanted attention; but not wearing one does, too. Ms. Zhu said her parents, who live in China, offered to ship her some.

“I’m like, ‘Oh please, don’t,’” she said. She said she was afraid of getting physically attacked if she wore one. “Lots of my friends, their social media posts are all about this: We don’t wear masks. It’s kind of more dangerous than the virus.”

A 30-year-old videographer in Syracuse, N.Y., said he was still shaken from a trip to the grocery store last week, when the man ahead of him in the checkout line shouted at him, “It’s you people who brought the disease,” and other customers just stared at him, without offering to help. That same day, he said, two couples verbally abused him at Costco.

“I feel like I’m being invaded by this hatred,” said the man, Edward, who asked that his last name not be used because he feared attracting more attention. “It’s everywhere. It’s silent. It’s as deadly as this disease.”

He said he had tried to hide the details of what happened from his mother, who moved to the United States from China in the 1970s. But there was one thing he did tell her.

“I told her, whatever you do, you can’t go shopping,” he said. “She needed to know there’s a problem and we can’t act like it’s normal anymore.”

Russell Jeung Denounces Xenophobia

In February, 2020, Russell Jeung was profiled at the local ABC affiliate.

Some of his statements:

"People are being racially profiled for being Asian looking, especially if you're wearing a mask. On social media, people are being trolled a lot. There are reports sadly of school kids getting bullied," Jeung said.

Jeung said he recently came down with the flu and compared the American flu to the coronavirus.

"People aren't calling for the quarantine of American people. The H1N1, is just as deadly," Jeung said.

He said sadly what would dispel some of the xenophobic behavior is if people who are non-Chinese get it.

Red Letter Christians in support of the impeachment inquiry

Russell Jeung signed a letter supporting an "impeachment inquiry" into President Donald Trump. At a circa October 2019 gathering of “Red Letter Christians” in Goldsboro, North Carolina, over 100 Christian leaders from across the country signed a letter supporting the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. He signed his name as "Dr. Russell Jeung, San Francisco State University"

Statement of Red Letter Christians in support of the impeachment inquiry as a search for truth

"As Christians in the United States of America, we join together as people of faith to express our conviction that an impeachment inquiry is necessary to reveal the truth, hold President Donald J. Trump and other public officials accountable, and bolster democracy in the United States. We welcome the light of truth, honesty, and transparency that this moment affords our country, whatever may be revealed. We call for an open inquiry that shines light on this administration’s dealings behind closed doors and petition people of faith and integrity to join us in calling forth this light.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” Jesus said (John 8:12). Jesus’ words and ministry highlight the connection between truth and the well-being of the poor, the sick, the immigrant, the imprisoned, and the earth. Likewise, we who follow Jesus must make visible that any President’s violation of his oath of office would harm the most vulnerable among us.

The current impeachment inquiry is focused specifically on whether President Trump solicited help from a foreign government in his 2020 re-election campaign, buried evidence of that solicitation, and then attacked the whistleblowers and Congressional representatives who brought evidence to light. The constitutional process that gives the U.S. Congress power to investigate and try a sitting President is needed in this moment, because none of us can know the full truth apart from this process. But we have already seen enough to know that the accusations are both serious and credible.

While President Trump claims there is an evangelical revival supporting him, we know there is also a revival of people of faith whose commitment to truth remains strong and vigilant. We are Christians who resolutely affirm Jesus’ teachings of justice, love, and equality — echoed in the basic values at the heart of our democracy. This is not a matter of partisanship, but of deepest principle.

For the sake of our nation’s integrity and the most vulnerable in our society, we call on fellow Christians to support the current impeachment inquiry. Now is the time to shine the light of truth. Please join us in praying that the truth will be revealed and set us all free.

End National Security Scapegoating

In early October 2017, Chinese for Affirmative Action joined Chinese Progressive Association, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus and notable community leaders Henry Der, Ling-chi Wang, and Helen Zia to form the End National Security Scapegoating (ENSS) coalition. The coalition was established in response to pervasive efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice that target and prosecute Chinese American individuals for espionage related crimes.

One such Chinese American is Professor Xiaoxing Xi, who, in 2015, was falsely charged and prosecuted by the FBI for allegedly sharing technology to a Chinese-based company. He faced charges carrying a maximum penalty of 80 years in prison and a $1 million fine. After causing significant hardship and distress to Professor Xi and his family, the FBI eventually dropped the case without explanation or an apology.

Members of the ENSS coalition and supporters at San Francisco State University. From left to right: Cynthia Choi, CAA Co-Executive Director; CA Assemblymember Phil Ting; Prof. Xiaoxing Xi; Grace Yoo, Chair of the Asian American Studies Dept.; Dr. Russell Jeung, SFSU Professor; Pam Tau Lee, Chinese Progressive Association Board Chair.

Today, Professor Xi is seeking justice and accountability for his wrongful prosecution and to help end national security scapegoating and racial profiling in general. In efforts to raise awareness and to mobilize the community, the ENSS coalition invited Professor Xi to participate in a speaking tour at San Francisco State University, University of California-Berkeley, and Stanford University. Along with other experts, Professor Xi spoke powerfully about the dangers of racial bias in government surveillance programs based on his own experience.

Regrettably, this form of discrimination is part of our U.S. history. From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, Asian Americans have been labeled and profiled as perpetual foreigners and threats to national security. The Muslim Ban, police violence against African Americans, and attacks against immigrants today must be understood in this same vein.

CAA, with our ENSS coalition partners, will continue to oppose efforts to racially profile Asians Americans under the false pretext of national security, to advocate for greater government accountability, and to build alliances across affected communities.

A Declaration by American Evangelicals Concerning Donald Trump

In October 2016, Russell Jeung was one of the signatories for a letter condemning then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. He signed his name as "Dr. Russell Jeung, Author and Professor, New Hope Covenant Church"

Excerpt:

"We believe the candidacy of Donald J. Trump has given voice to a movement that affirms racist elements in white culture—both explicit and implicit. Regardless of his recent retraction, Mr. Trump has spread racist “birther” falsehoods for five years trying to delegitimize and humiliate our first African-American president, characterizing him as “the other” and not a real American citizen. He uses fear to demonize and degrade immigrants, foreigners, and people from different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. He launched his presidential campaign by demonizing Mexicans, immigrants, and Muslims, and has repeatedly spoken against migrants and refugees coming to this country—those whom Jesus calls “the stranger” in Matthew 25, where he says that how we treat them is how we treat him. Trump has steadily refused to clearly and aggressively confront extremist voices and movements of white supremacy, some of whom now call him their “champion,” and has therefore helped to take the dangerous fringes of white nationalism in America to the mainstream of politics."

'Spiritual Memoir'

In October 2016, Russell Jeung published a "spiritual memoir" titled "At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus among My Ancestors and Refugee Neighbors" with a forward by Gene Luen Yang. The Description at Amazon says in part:

"Russell Jeung’s spiritual memoir shares the joyful and occasionally harrowing stories of his life in East Oakland’s Murder Dubs neighborhood—including battling drug dealers who threatened him, exorcising a spirit possessing a teen, and winning a landmark housing settlement against slumlords with 200 of his closest Cambodian and Latino friends."

Reviews for the book as detailed on the Amazon profile:

• Activist. Theologian. Hakka. Chinese American. Follower of Jesus. These words describe Russell Jeung and yet do not fully comprehend the story he has crafted in this masterful book. Part autobiography, part community history, and part liberation lived theology, At Home in Exile captures the heart and soul of following Jesus through living in community among the poor in Oakland. Follow and be transformed. -- The Rev. Dr. Frank Yamada, President, McCormick Theological Seminary

• In a watershed moment for refugees and immigrants, Russell Jeung felicitously reminds us of God's love for the least of these. This book powerfully illuminates the plight of the poor and disenfranchised while pointing towards the hope that is rooted and ultimately found in cruciform communities that express their faith in love. -- Dominique Gilliard, Board of Directors, Christian Community Development Association

• Russell’s life journey is a prophetic challenge to our Evangelical affluent upward mobile suburban culture. A rarity among privileged ivy-leagued Asian American upbringing, his story is a must read for those who are considering a life with a purpose beyond a white picket fence in an upscale suburban neighborhood. The various lives mentioned in At Home in Exile fulfill a longing to see modern day monastic examples of those who have given up the American dream for an intentional life of hardship and danger for the sake of the gospel. Written as a narrative of intriguing relationships through communal living, Russell's humor and raw wittiness is accompanied with deeper theological reflection. As a Hakka, a ‘guest' in exile living among refugees, Russell reminds us of the simple gospel message; that as incarnate sojourners in a broken world, we find Jesus and trust that the Kingdom is near. -- David Ro, Director of the Christy Wilson Center, Gordon-Conwell; East Asia Director for the Lausanne Movement

• Russell Jeung is a rare person who embodies courage, authenticity, and integrity in a culture of consumption and assimilation. Unlike other books, this book, At Home in Exile is a page turner because the author, as one of the residents, narrates the stories of Oak Park community of refugees and migrants. It is among the poor and broken, in which Jeung, a fifth generation Hakka Chinese American, experiences the beloved community which resonates with the early Christian community under imperial Roman culture. Jeung takes the readers on his intimately courageous journey who enter into his world with a sense of belonging and ancestral roots. This is a must book for the homeless mind on this shore that longs to retrieve buried memories and roots for social change. -- Rev Young Lee Hertig, Co-founder/Executive Director, ISAAC/AAWOL (Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity)

• An important biblical theme is that God speaks to His people while they are in movement, migrating or in exile. Russell Jeung invites us to recognize that we learn about God and about what God is doing when we live into our own experience of exile and choose to live and minister among migrants and exiles. At Home in Exile is autobiography, theology and missiology. This book challenges us to see that exile is a unique place to serve God and to learn about how God is at work in the world. -- Juan Francisco Martinez, Professor of Pastoral Leadership and Hispanic Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

• Russell Jeung’s memoir of life in East Oakland is warm, humorous and challenging. He wears his learning lightly but it’s obvious that he can teach us a thing or two about the way faith affects life. -- Tim Stafford, General Editor, God’s Justice: The Holy Bible

• I know Russell Jeung to be a world-class academic, but he is quite unlike many scholars in that he lives out his resulting convictions in his daily life. That by itself is highly noteworthy. However, as demonstrated in this remarkable book, Jeung is also unlike the typical scholar in that he is a masterful and compelling storyteller, taking the reader not just into the daily lives of impoverished immigrants in Oakland, CA, but also inside his own struggles and transformation as he comes to identify with the poor. His talent for narrating these intermingled stories caused me to think more deeply about my own story as a grandson of immigrants from China. And as a devout Christian, it also made me question many of my own choices to avoid regularly intersecting my life with poor immigrants, especially those from parts of Asia that are in my own backyard. By showing himself to be a flawed and humble example of someone who clearly wants to follow Jesus, Jeung manages both to inspire and instruct the reader to take concrete steps in the direction of “the least of these.” -- Rev. Dr. Ken Uyeda Fong, Executive Director, Asian American Initiative and Assistant Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary

• At Home in Exile is more than exploring Asian-American identity, although that certainly undergirds the story. Russell Jeung’s journey is also one of deep Christian faith, committed urban life, and community activism, which together convey a compelling challenge for all followers of Jesus---namely, to embrace our ultimately identity as exiles in Christ who can speak truth to power in all cultures. -- Al Tizon, Executive Minister of Serve Globally, Evangelical Covenant Church

• Many times, it is so easy to get severed from one's root and faith along the way of pursuing American Dream in the U.S. It is heartening to read the life of one who God blesses with many achievements, and yet does not get disconnected from one's faith and root. I am confident that this book will inspire many others to participate more in their 'exile' communities and find it at home there. -- Kenneth VanBik, Lecturer, Department of Linguistics and Language Development, San Jose State University

• At Home in Exile is the incredible story of a committed Christian disciple living in a poor, drug-infested, and refugee-ghetto neighborhood of Oakland, CA. As an evangelical Stanford-educated professor and a fifth-generation Chinese American, Jeung has tried to live out Jesus in this neighborhood as an exile in the US, suffering alongside with refugees from Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and undocumented Hispanics. He sees the church as a mother and a home providing hope for compassion for the downtrodden, the disinherited, and the disheartened. His autobiography is truly captivating, inspiring, and moving, challenging all of us on a fundamental level to re-examine our lives of following Jesus. -- Andrew Sung Park, Professor of Theology and Ethics, United Theological Seminary

• Russell Jeung's book 'At Home in Exile' at first glance, may be read as an wild adventure tale of ragtag bunch of misfits in exile whether it be Russell - a descendant of the Hakkas or the Cambodian refugee grandmother, or the African American gang members who stole his laptop to the veteran who keeps waiting for his big check all living in public housing complex. But it is so much more as he weaves the stories of their lives to lift up social injustice, racism, poverty, and obeying Jesus in a delightful storytelling! I was inspired, challenged and my faith and conscience pricked at times reading Russell's obedience of truly walking amongst and embracing the poor. At the same time, his transparency of his own humanness facing at times the raw reality of humanity and poverty and living in a crime driven neighborhood makes his faith ever more real. Finally, I was inspired to want to do more as he shares the beauty, joy, life and hope that can be found even amongst the poor and those in exile and the interconnectedness amongst all of us. -- Hyepin Im, President and CEO, Korean Churches for Community Development

• Jeung takes us into a decades long journey of relocation into an urban community. He writes with the insights borne from lived experiences. Jeung writes with the acuity of a scholar, the heart of a pastor, and the soul of a Christ follower. A compelling commentary on consumerism, materialism, success, patriarchy, power, marginality. At Home in Exile is informed by Jeung’s Asian American identity, he gives tremendous insights for people of all backgrounds. His family history takes the reader through a journey that touches on Hollywood’s history, immigration history, the emergence and destruction of Chinatowns, and family and social services. It is a portrait of the unexpected way perceptions of race touch many of society’s institutions --which has surprising implications for today’s contentious issues. -- Nikki Toyama-Szeto, Director, International Justice Mission (IJM) Institute for Biblical Justice; Author, God of Justice

• Russell (or Dr. Jeung) has taken elements of the Christian faith and theology, the US West Coast Asian American history/experience, life in my beloved Oakland, California, and his own life, and woven them together in a way that is educational, engaging, and authentic. He wrestles with some of the deeper complexities of urban ministry, community justice, Christian community, life calling, and family safety in a way that both gives the issues their due challenge and gives the reader some helps on how to navigate them with intellectual and personal integrity. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in seeing how a humble “Disney princess” has sought to be faithful to his heritage, his community, his calling, his family, and his God. -- Rev. Phil Bowling-Dyer, Director of Diversity Training, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

• Displacement and longing for a home are not only a contemporary reality for many, but also interweaving thread throughout the Biblical Narratives. Russell Jeung’s account of his family history and diasporic calling are profoundly moving and inspiring to all Christ followers. In these stories we learn how to journey like Jesus and make sense of our own wanderings and hope for our eternal destiny. -- Dr. Sam George, Executive Director, Parivar International

• I've gotten to know Dr. Russell Jeung these past few years. I've stayed in his home. Visited the men and women he has served. I've witnessed his sacrificial love for the Cambodian families and other refugee families in Oak Park. He is an inspiration to me and to those who know and respect him. His book about his life with Cambodian refugees reveals the strength and depth of my people. -- Ken Kong, Director, Southeast Asian Ministries-The Navigators; Director, Southeast Asian Catalyst

Tribute to Jennie Matyas and Chinese Garment Workers

March 2010 City College San Francisco Screenshot of events

Russell Jeung took part in a "Tribute to Jennie Matyas and Chinese Garment Workers" as a part of "International Women's History Month" with Darlene Crumedy, Martha Joseph, and Anita Luo on March 11, 2010 at the City College of San Francisco.

Asian American Community

1982 Stanford Daily Asian American Community Mtg.: All welcome to this general mtg. to help plan for next year. Will organize joint events among organizations. Open more info, call Russell Jeung.