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Activist and author Alice Wong (1974–2025) was the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online platform that amplifies disability culture, narratives, and community. Wong was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disability. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong, and Wong grew up in Indiana.
Wong began her career as an activist in her 20s, serving on a variety of committees that advocated for the rights and interests of people with disabilities. In 2013, President Barack Obama appointed Wong to the National Council on Disability. Wong received many awards for her service, including the Disability Service Award from the University of California, San Francisco and the Community Award from the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies. Her memoir, Year of the Tiger (2022), which shares some of her experiences as an Asian American disabled person, is a national bestseller.
“I never intended to be an activist. But my life has always been political. I cannot escape it. I have lived this every day ever since I was a child who had to grow up fast, a child of immigrants advocating for herself to teachers and doctors.”
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Mosaic: Themes in Asian American Studies
Highlights stories, figures, and developments from diverse communities while exploring themes such as migration, oppression, identity, expression, joy, and resistance.
