Helen ZiaWinona State University will host “The Asian American Emergence and the Power of Transformation” with Helen Zia in honor of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, in East Hall, Kryzsko Commons.

Zia is an Asian-American civil rights, feminist and gay rights activist and award-winning journalist on how work has motivated new thinking on the relationship between race, gender and sexual orientation violence and hate crimes.

Using personal experiences and stories, Zia will share how hidden pieces of our common history can help transform our dreams and the world around us into positive change.

Zia is author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, a finalist for the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize. She co-authored My Country Versus Me with Wen Ho Lee, which reveals what happened to the Los Alamos scientist who was falsely accused of being a spy for China.

Her articles, essays and reviews have appeared in various publications, books and anthologies. She has also appeared in numerous news programs and films.

Zia received an honorary doctor of laws degrees from the Law School of the City University of New York for bringing important matters of law and civil rights into view. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a writer in residence with New York University’s APA Institute, and an expert fellow with the University of Southern California’s Justice and Journalism program.

Sponsors of the event include the Winona State Inclusion and Diversity Office , Southeast Technical College Student Affairs, WSU-Rochester and WSU Diversity Clubs and Organizations and the KEAP Diversity Resource Center .

For more information, email Alexander Hines, Director of Inclusion and Diversity, at AHines@winona.edu.