Dmae Roberts: “Mei Mei” 25 Years Later
Dmae Roberts in a Peabody-award winning radio documentarian who covers a wealth of issues concerning communities of color, usually specializing in the arts and social justice. With background in journalism and performing arts, her radio documentary, “Mei Mei: A Daughter’s Song” was the first Taiwanese American piece to be featured on public radio, including NPR, BBC, etc. This went on to win the Peabody Award in 1989. She won her second Peabody for “Crossing East“, an 8 part series on Asian American history, also the first of its kind to appear on public radio. Local to Portland, she hosts the KBOO arts program, Stage & Studio.
For its 25th Anniversary, Dmae has turned “Mei Mei” into a film archive, featuring mixed media while using the radio documentary as the audio track. What started out as an intense journey to Taiwan with her mother, has now become a tribute to her mother. The film’s first screening is at the Clinton Street Theater on November 21st at 8 pm.
On a personal level, Dmae has also served as my mentor in radio journalism and has invited me to guest host Stage & Studio several times. It was a special privilege for me to interview her about “Mei Mei”‘s journey! We chatted by phone for APA Compass on KBOO Community Radio.
Check out the podcast!
Air date: 11/7/2014: