George Woo

George Woo was born on February 1, 1938, he was a spokesperson for the Wah Ching, a notorious Chinese American criminal organization. One of his most prominent moments involved speaking out against the leadership in Chinatown that kept the city in a state of poverty and stagnation . In 1970 he was hired to teach Ethnic Studies in the Asian American Studies department at San Francisco State University and became the Asian American Studies Department Chair in 1984. He became emeritus in 2001

George Woo was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States in 1953 at the age of 15. He attended Galileo high school and graduated in 1956. Because of rent prices, he lived with his second brother on Waverly Place and Stockton Street in Hop Sing Tong’s rooming house where he shared a room with two of his brothers. When he arrived, there were no education systems for bilingual children, just special classes for immigrants depending on their level of English knowledge. Woo proceeded to join the military on his birthday, February 1, 1957. After around two years of being involved in gang activity George Woo returned to school at San Francisco State where he later began teaching Asian American Studies after receiving a degree in photography. He taught for 31 years, starting in 1970 and retiring in 2001.

After leaving the military he continued with his schooling, choosing to study photography. He later got a job at Sunset Magazine where he worked as a photographer’s assistant. He idealized the life that Sunset Magazine promoted; it was a middle-class magazine that taught people how to travel, take care of the house, cook, etc. However he quit in 1967 after deciding that he didn’t want to pursue that kind of life.

On a walk through Chinatown, George Woo was confronted by social workers in charge of the town’s children. They explained their grievances in fighting against a system that seemingly works to keep the impoverished children of Chinatown in poverty, asking him for advice on what they should do. Woo suggested that they hold a press conference that would allow them to make their issues known and press for the necessary change. The workers, after some consideration, agreed, however they had no idea how to set one up. Already invested, George Woo offered his help and took charge in leading the coordination of the press conference alongside handwriting notes to newspapers and radio stations to hopefully get their conference broadcast and known to the wider public, interviewing members of the community to get their perspective into consideration, and setting up a venue for the actual press conference in the Chinese American Citizens Association’s (CACA) auditorium.

The Chinese American Citizen’s Association, - which agreed prior, to allow the press conference to be held in their auditorium, - decided at the last minute that they'd changed their minds. George Woo, surprised and annoyed, told the Association, “I have a screwdriver; I can open your door really easily. I don’t care whether you let us or not.” This bold statement earned him not only the right to use the auditorium, but also the role of being the press conference’s spokesperson.

The press conference drew in all sorts of people, including but not limited to: ordinary residents of Chinatown, students from Galileo high school, various anti- poverty programs in Chinatown, and the Chinese Six Companies. Throughout the press conference George Woo also worked as a translator due to his proficiency in both English and Chinese. In that conference, Woo advocated for Chinatown to receive anti-poverty funds, specifically calling for programs to get funds from the government in order to teach children in Chinatown basic English