Press Release

Journalist Emil Guillermo, who has written for the AALDEF blog since October 2010, received the prestigious 2015 Dr. Suzanne Ahn Award for Civil Rights and Social Justice from the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) at its annual convention in San Francisco on Aug. 15, 2015. The award, named after the late Korean American physician from Texas, recognizes excellence in the coverage of civil rights and social justice issues in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
AAJA wrote in its program:

For two decades, Emil Guillermo has been writing a weekly column on Asian American issues like no one else in this country. First in San Francisco’s Asian Week, then on the website of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Guillermo’s weekly column “Emil Amok” has chronicled and confronted the transgressions large and small that Asian Americans have all too often silently endorsed.

From affirmative action to the lack of Asian American representation in all facets of society, Guillermo has never been afraid to go against type, to be among the first to confront, report and comment on issues largely ignored. Sometimes provocative, always insightful, among his best columns was an exclusive interview with the killer of Vincent Chin, Ronald Ebens, whom Guillermo tracked down–and extracted an apology from–on the 30th anniversary of Chin’s death.

Guillermo also received two other 2015 national journalism awards from AAJA for articles that appeared on NBCNews.com: “Filipino Veterans Seek Formal Recognition for WWII Roles” and “Filipino Vets Still Fighting for Benefit Funds.”

Guillermo’s award-winning exclusive interview with Ronald Ebens, the killer of Vincent Chin, can be found here on the AALDEF blog.