Blog | Amy Sommers

Aug 191 min read

The U.S. Civil Rights Movement, Internationalism & Kamala Harris

Foreign Policy Magazine has published an article Dr. Keisha Blain and I coauthored " The Civil Rights Movement and Kamala Harris’s...

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The Philosopher of the Movement: Howard Thurman in South Asia, 1935-36

amylsommers

Oct 17, 20233 min read

The Philosopher of the Movement: Howard Thurman in South Asia, 1935-36

Too often the story Americans assimilate about the Civil Rights Movement is that it sprang up spontaneously in the mid-1950's. A common...

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Grieving, healing and finding hope together

amylsommers

Oct 19, 20222 min read

Grieving, healing and finding hope together

As part of the Mourning Into Unity project, I was privileged to work closely with Rev Dr. Sheila Harvey. Earlier this year, she spoke...

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80 years ago today Americans chose bigoted cruelty and that choice haunts us still

amylsommers

Feb 19, 20223 min read

80 years ago today Americans chose bigoted cruelty and that choice haunts us still

Eighty years ago today, America invoked a “greater good” as justification to use force against a targeted social group. The toxic...

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Beyond the tagline: James Weldon Johnson in Japan

amylsommers

Feb 2, 20222 min read

Beyond the tagline: James Weldon Johnson in Japan

It's odd how often we *know* of a historical figure as the creator of X or the hero of Y ~ their endeavors, and indeed, their life,...

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When skilled reader/writers ask interesting questions...

amylsommers

Jan 25, 20221 min read

When skilled reader/writers ask interesting questions...

Authors and podcasters Wendy Kendell and Carl Lee interviewed me this month for their #ANovelTalk podcast. Both claimed zero knowledge...

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80 years ago today: Japan attacks U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor

amylsommers

Dec 7, 20212 min read

80 years ago today: Japan attacks U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor

At 7:55 am Honolulu time on December 7, 80 years ago today America learned a tragic lesson about the danger of hubris and false...

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amylsommers

Oct 4, 20213 min read

Mystery Women/Men revealed!

In the countdown to Asia Society of Southern California event on September 28, I posted photos on social media posts of African Americans...

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Two Events: Shanghai on the Eve of Pearl Harbor & Pre-WWII Black Internationalism in Asia

amylsommers

Aug 30, 20213 min read

Two Events: Shanghai on the Eve of Pearl Harbor & Pre-WWII Black Internationalism in Asia

In September I get to present alongside people whose work I admire at two Rumors from Shanghai-related events. What a boon for a China...

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An Introvert Sits Down to Write a Book...

amylsommers

Jun 8, 20214 min read

An Introvert Sits Down to Write a Book...

As an introvert, the act of writing is right up my alley. Spend hours alone?✅ Reading and researching?✅ Imagining things? ✅ I’m all in!...

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amylsommers

Apr 15, 20211 min read

African Americans in Interwar Asia

Thrilled to see the final form of this essay I wrote for BlackPast! It considers the ambitious and varied endeavors of the African...

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amylsommers

Apr 8, 20211 min read

On Historic Shanghai's Bookshelf

Historic Shanghai has an interview up on their blog, discussing Rumors from Shanghai's beginnings and the influence my sojourn in...

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NüVoices Collective Online Interview is up...

amylsommers

Apr 7, 20211 min read

NüVoices Collective Online Interview is up...

NüVoices, a collective of women China experts from a range of fields/professions, now has an online interview up about my historical...

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amylsommers

Apr 6, 20214 min read

Highly Improbable! And yet...

A Black American representing the diplomatic interests of the United States in the Russian Far East at the turn of the 19th century?...

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Pre-WWII Seattle and the Japanese Community

amylsommers

Mar 20, 20213 min read

Pre-WWII Seattle and the Japanese Community

In #RumorsFromShanghai, characters from Black, Chinese and Japanese backgrounds shape the protagonist's viewpoint and interests. These...

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amylsommers

Mar 10, 20214 min read

Early Pacific Northwest-China Ties

Early Chinese residents in Washington State most famously and numerously drew from Southern China's Taishan region. The impact of...

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amylsommers

Mar 1, 20214 min read

"Rumors from Shanghai" launched

March 1, almost a year to the day since the original planned launch date at the 2020 Shanghai International Literary Festival, is launch...

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Post-Inauguration Reading...for Fun: "Remembering Shanghai"

amylsommers

Jan 23, 20213 min read

Post-Inauguration Reading...for Fun: "Remembering Shanghai"

The celebrations the last time America ousted a disastrous head of state is a fond memory. Michelle Garnaut, inimitable founder of M on...

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amylsommers

Dec 6, 20201 min read

No, Biden's China Policy Will Not Be Trump 2.0

The Seattle Times has an op-ed out "The path to a new China policy" from Michael Burke and me: We have no illusions that the US and China...

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From beginning to end ~ Tyranny & Strongmen

amylsommers

Dec 1, 20204 min read

From beginning to end ~ Tyranny & Strongmen

With the thorough thumping delivered at the end of November by Republican-appointed justices in the Third Circuit, Trump's ...

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Amy Sommers

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