Projects
People of Our Mill 我们厂的人
Shuxuan is currently completing an oral history-based community memoir about the sawmill town in Southeast China where she grew up. This book weaves together the life stories of 16 narrators, including Shuxuan herself, her parents, maternal grandmother, and other community members who have significantly influenced her values and dreams. It’s written in Chinese and will be published in the same language.
Shuxuan directed this interactive and multimedia readings event in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. During this event, migrant workers and labor/anti-displacement organizers read some of the abovementioned oral histories in both Chinese and English.
Massage Parlor Outreach Project 按摩工友互助小组
Shuxuan is engaged in community organizing, oral history collection, and research with the Massage Parlor Outreach Project—a grassroots formation of Asian/Asian American community members organizing to provide support for migrant Asian massage parlor workers, sex workers, and care workers in the Seattle Chinatown/International District and greater Seattle area.
In this 2023 symposium hosted by the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights (UWCHR), you can learn more about this crucial project aimed at addressing the rights and well-being of marginalized workers within Seattle’s massage parlors and sex work industry. (Skip to 14:22 to bypass the awards ceremony.)
Good Luck Rabbits 双兔吉祥
Good Luck Rabbits is a new songwriting project by composer Josh Hou 侯守仁 and Shuxuan as the lyricist. Together, they write songs in Chinese exploring migration, diaspora, longing, and many other things.
Racial Equity Lab
As a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow, Shuxuan served as a senior researcher for the City of Seattle, where they established and led the Racial Equity Lab in from 2019 to 2021. The Lab encompasses Racial Equity Research, which provides analysis, data, and community narratives on topics such as youth well-being and food insecurity, and City Racial Equity Actions, which highlights the city government’s initiatives toward advancing racial equity.
In this We All Count webinar “Talking Data Equity with Dr Shuxuan Zhou”, they showcase the methodology and philosophy behind the creation of the Lab.