Lily Chin

Lily Chin was Vincent's mother. She lived in China until she married David Chin and moved to the United States as his wife. She and David lost their first child, and she was unable to conceive after that. She said she fell in love with Vincent's photo the first time she saw it, and they adopted him from China. Lily noted that she struggled as a young Chinese American. She experienced episodes of prejudice and felt that she did not fit in with others. She was proud of Vincent, including his ability to fit in from the beginning. That can likely be attributed to the fact that Vincent was a child when he arrived in America, but Lily was an adult.

Lily defied the stereotype of Asian American women as subdued and reserved when she began to cry out for justice for her son. She sometimes...