empowering communities

It's a non-descript building on Mass Ave in Cambridge, with the gates usually closed, but a vibrant mural on the outside wall. That's my community center, EMW. It used to be a Chinese-language bookstore, East Meets West. My parents, Wen Kong and Jin Au Kong, both professors, purchased the building and opened the bookstore in the late 90s. My father was a professor at MIT and a master of electromagnetic wave theory, so EMW were his three favorite letters.

I should have been a peasant. My grandparents escaped China and the cultural revolution, taking with them only my father, not knowing the fate of his brothers and sisters until decades later. My uncles and aunts grew up laboring fields, while my father become the world's most famous electromagneticist. It seems so obvious now, that our human potential is infinite, while our human institutions are masterful at replacing that potential with obedience, efficiency, and replaceable parts. Spaces to deeply explore our human potential in an authentic way are few. I've taken the good fortune from my grandparents escape to build a life based on helping others realize that potential.

East Meets Words, featuring artist and activist Kaitlin Pang. February, 2015.

There is a palpable feeling when humans experience a moment of authenticity. When we share stories, a song, a rhyme—when it's done from a place of true vulnerability—suddenly we're not so isolated. We can feel intensely our common humanity.

At EMW, misfits are home.

Indeed, there is an art to creating a safe space for authentic, transformative expression. At EMW, we specialize in creating safe spaces, where experimentation and mistakes are encouraged, where you're celebrated for stepping out of your comfort zone. We want you to be the truest form of yourself you can be and to push the boundaries of who you think you can be.

I've grown up in communities of immigrants who are used to being marginalized and made to feel like they don't belong. It's especially difficult for these communities to find places that feel like home. I'm proud to say that over ten years, EMW has been that home for so many misfits and has provided that space for transformative expression that is so rare in our society.

Today, I lead a staff of seventeen members and a team of volunteers to deliver numerous community programs, exploring the spectrum of human artistic forms—from poetry to electronic music, beat-boxing to bio-hacking. All of our programming is developed and deployed through a lens of social justice, with an emphasis on serving marginalized communities. We have served thousands of misfits over the years. And at EMW, misfits are home.

EMW Team Photo. Winter Retreat, January 2015