Joanna spoke out against demeaning racial slurs and the fears they caused her as an Asian-American 
by Bill Jones

(Scroll to the end for links to my previous blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.)

The love of my life, Joanna, passed away on Feb. 14 of complications following her kidney transplant surgery on Jan. 31. We were married 44-1/2 years, raised two wonderful children together, and celebrated the lives of four beautiful grandchildren together.

Joanna left a legacy of love for all people. She truly taught all of our family, including me, how to love unconditionally and sacrificially, and with a full heart.

Only a couple of weeks before she entered the hospital for her surgery, she put an exclamation point to that legacy as she shared her heart with our Epiphany Sunday School class at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.

Joanna was Chinese. Her family name is Wong, and she was born and reared in Hong Kong (when it was still a British colony). We met and began dating as students at Oklahoma Baptist University in 1972-73 (she was a freshman, I was a senior). We married in September 1976, a few months after she graduated from OBU. In 1984, she became an American citizen, the same year she earned her certification as a CPA. She was always a hard-working student, and she studied hard for both of these recognitions.

Joanna became a Christian in August 1981, almost 5 years after we married. For 40 years, we have sat in Sunday School classes with me being the vocal one, always taking part in class discussion, and Joanna sitting silently (often nervously, especially when I ‘rocked the boat’ during the 17 years we spent, from 1987-2004, in an extremely conservative church). Joanna (her Chinese name was Wong Ching-Ping) never was confident enough in her knowledge of the Bible, theology, and so forth to speak up during class discussions. UNTIL one Sunday only weeks before she died. What a gift she gave us on that day!

We have been members of this wonderful Epiphany Sunday School class almost from the time we joined Wilshire 16-1/2 years ago. Joanna was much loved by this class and had touched many lives through her personal grace and her involvement in missions opportunities, etc., but we – including yours truly – were surprised when she spoke up in class that day. We’re still meeting by Zoom, and Joanna was on her phone, sitting in her recliner in our bedroom, while I was on the desktop computer in my study.

Our department director had chosen, with the gracious support of the teacher, to take that hour on a Sunday morning in January to talk about, and process, our class’s feelings about the violent insurrection at the Capitol, including the white supremacy that was behind it. We were all surprised when Joanna spoke up to talk about the fears she was experiencing as an Asian-American woman.

She talked about the then-president’s use of the terms “Kung Flu” and “China virus.” She spoke of her disappointment when she had recently told a dear longtime friend of the pain she felt that this friend had voted twice for such a man, explaining her fears as an Asian-American woman, and she received not a word of empathy from that dear friend, only defensiveness.

Joanna went on to say that she now found herself afraid every time she ventured into and through our neighborhood, wondering whether – saturated as it is with supporters of the then-president – some of our neighbors might be among those targeting Asian-Americans with their derision and anger, possibly even threatening the lives of their Asian neighbors. After the class was over, I hurried to the bedroom and told her how very, very proud I was of her.

Joanna died at 1:16 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 14. I was told later that our Sunday School class scrapped the planned lesson that morning and devoted the hour to sharing their memories of Joanna. Prominent among those memories was how Joanna had moved them – and educated them – about the hateful prejudice toward Asian-Americans that had frightened and hurt her. That evening, one friend from our class emailed me, writing, “When you ‘talk’ with Joanna – and I know you will – please thank her for the most powerful Sunday School class I have sat through in my 70 years, and I have sat through a lot of them!” The memory of Joanna’s remarks the previous month had, obviously, played a key role in making it such a ‘powerful’ class.

This week’s mass murder of Asian women in Atlanta would have sickened Joanna and added to her fears.

In what turned out to be her last days in this life, Joanna decided she must speak out, and she began to share, first with friends whom she felt had – even if unintentionally – contributed to the fears she felt as an Asian-American, then more publicly with our Sunday School class.

Our class responded with empathy and sorrow for the pain and fears Joanna was experiencing. That morning has left an indelible memory with all of us.

Joanna chose to speak out against hatred, racism, and violence. May all of us, as Christ-followers of conscience, join her in that fight.

My previous 2 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing on February 14, 2021:

2/22/21 – How Joanna and I got together . . . the beginning of our love story
2/19/21 – The painful journey that took the love of my life, Joanna . . . to the great heavenly banquet