June 20, 2026
Remembering comrade-sister-poet Nellie Wong
By Helen Gilbert, for National Radical Women
June 20, 2026, Oakland, CA
Some of you may know that I ‘ve been on a trip to New England for the last several weeks. Along the way, I’ve been thinking of Nellie.
For example, at the family wedding that centered the trip, I was reminded of Nellie’s poem, “How a Girl Got Her Chinese Name.” (https://nelliewong.ddns.net/how-a-girl-got-her-chinese-name/) The bride, a strong and accomplished woman, is named Ying and her family is from China. Ying’s mother explained that she chose the name for her first child because it means dandelion, which conveys a healthy, deep-rooted survivor. When the family moved to the US, Ying ‘s grade school teacher asked her the meaning of the name. To her mother’s surprise, Ying told the teacher it means “eagle,” bold and brave, and also another meaning of the word “ying.”
Nellie’s leadership and battles as a feminist helped make it possible for young girls and women — particularly Asian American girls and women — to have that confidence and boldness to define themselves and be both tough survivors and eagles.
Nellie has taught many Radical Women members, by her example, to be proud of their unbound feet, minds and voices.
She demonstrated in life the urgency of liberation from racism, sexism, and all forms of oppression. She showed that people could transcend society’s barriers. A secretary, who was the daughter of immigrants with a family restaurant in Oakland Chinatown, could become a celebrated poet whose writings express working-class realities and reveal political essences. Poems that rejoice in delicious food and the beauty of nature.
I thought about Nellie and her work in defense of political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal when my partner Henry and I found ourselves in Auburn, New York, home of a notoriously brutal 19th century prison that is still functioning in the center of the city. I also thought about Nellie’s poem on the plight of Afghan women when I talked with a woman helping an Afghan family in Rochester, New York. That poem was published this year in Dari, a main Afghan language, in a publication of the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women.
As Managing Editor of Red Letter Press, I worked with Nellie on the two anthologies of writings by FSP and RW comrades of color: Voices of Color and Talking Back: Voices of Color. Nellie’s introduction to the second book expressed the energy and optimism that come from “talking back” to oppressive systems and finding common cause in multi-racial comradeship to create a new, revolutionary society where workers hold the power.
All of us in Radical Women are dedicated to carrying on the fight with Nellie and for her as we move ahead — as we battle to achieve reproductive justice, immigrant rights, and freedom for trans and queer people.
We will miss Nellie’s latest takes on the contradictory world we live in. And her cackles of appreciation for life’s absurdities. We’re steering ahead to the revolutionary world she did so much to create.
Power to our long-steam lady of socialist feminism!