Hum Bows, Not Hot Dogs: Memoirs of a Savvy Asian American Activist. This item is unavailable.Hum Bows, Not Hot Dogs: Memoirs of a Savvy Asian American Activist

Bob Santos was a hero in an urban hamlet called the International District, an Asian American neighborhood in Seattle. As a leader of a powerful grassroots movement in the 1970s and 80s, he helped rescue the area from decay and helped foster a dynamic new sense of community. In this colorful autobiography, "Uncle Bob" Santos shares memories of this eventful era. He also tells of his childhood in the International District with his father, a famous local boxer; his participation in the drive for racial equality in Seattle in the 1960s; and his rise to political worlds beyond Seattle.

Bob Santos is a Seattle native who grew up in the International District and attended school in the city's Central Area. He was hired by the International District Improvement Association (Inter*Im) in 1972, where he began the preservation and development of the International District as a residential neighborhood and a viable commercial district. In 1989, he moved over to the Seattle Chinatown International Preservation and Development Authority, where he directed the acquisition of the Metro property at 8th Avenue and Dearborn Street for the planning and development of the International District Village Square. he was appointed by Secretary Henry Cisneros to represent HUD in the Northwest/Alaska Area, from 1994 to 2001. He returned to his beloved neighborhood to develop addition housing projects for Inter*Im.