NEWS EVENTS FOR JULY
NEWS EVENTS FOR JULY
By Gerrye Wong July 15, 2021
I just experienced a wonderful tour of San Francisco’s Chinatown led by the dynamic team of beautiful Cynthia Yee and dynamic Marc Pomerleau. Now Marc has just released a short film on SF Chinatown and his perspectives of life as he sees it, titled SEEKING HOME. It premiered last month but can be seen on YouTube and is a wonderful short 20 minute film I recommend for everyone to watch and enjoy.
This is what he replied when I asked how this movie came about. He said, “Six months ago I met a guy, Austin Nguyen from Texas at Reds, the oldest bar in Chinatown. We decided to make a movie together which is titled SEEKING HOME. This movie is a personal narrative about Asian identity, San Francisco Chinatown and the desire that resides in all of us to find our way home.” For film info, contact Marc at marc@mapomodo.com.
Chinatown Tour Partners Marc Pomerleau & Cynthia Yee
Marc has partnered with Cynthia Yee of CHINATOWN MAGIC, OWNER OF THE LONGEST-RUNNING San Francisco Chinatown Ghost Tour. The short tour I experienced with Mark was on the FIGHTING HISTORY OF CHINATOWN. While on the tour, he told us stories of SF’s Gold Rush era, the Chinese exclusion experience, Tong wars, realities of the past human trafficking, political corruption against the Chinese, drug trade, gang wars, and how IT all impacts Chinatown’s present and unfolding future. As he weaves tour members through main and side streets of Chinatown, his 2 hour tour includes candid discussions of historical events covering mature subject matter that may not be suitable for young children.
On Tour in Chinatown’s Far East Cafe
A few years back, I took my family on Cynthia Yee’s SUPERNATURAL SF CHINATOWN TOUR which fascinated my grandkids hearing Chinatown ghost stories that also delved into the fascinating historical and cultural context of Chinese supernatural folklore. The 90 minute tour entertained and delighted us while bringing historical events about the past lives of struggling immigrants and their industries to make a living under harsh conditions of discrimination and survival in their everyday life. You can be a believer or skeptic, and still gain insight into Chinese attitudes about the supernatural, see Chinatown alleyways with new eyes of understanding. Check www.sfchinatownghosttours.com/marc-pomerleau/
Find SEEKING HOME on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CkywZ2vkxcM
Marc showing tour members map of Chinatown
CELEBRATIONS
We celebrated SANTA CLARA COUNTY SUPERVISOR OTTO LEE’S birthday celebration with over 300 of his supporters and friends at the Dynasty Restaurant recently , Otto and his speakers all said it was the first large group gathering one has seen in over a year, so it was especially festive for Otto and his family to see old friends and constituents celebrate with him. Among his fellow government leaders celebrating with him that night were Zoe Lofgren, Alex Lee, Evan Low, Mike Honda, Dave Cortese, Ron Gonzales, Larry Stone and many others. Otto spoke on the long road ahead for all of his constituents to get back to a life of normalcy while telling of his own life.
Otto Lee with family cutting birthday cake
He said, “While trauma, harm, intimidation and violence against immigrants has been exacerbated in recent years, with hate crimes against the AAPI community growing out of control, reform and healing is needed more than ever. My own story is I arrived in California with my family as a child after fleeing political upheaval in Hong Kong. There are thousands of our neighbors with stories just like mine, and there are countless more immigrants whose story is completely different. Since so many of our journeys that bring people to America are different, it has made more reform more difficult but as we know, just because something is hard doesn’t mean we should ignore it. Taking action on immigration reform is meaningful to me and I stand hopefully since the new a federal administration is committed to overhauling our nation’s immigration system to welcome families and include residents whose only home that have ever known is in America.”
Caption: Otto Lee welcomes hi Am Representatives Eva and Gerrye Wong California Assemblymen Eva Low and Eric Lee congratulate Otto
Ever conscious of and appreciative of his followers, Otto stood at the entrance to welcome all who congratulated him and his family on his “coming of age”. Chi Am Circle Board Director of Programs Eva Lee and I represented our 100 member Asian women’s organization, the CHI AM CIRCLE. Others seen in his supportive bubble, happy to be out in the public again, were Brian and Jean Ho, John and Judy Lee, Gloria You, Gilbert Wong, Albert Wang, Limun Hu, Eric Chan, and Dennis Wan in the crowd. Large cakes heralding the occasion were duly cut by honoree OTTO LEE surrounded by his wife Sally and daughters. Hoping to encourage more Asian American participation in the political community sector, Otto mentioned about several vacancies on County Commissions and boards that he hoped others would apply for as a way to remain active in the community. For contact, go to County Supervisor Otto Lee Website – SupervisorLee.org
FOR YOUR BOOKSHELF
Lily Lee’s book FIRE SCAR is a love story of the 1887 burning of San Jose’s Chinatown in 1887. As Lily tells it herself, her birthplace is in Taiwan but her second home has been in Silicon Valley. She said, “In a town full of successful Chinese residents, I often wondered why the nearest Chinatown was in San Francisco.” Lily’s curiosity drew her into learning more about the Chinese experiences in Santa Clara Valley, and to her surprise she found out there had been 5 Chinatowns in existence there since 1860s. Visiting the Museum of Chinese American History in History San Jose Park and the Chinese cemetery in San Jose, she uncovered a history of burnt down Chinatowns by oppressors who didn’t want the Chinese to reside in San Jose, and some grave sites of people who were no doubt living in those communities facing discrimination and hardships. From there, her imagination went into play and out came a poignant love story of residents who could have been living in the Chinese community during that era. FIRE SCAR is a fascinating fictional story of this history of Chinese communities of the 1800s too often overlooked and unbeknownst to the young Chinese American citizens living in Silicon Valley today.
Thank you to Lily for bringing this part of San Jose history alive with her fascinating story which I hope will let readers get a glimpse of how life could have been in those harsh realty of living under such unwelcoming conditions. She tells us the book is available through Amazon and is happy to meet any individuals or groups who would like to help her bring this story book to people eager to learn about Chinese American history.
Author Lily Lee at Ng Shing Gung altar in San Jose’s Museum of Chinese American History
As she said in her preface, “My purpose in telling the tale of Fire Scar is to draw attention to the contributions of Chinese Americans in building this country and to tell the story of their endurance and persistence in the face of adversity.” I add to her mission to let a story be told of the sad conditions Chinese people faced during the last century of living in San Jose against all individual and government forces who went through many demeaning ways to rid the city of the Chinese population living and working there . For readers who want to know more about the tragic sequences that caused the Chinese to build and be driven out of five Chinatowns during the turn of the Century, come visit my CHINESE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PROJECT’S MUSEUM OF CHINESE AMERICAN HISTORY in History San Jose park which is now opening up again. You will see a timeline there showing what was happening in those years between 1800s to the present in San Jose, United States and China. For info: www.chcp.org. The Museum is open every first and third Sunday pf the month, shown by docent leaders Yucaipa and Anita Wong Kwock.
