Civic Leadership Forum Silicon Valley – Chinese sacrifices and contributions to America
This Saturday, Sepember 2, 2023, the 78th anniversary of V-J Day, the Civic Leadership Forum Silicon Valley welcomed over 100 participants who attended the entire 3-hour Forum. Some came to the South Peninsula from San Francisco, and others as far as Sacramento.
This special Forum featured journalist, scholar, and filmmaker Min (Susan) Zhou who presented the completed portion of her new documentary “One-Mile Walk”, with the other half still in post-production. (Donations welcome.) Chinese fishing families arrived in Monterey Bay in the 1850s, and squid fishery in Monterey to this day is rooted in the practices of those settlers. The movie documents major events touching those Chinese settlers through generations to today’s Pebble Beach and a woman named Gerry Low-Sabado, a dedicated educator and community preservationist. Gerry passed away in September 2021 during the COVID pandemic and, in 2023, the Monterey Bay Aquarium named its newest born penguin “Gerry” in her honor. Gerry’s surviving Filipino American husband, Randy Sabado was present to share his memories and perspectives.
Next, Susan presented the trailer of another of her new documentaries, “My 58 Uncles”. That movie recounts the story of young Chinese volunteers who joined the U.S. Air Force in WWII. Many died in service and their remains were buried in U.S. VA’s National Cemeteries. Author Ann Lee had written about those pilots, and she drove from Canada to join the Forum. Her books were written in Chinese. (Donations welcome toward an English version.) Former California Assemblymember Kansen Chu joined to share his own story. He reminded the audience that the CBI (China-Burma-India) theater, while completely ignored now, was as critical as the European and Pacific theaters of WWII.
Moderator: Yunhui (Claire) Wu
Featured Guests:
Ann Lee, Book Author
Randy Sabado, retired Activist and Social Worker, surviving husband of Gerry Low-Sabado
Min (Susan) Zhou, Filmmaker
Kansen Chu, former California State Assemblymember
Youth Ambassadors Sophia Cheng and Ethan Guan, high school senior and junior respectively, interviewed participants and videotaped their perspectives. Stay tuned as we will soon post those videos.
The Civic Leadership Forum Silicon Valley was originally created in 2017 by Ding Ding TV, then re-formulated by DDTV Silicon Valley Community Media in 2021 during the COVID pandemic. It serves as a platform for civic engagement and civic leadership across Asian American communities and generations. To date, it has actively engaged thousands of community leaders; families, students and parents; and elected officials.
This Civic Leadership Forum Silicon Valley was organized by Ding Ding TV, Silicon Valley Community Media, and the History Channel for Chinese Americans.
Event Hosts: Diana Ding and Joel Wong of Ding Ding TV Silicon Valley Community Media
Production Team
Event Coordinator: Hong Nguyen-Phuong, Event Coordinator
Event Volunteers: Rui Li, Jing Cao, Xiaobin Fang, Hongxia Yu, Qin Zhang, Lily Qian, Zeng Hong, Yan Liu, Joanna Wan, and Flex Education Inc.
Video Production: Willis Lin, Ding Ding TV Producer
The Stop The Hate campaign is made possible with funding from the California State Library (CSL) in partnership with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA). The views expressed on this website and other materials produced by Ding Ding TV (SVI Channel) do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the CSL, CAPIAA, or the California government. Learn more at www.dingdingtv.com/stopthehate or caplaa.ca.gov/stop-the-hate.