Saturday, May 7 | 11 :00am - 1:00pm
Chinese Culture Center
At the 140th anniversary of the racist act, the remembrance ceremony calls on solidarity in the community. The program will open with screening of two short films by Felicia Lowe. “What's Your Real Name" zeroes in on the genesis and legacy of "paper names” and "Carved in Silence " with Chinese subtitles reveals life as a detainee at the Angel Island Immigration Station. They will be followed by remarks on current immigration issues by USF law professor Bill Hing. More speakers at the program include Dennis Casey Wu, Lowell High School student; Janice Li, Director of the Coalition for Community Safety and Social Justice; and Claudine Cheng, Chair of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Foundation.
At noon, the program moves outdoors to the pedestrian bridge where artists Summer Mei Ling Lee and Stephan Xie have orchestrated the reading of 140 names of Chinese Americans whose families were impacted by the Chinese Exclusion Act. Priests from the Taoist Lotus Institute will lead a procession across the pedestrian bridge to a temporary community altar where participants may place incense, flowers, photographs, and mementos. Musician Francis Wong will perform a blessing ritual at the community altar at the conclusion of the ceremony. Summer Lee, artist and Jenny Leung, Executive Director of the Chinese Culture Center will share their thoughts on this memorable day.
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