2018
Month: January
Monthly News Letter
Film Screening: ‘Defender’ Followed by Q&A With San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi
January 27, 2018 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
388 9th Street, Suite 290 Oakland, CA 94607
Limited seating reserve your FREE ticket at Eventbrite
Defender, created by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi and Jim Choi, focuses on Adachi and his team during the racially-charged trial of Michael Smith, a 22-year-old African American man. Smith was charged with nine counts of resisting arrest after being pulled off a BART train with his girlfriend and wrestled to the ground by officers. The incident, which was caught on police body cameras and commuters’ cell phones, occurred after a white passenger falsely reported Smith had a gun.
The 70-minute Defender also focuses on the case of a San Francisco father being held in an immigration detention facility while the Public Defender’s fledgling immigration unit fights for his release.
Peace Lantern Ceremony Planning Meeting
You are invited to join us in our first open planning meeting!
2018 Oakland Peace Lantern Ceremony on Thursday, January 11, 2018, 6:30-8pm @ OACC
For more information email OACC.
Month: February
News Letter
OACC Lunar New Year Celebration
Saturday, February 3 at 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
388 9th Street Suite 290, Oakland, California 94607
Music, dance performances, arts & crafts such as lantern-making, vendors, & more! This year, OACC’s annual Lunar New Year Celebration is partnering with the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce’s LNY celebration for a free indoor and outdoor extravaganza for all to enjoy as we welcome the year of Dog!
Schedule for OACC outdoor performance on Saturday, February 3.
1:00pm
China’s Spirit Music Ensemble
Guzheng (Chinese Zither) performed by students of Winnie Wong (www.winnieguzheng.com)
1:30pm
Kid’s Go Mandarin Music & Movement performed by students of Vita Hsieh (www.kidsgomandarin.com)
1:45pm
Tai Chi by students of William Dere
3:10pm
Emeryville Taiko by Taiko Adult Beginner Students of Susan Horn (www.etaiko.org)
3:30pm
GER Mongolian Youth Center performed by students of Batzorig Dorji, State Merit Artist (www.gercenter.org)
4:00pm
Shaolin Kung Fu performed by students of Jun Jun Wu
Chinese New Year Calligraphy Class Provided in OACC. Classes are Free, Materials are $10.
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center welcomes filmmaker, writer, artist and social activist MARA AHMED
Please join us for two evenings of what will most certainly be an engaging, educational and transformative experience.
View a graphic collage exhibition rich in cultural symbolism and personal memory —
THIS HEIRLOOM
Graphic Collage Exhibition
February 7, 2018
Opening Reception 6:30pm – 7:15pm
Exhibition Dates:
February 7 – April 26, 2018
Free and Open to the Public
Two Film Screenings: February 7 & 8, 2018
A THIN WALL
February 7, 2018
7:15pm
Doors Open 7pm
Free and Open to the Public
THE MUSLIMS I KNOW
February 8, 2018
6:30pm
Doors Open 6:15pm
Tickets: $10 / Available on Eventbrite
Both film screenings followed by Q & A with Mara Ahmed
Anthony Brown & Asian American Orchestra w/ Voices of a Dream
Join us on Sunday, February 18th at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center when the Asian American Orchestra and Voices Of A Dream ensemble present musical works celebrating Black History Month and commemorating Day of Remembrance, the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, the AAOrchestra will present the East Bay premiere of GO FOR BROKE! honoring the WWII vets who served and died for their country while their families were imprisoned, and are joined by VOAD to perform a sneak preview of DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE Requiem for a King, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. Tickets available at Eventbrite .
Month: March
Newsletter
A Book Talk with Author Edmund S. Wong
San Francisco Chamber Orchestra Presents: Lift Every Voice
San Francisco Chamber of Orchestra’s sixth collaboration with the talented young singers of the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir. This program of favorite American folk songs will have you and your family singing and clapping along. Rising young tenor Kevin Gino makes a guest appearance, bringing a touch of class(ical) to our concert stage.
San Francisco Chamber Orchestra’s family concerts provide children with an engaging, educational and participatory introduction to classical music. SFCO brings the gift of music free-of-charge into communities where people live, making classical music accessible to everyone. At approximately 45 minutes in length, these fun and engaging performances are perfect for ages 6 through 12.
Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 12 PM at The Oakland Asian Cultural Center
Admission is free to all!
Finding Kukan: A Film by Robin Lung
Feature Documentary
Followed by Q&A w / Director & Producer, Robin Lung
Presented by: The Oakland Asian Cultural Center
Co-sponsored by:
CAAM – Center for Asian American Media
CACA – Chinese American Citizens Alliance – Oakland Lodge
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Doors open 6:30pm / Film Screens 7:00pm
Q&A 8:15 – 9pm
About the Film: Filmmaker Robin Lung investigates the case of Li Ling-Ai, the un-credited female producer of KUKAN, a landmark color film that revealed atrocities in World War II China to audiences around the world.
KUKAN has the rare honor of being the first ever American feature documentary to receive an Academy Award in 1942.
Lost for decades, Lung discovers a badly damaged film print of KUKAN, and pieces together the untold, inspirational tale of the two renegades behind the making of it – Chinese American playwright Li Ling-Ai and cameraman Rey Scott.
(75 Minutes, Feature Documentary, In English and Mandarin)
Free and Open to the Public
Suggested Donation: sliding scale $5 – $20
Month: April
Free Kidney Disease Screening. Sunday, April 15, 2018
Two Languages / One Community: Free Literary Workshop Series
Over the course of three workshops, participants will be guided by the authors through structured exercises, individually, and in small groups, with the goal of supporting participants as they chronicle their experiences through creative storytelling. Participants will write an original short poem or memory, which will be translated into English and Chinese, published, and shared at a public culminating event at OACC in May. The workshops will be conducted at OACC on Fridays 2/23, 3/23, and 4/13 from 1-2p, with optional time from 2-3p for participants to continue writing or working together. Workshops are limited to ten participants who can commit to attending the entire series, and who would ideally be willing to share their work both verbally at a culminating event at OACC in May 2018, and in print.
Sign-up online at Here or call 510-637-0455. Registration deadline noon on Wed. 2/21/18.
Mara Ahmed Films
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center will rescreen filmmaker, writer, artist and social activist Mara Ahmed’s films
April 19 & 20, 2018
The Muslims I Know
A documentary written and produced by Mara Ahmed
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Film Starts: 7:30pm
Doors Open: 7:15pm / Event: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
The events of 9/11 have created much interest in Islam and Muslims. Mainstream media have responded to this demand for information with generalizations and stereotypes. America’s community of Muslims longs to be a part of the discourse. THE MUSLIMS I KNOW is a documentary that gives them a chance to be heard and understood through dialogue with non-Muslim Americans.
—– The Muslims I Know (2008) 58 minutes
A Thin Wall
A documentary written, directed and co-produced by Mara Ahmed
Friday, April 20, 2018
Film starts: 7pm
Doors Open 6:45pm / Event: 7pm to 9:30pm
A THIN WALL is a documentary about memory, history and the possibility of reconciliation. It focuses on the Partition of India in 1947, but derives lessons that remain urgently relevant today. The film is shot on both sides of the border, in India and Pakistan. The film is written and directed by Mara Ahmed and co-produced by Surbhi Dewan. Both filmmakers are descendants of families torn apart by partition.
—– A Thin Wall (2015) 1h 5 minutes
Free and Open to the Public
Both film screenings will be followed by Q & A with Mara Ahmed via Skype
Currently on Exhibition:
‘This Heirloom’
A Graphic Collage Exhibition by Mara Ahmed
EXHIBITION DATES:
FEBRUARY 7 – APRIL 26, 2018
An Exhibition of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy
Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
and
San Francisco Chinese American Association of Commerce
present
An Exhibition of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy
Grand Opening
Sunday, April 29, 2018 / 2pm
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 Ninth Street, Suite 290 Oakland, CA 94602
Month: May
Announcing!
10% off Early Bird Tickets (Until 4/18)!
AVAILABLE NOW @ BROWNPAPERTICKETS!
Purchase Tickets Here: http://csguzheng.bpt.me
Riding with the Wind – A Book Talk with Monona Yin & Grant Din
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center and Eastwind Books of Berkeley Present:
Riding with the Wind: Three Generations of My Family in China
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Doors Open: 2:00PM / Book Talk: 2:30PM / Q&A: 3:30PM
In her new memoir, Riding with the Wind: Three Generations of My Family in China, Fay Hoh Yin paints an indelible portrait of her unusual family as the imperial era ends and war with Japan begins. Her mother is among the first women in centuries to escape foot binding and arranged marriage. She then uses her newfound freedom to study physical education in the US in the early 1920s, returning to China to become a pioneering educator for the next seventy years.
Yin later comes to the U.S. herself, marries a fellow foreign student, and starts a family. Tragically, she loses her husband at age thirty-seven, but forges a unique partnership with her widowed mother-in-law that far outlasts either of their marriages. Yin’s stories of daring, hardship, and perseverance are deeply personal, yet illuminate the changing roles of women in 20th century China and the United States.
The author’s daughter Monona Yin, who edited and published the book, will read passages and describe the creative process with her mother. She and moderator Grant Din will discuss the challenge of preserving and documenting first-generation immigrant women’s stories.
FAY HOH YIN was born in Beijing in 1932 and grew up during the Sino-Japanese and Chinese Civil Wars. She and her family fled thousands of miles to escape the chaos, finally settling in Taiwan in 1949. She later came to the U.S. and earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin. She retired in 1991 after working for twenty-six years as a virologist for the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware. Unfortunately, due to frail health, the author will not be present.
MONONA YIN is Director of Impact and Learning at Borealis Philanthropy. From 2004-17, she directed capacity building at the Four Freedoms Fund, a national donor collaborative that has invested over $100 million in the immigrant rights movement. As an activist, Monona is a co-founder and former staff director of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities in New York City. She graduated from Yale and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.
GRANT DIN has been a community and nonprofit leader for over 30 years, most recently with the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and Asian Neighborhood Design. He now provides consulting on resource development, research, writing, and related tasks. Grant is also a consultant for genealogy and family history research. He holds a BA from Yale and an MA from Claremont Graduate University, and lives in Oakland with his family.
Oakland Asian Cultural Center 388 Ninth Street, Ste 290 Oakland, CA 94607
Free and Open to the Public
Suggested Donations: $5 to $20
OACC is supported by the Akonadi Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, City of Oakland, Hewlett Foundation, Asian Pacific Fund, City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program, Comerica Bank, Five Arts Fund, and individual donors.
The Chinese Exclusion Act
Film / Dialogue / Workshop
Saturday, May 12 | 10:00 AM — 1:00 PM
This May, during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, APISA and the Sanctuary Schools Taskforce along with Chinatown community organizations and the Center for Asian American Media will host a screening of the new PBS documentary, The Chinese Exclusion Act, a groundbreaking documentation of largely forgotten history of the anti-Chinese movement across the Western United States from the mid-1850s to World War II.
APISA will lead a community discussion afterward with Professor Greg Mark whose family fought anti-Chinese laws in Oakland Chinatown in the 1930s, and OUSD teachers will lead a Curriculum Workshop sharing classroom activities our district is using to engage students this year, which will be launched nationally this year. Please join us for this unique opportunity to better understand our country’s history of immigration policy within today’s political context.
For more information about the OUSD Sanctuary Schools “Dream, Resist & Educate” Event Series: https://www.ousd.org/Page/17294
For more information on the Asian Pacific Islander Student Achievement Initiative: www.ousd.org/apisa
This event is generously supported by War Taxes Redirected by the People’s Life Fund and the SF Foundation Rapid Response Fund, and co-sponsored by the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, OUSD Office of Equity, OUSD Sanctuary Schools Taskforce, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Center for Asian American Media, and OUSD’s History Department & Teachers.
Chinese Ancestry Day
Presented by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center & California Genealogical Society
May 26, 2018
$60 General Admission
$40 for CGS Members
Save the date of Saturday, May 26 as a special day of learning the fundamentals of genealogy tailored for Chinese families. Sponsored by the California Genealogical Society and the Oakland Asian Cultural Center; and The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, and The California Historical Society.
This event will cover basic steps to build your Chinese family tree. Time will be allotted for sharing stories and problem solving.
Featured speakers:
Felicia Lowe:
Keynote including excerpts from her film Chinese Couplets
Grant Din:
The Importance of Family Stories.
Marisa Louie Lee:
Chinese Exclusion Act Records at the National Archives.
John Wong (Friends of Roots/Root Plus):
A Pilgrimage to Your Ancestral Village.
Lunch from Peony Restaurant is included in the registration.
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 Ninth Street, Ste 290
Oakland, CA 94607
Two Languages/One Community Reception and Reading|
Join writers Michael Warr and Chun Yu–along with Paula Marie Parker, Michael Wong, Denise Pate, Dera R. Williams, and Cecilia Graybeal, participants of the Two Languages/One Community literary workshop series–for a reception featuring readings of their new poems and essays. These short creative writing pieces reflect upon the theme of “family,” and will be presented in English and Mandarin.
Date: Saturday, May 26, 2018
Time: 4:00-5:30pm
Cost: Free
Month: June
Lincoln Summer Nights FRIDAY, June 1, 5-8 PM
Hawker Fare: Stories & Recipes from a Refugee Chef’s Isan Thai & Lao Roots
Book Talk with Chef James Syhabout and Eastwind Books of Berkeley Fundraiser
Saturday, June 23, 2018
1-3pm
Eastwind Books of Berkeley welcomes Oakland-grown, Michelin-starred Chef James Syhabout for a book talk on his journey to his Isan Thai and Lao roots, the inspiration for his hugely popular Hawker Fare restaurant. Program introduction by Professor Lok Siu, an Associate Professor at the UC Berkeley Department of Ethnic Studies and Affiliated Faculty of Berkeley Food Institute. Please join us for this community celebration and fundraiser for Eastwind Books of Berkeley.
Sponsored by: Oakland Asian Cultural Center and the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at UC Berkeley
James Syhabout’s Hawker Fare restaurant in San Francisco is the product of his unique family history and diverse career experience. Born into two distinct but related Asian cultures—from his mother’s ancestral village in Isan, Thailand’s northeast region, and his father’s home in Pakse, Laos—he and his family landed in Oakland in 1981 in a community of other refugees from the Vietnam War.
Ticketing: https://hawkerfare.eventbrite.com
General Admission: $30.00
VIP (Reserved seating and a copy of Hawker Fare book, a $40 value): $65.00
Sponsorship: (Reserved seating, a copy of Hawker Fare, special thank you and ad space in the program and promotional materials): $80.00
The event is ADA Accessible. Small plates and refreshments provided.
At the Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 Ninth Street, Suite 290
Oakland, CA 94607
Finding Japanese-American Roots in Japan and the U.S.
