Oakland Asian Cultural Center

2018 Chinatown Mayoral & District 2 Candidate’s Forum
2018-09-27 17:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles)

Peace Lantern Ceremony
2018-09-23 16:30 - 19:00
PROGRAM
4:30 – Welcome
4:40 – Intertribal Friendship House All Nations Drum & Youth Dancers
5:20 – Tacuma King and Sun Drummers of United Africa Ensemble (Bay Area Youth Arts)
6:00 – Emeryville Taiko – Japanese drumming
6:30 – Hālau ʻO Kawainuhi – Hula Kahiko
6:55 – Moment of Silence
7:05 – Calpulli Panquetzalitzli – Danza Azteca
7:25 – Closing
ACTIVITIES

4:30-7:30pm: Non-Partisan voter registration & information by FairVote California, League of Women Voters Oakland Area, and Women’s March Oakland.

4:30 – 7pm: Lantern-making & decorating (various types).
Bring your own picnic (no vendors on site). No glass, please.

Get updates on FB event page.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Please sign up to volunteer here.
Free and Open to the Public.

IN OAKLAND: “Fighting Dictators in the Philippines, Then & Now”
2018-09-23 08:00 - 17:00
“A Time to Rise: The Fight Against Dictatorship in the Philippines, Then and Now”
BOOK LAUNCH / PANEL DISCUSSION
The discussion will be moderated by Lillian Galedo, and will feature Cindy Domingo, Co-editor, “A Time to Rise;” Geline Avila, National Council, Akbayan Party-list; and Edwin Batongbacal, Friends of Akbayan, USA.Sunday, September 23, 2018, 3-5 pm
Free and open to the public, as part of the Filipino-American History & Heritage Series organized by The Oakland Asian Cultural Center, from September 9 to November 2, 2018.

Filipino-American History during the 1965-1970 Grape strikes - Book Reading / Film Screening / Photography Exhibition
2018-09-16 17:00 - 20:00
Book Reading / Film Screening / Photography Exhibition
Film: Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers
Discussion and Q & A with filmmaker Marissa Aroy, photographer X who chronicled the 1965-1970 grape strike and boycott for Time Magazine, and Patty Enrado who will read from her book A Village in the Fields.
Sunday, September 16, 5:00-8:00 PM

Opening Reception: The Forbidden Book: The Philippine-American War in Political Cartoons Presented and Curated by: Abraham Ignacio
2018-09-09 02:00 - 17:00
THE FORBIDDEN BOOK uses political cartoons from 1898 to 1906 to chronicle a little-known war between the United States and the Philippines that lasted over 15 years, in which 126,000 U.S. troops were deployed and hundreds of thousands of Filipinos were killed. Today, few Americans know about the brutal suppression of Philippine independence or the anti-war movement led by the likes of writer Mark Twain, peace activist Jane Addams, journalist Joseph Pulitzer, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, labor leader Samuel Gompers, and Moorfield Storey, first president of the NAACP. These cartoons glorify manifest destiny; portray Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Hawaiians, Chamorros, and other colonials as dark-skinned savages in need of civilization; and were used to justify a war at a time when three African Americans–on average–were lynched every week across the south, and when the Supreme Court approved the “separate but equal” doctrine.

First Fridays: Lincoln Summer Nights
2018-09-07 17:00 - 20:00, 2018-08-03 17:00 - 20:00
at Lincoln Square Park & Recreational Center 261 11th St, Oakland, CA 94607
Join us in the heart of Chinatown as we host family friendly activities.
Events are in collaboration with Friends of Lincoln Square, Asian Health Services, APEN, AYPAL, API Legal Outreach, OACC and other generous sponsors.

First Wednesdays Madison Park
2018-09-05 13:00 - 16:00
Corner of 8th and Jackson Street

Join us in the heart of Chinatown as we host family friendly activities.
Events are in collaboration with Friends of Lincoln Square, Asian Health Services, APEN, AYPAL, API Legal Outreach, OACC and other generous sponsors.

Oakland Chinatown StreetFest 2018
2018-08-25 - 2018-08-26

First Wednesdays at Madison Park
2018-08-01 13:00 - 16:00

See You at the 7 - Stories From the Bay Area's Last Original Mile House
2018-07-28 19:00 - 20:00
Book Talk with Vanessa Garcia, author and owner of the 7 Mile House
Saturday, July 28, 2018
7:00 pm
Vanessa Garcia, originally from Manila, Philippines, was a drummer, backup singer and original member of the Philippine-based all female pop-rock group ‘Prettier Than Pink’. In 1996 she moved to the US, and graduated from Golden Gate University with a Masters in Science degree in Public Relations (1999) and worked as a PR consultant for technology companies.
Free and Open to the Public
For more info: Eventbrite

Chinese Exclusion Laws and Being Muslim American in Post 9/11
2018-07-22 15:00 - 17:00
Eastwind Books of Berkeley and OACC Literary Series presents
Book Talk and Panel Presentation: Chinese Exclusion Laws and Being Muslim in America Post 9/11
Beth Lew-Williams Sylvia Chan-Malik
Sunday, July 22, 2018
3:00 – 5:00 pm
Featuring The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America by Beth Lew-Williams and Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam by Sylvia Chan-Malik
Presentation Moderated by Michael Chang

Beth Lew-Williams shows how American immigration policies incited anti-Chinese violence and how the violence, in turn, provoked new exclusionary policies. She is an Assistant Professor of history and Philip and Beulah Rollins Bicentennial Preceptor at Princeton University.
From stories she gathers, Sylvia Chan-Malik demonstrates the diversity and similarities of Black, Arab, South Asian, Latina, and multiracial Muslim women, and how American understandings of Islam have shifted against the evolution of U.S. white nationalism over the past century.Sylvia Chan-Malik is Assistant Professor of American Studies and Women and Gender Studies at Rutgers University.
Michael Chang is a lecturer at U.C. Berkeley’s Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies departments and a federal civil rights attorney.
Free and Open to the Public

'SKY, MOUNTAIN & WATERSCAPE' - Kam Cheung Mok Exhibition
2018-07-06 18:00 - 20:00
‘Sky Mountain & Waterscape’
A Chinese Ink Wash Landscape Painting Exhibition

by
Mok Kam Cheung
Opening Reception: Friday, July 6, 2018

6:00pm
Exhibition Dates: June 30th to August 30th, 2018
Free and Open to the Public
About the Exhibit
‘Sky, Mountain & Waterscape’ is a painting series consisting of twenty-five contemporary Chinese ink wash landscape paintings documenting memorable natural landscapes around the world. Terrains, rivers, waterfalls, and skies vary in color and mood, transporting the viewer to different seasons and geographic locations.
About the Artist
Mok Kam Cheung, born in 1945, his works have been exhibited and documented in Hong Kong and China many times as well as collected by art enthusiasts all over the world. In 2016, his work was collected in the “Six Contemporary Chinese Painters” collection published by Beijing Ministry of Culture, organized by the Chinese Artist Association, Chinese Collectors Association, and China Literature and Art foundation. In 2017, his solo” Mok Kam Cheung Chinese Painting Collection” was published by Jiangxi Fine Art Publishing House.

Finding Japanese-American Roots in Japan and the U.S.
2018-06-28 19:00 - 21:00

Hawker Fare: Stories & Recipes from a Refugee Chef's Isan Thai & Lao Roots
2018-06-23 13:00 - 17:00
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

Lincoln Summer Nights
2018-06-01 17:00 - 20:00

Two Languages/One Community Reception and Reading
2018-05-26 16:00 - 17:30
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

Chinese Ancestry
2018-05-26 09:00 - 16:00
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

FREE Pingshuai Gong Class at OACC
2018-05-20 15:00 - 17:00

Asian Pacific American Hertiage Month Gala
2018-05-18 17:30 - 22:30
Click the flyer below for more information

The Chinese Exclusion Act: Film / Dialogue / Workshop
2018-05-12 10:00 - 13:00
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.

Riding with the Wind - A Book Talk with Monona Yin & Grant Din
2018-05-06 14:00 - 15:30
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center and Eastwind Books of Berkeley present
A Book Talk with Monona Yin & Grant Din
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Doors Open: 2:00PM / Book Talk: 2:30PM / Q&A: 3:30PM
Riding with the Wind: Three Generations of My Family in China
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.

Announcing! GUZHENG EVOLUTION: Tradition In A Modern World
2018-05-05 19:00
10% off Early Bird Tickets (Until 4/18)!
AVAILABLE NOW @ BROWNPAPERTICKETS!
Purchase Tickets Here: http://csguzheng.bpt.me

Grand Opening: An Exhibition of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy
2018-04-29 02:00 - 20:00
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 Culture Center
388 Ninth Street, Suite 290 Oakland, CA 94602

Patty Chu's Chinese Troupe Annual Showcase
2018-04-22 02:30 - 16:30
Come join us on Sunday, April 22, 2018 for our Annual Show! Patty Chu, the instructor and artistic director blends the rich musical legacy with classical, folk, and contemporary dances. The dance troupe has drawn frequent smiles from a variety of viewers. Most of all, their graceful stage presences and technical skills makes a good impression on the audience. ​
For tickets contact: 510. 878. 0284
Patty Chu’s dance troupe collaborates with numerous community organizations, including music and Kung Fu groups, to ensure that her program has a widespread appeal to a variety of audiences. Some of our performances include:
Oakland City’s 150th birthday celebration
Paramount Great America (Santa Clara, California)
Alameda County Libraries
Oakland Chabot Space & Science Center
Fairyland Amusement Park (Oakland)
Oakland and San Francisco Festivals
Local Communities
Now our group’s joyous creative spirit continues to blossom, offering a lush folk dance delight to lift your heart and soothe your soul.

Mara Ahmed Film: A Thin Wall
2018-04-20 19:00 - 21:30
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center will rescreen filmmaker, writer, artist and social activist Mara Ahmed’s films
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

Mara Ahmed Film: The Muslims I Know
2018-04-19 19:30 - 21:30
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center will rescreen filmmaker, writer, artist and social activist Mara Ahmed’s films
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

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

Free Kidney Disease Screening. Sunday, April 15, 2018
2018-04-15 11:00 - 16:00

Finding Kukan: A Film by Robin Lung
2018-03-31 06:30 - 21:00
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

Poets of Existence: In Celebration of International Women’s Day
2018-03-16 07:00 - 21:00
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center Presents:
Poets of Existence
Deema K. Shehabi Persis Karim Shadab Zeest Hashmi
Friday, March 16, 2018
7- 9 pm
Coming from a multitude of experiences, these poets enrich our existence with the beauty of their words. Please join us for an evening of poetry and music.
Deema K. Shehabi is the author of Thirteen Departures from the Moon and co-editor with Beau Beausoleil of Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here for which she won NCBR’s Book Recognition Award.
She’s also co-author with Marilyn Hacker of the renga sequence Diaspo/Renga.
Persis Karim is the Neda Nobari Chair of the newly-established Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies and a professor in the Comparative and World Literature department at San Francisco State University.
Shadab Zeest Hashmi is a poet and essayist. She is the winner of the San Diego Book Award and the Nazim Hikmet Prize. Her books include Ghazal Cosmopolitan, Kohl and Chalk and Baker of Tarifa.
Accompanied by Musical Guests:
Faraz Minooei is a composer and santur player. As a full-time musician, he is a performer, composer, ethno-musicologist and teacher. He has performed with noted ensembles in the United States, among which was his collaboration in 2009 with Yo Yo Ma and Kayhan Kalhor in the Silk Road Ensemble (for the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln Center).
Hossein Massoudi is a vocalist. Steeped in the folkloric Kurdish vocal tradition of his native Iran, he integrates his love of Persian classical music with his Kurdish roots, resulting in a musicality which is rarely heard.
Free and Open to the Public
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 Ninth Street, #290, Oakland, CA 94607
510 – 637 -0455 www.oacc.cc
