Oakland Asian Cultural Center

FREE Pingshuai Gong Class at OACC
2018-05-20 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)

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

A Book Talk Author Edmund
2018-03-08 00:00
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center and Eastwind Books of Berkeley presents:

A Book Talk with Author Edmund S. Wong
Growing Up in San Francisco’s Chinatown: Boomer Memories from Noodle Rolls to Apple Pie
Thursday, March 8, 2018
At Oakland Asian CulturCC 388 9th Street, Suite 290 Oakland, California 94607
Doors open: 6:30pm
Talk, reading, and Q&A from 7 to 8pm
Book sales and signing from 8 to 9pm

Chinese American baby boomers who grew up within the twenty-nine square blocks of San Francisco’s Chinatown lived in two worlds. Elders implored the younger generation to retain ties with old China even as the youth felt the pull of a future sheathed in red, white and blue. The family-owned shops, favorite siu-yeh (snack) joints and the gai-chongs where mothers labored as low-wage seamstresses contrasted with the allure of Disney, new cars and football. It was a childhood immersed in two vibrant cultures and languages, shaped by both. Author Edmund S. Wong brings to life Chinatown’s heart and soul from its golden age.
About the Author:
Ed was born at San Francisco’s Chinese hospital in 1948 and is a graduate of that city’s Galileo High School. He used graduate degrees in Spanish and international relations to enjoy a long career in foreign language education. Since retiring in 2013, Ed has been busy with his writing. The Sea Takes No Prisoners: The Men and Ships of the Royal Navy in the Second World War is set to release in 2018. Ed has traveled the world in the company of his wife of forty years, Elizabeth. They live in Louisville, Kentucky.
Free and Open to the Public
Suggested Donation: sliding scale $5 – $20

Anthony Brown & Asian American Orchestra w/ Voices of a Dream
2018-02-18 08:00 - 17:00
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 .
http://%20https://youtu.be/1vSJ9RUP6vw

The Oakland Asian Cultural Center welcomes filmmaker, writer, artist and social activist MARA AHMED
2018-02-07 08:00 - 17:00
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 —
All events occurring at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center 388 9th Street, Suite 290, Oakland CA, 94607
‘THIS HEIRLOOM;
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:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-muslims-i-know-a-film-by-mara-ahmed-tickets-42158000715
Both film screenings followed by Q & A with Mara Ahmed

For detailed information – Please see flyer

OACC Lunar New Year Celebration
2018-02-03 11:00 - 16:00
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

Film Screening: 'Defender' Followed by Q&A With San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi
2018-01-27 08:00 - 17:00
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
2018-01-11 18:30 - 20:00
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.
