Chinese Historical Society of America

[Drunk Monk]

I have ben unanimously approved as a new committee member. WTH does this mean? I dunno really. Another bullet point on my resume...

The CHSA meeting went well. I’ve been nominated as a committee member for the Chinese Historical Society of America in SF Chinatown. It’s not a paid gig but it might open doors. It’s more karma work (as if I don’t volunteer enough already). But since it’s volunteer, I can easily bail if it gets tire- or cumbersome.

Nevertheless I’m excited for the opportunity. I met with 6 board members on zoom and we hit it off well. Turns out the executive director is a Kung Fu guy - a student of Doc Fai Wong. I am good friends with two of his senior brothers and he’s a long time fan of the mag, plus he even competed at TCEC. Two of the other members are fencer parents who bought gear at AFS. The maestro can probably guess the rest - they learned from the always gracious Connie Yu. She is an emeritus member. 

So it’s looking good for me to get confirmed. The upcoming exhibit is focused on Bruce Lee. https://chsa.org

I need to make a trip to Chinatown to check this place out...

[Greg]

It means they need new blood to do all the crap jobs they are tired of doing. They figure you have ideas!

How did you become president? Well, I stepped out of the room for a minute and.....

Congratulations!

[Drunk Monk]

They figure you have ideas!

 I gotz plenty of ideas.

I'm just in it for the free lunches...

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

You R prez now? You get me job? Many jobs?

[Drunk Monk]

Just organizing my notes here...

It was fascinating. I wish we had more time. It’s a small yet historic building and it was nice to meet everyone in person. The director is the martial brother of two good friends of mine, and he has sort of an Adam Driver look to him. He’s been active in museum work for years, and that was very intriguing. I must go back someday as he’s promised me a private tour. Our meeting was mostly preplanning - setting up some ground rules. Then we sat in on part of a meeting for their upcoming Joy on Joice event - a chinatown revitalization project. There were a lot of Chinatown biz brokers there, including one older woman who led a drumming troupe that said she was a student of Wing Lam back in the Filbert st days. 

Twas a shining day in SF. Really wish I could’ve spent more time in Chinatown.

Save the date: Feb 2022
https://www.wearebrucelee.org

[thatguy]

I signed up for the S'vale Library mailing list in case any interesting events come up that I can share with my mom (who is getting bored with shelter in place). This was in the latest:

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/SVL-...-more.html

[b]Author Lily K. Lee[/b]

Fire Scar - Author Lily K. Lee
Monday, Dec. 13, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Library Fiction Room and Online

In May 1887, San José’s Chinatown was ravaged by a deliberately set blaze. Over 1400 people lost their homes and businesses in this act of violence against the Chinese community.

Local author Lily K. Lee brings this tragedy to light in her novel Fire Scar: The Untold Story of the 1887 Burning of San José’s Chinatown. In her presentation, Ms. Lee will talk about her novel, as well as the history and aftermath of the fire. Book signing to follow.

Ms. Lee has authored several Chinese-language books, as well as short stories for the World Journal and a food column for Distinctive Taste magazine.

THIS PROGRAM WILL BE PRESENTED IN PERSON AND ONLINE.

Register for the IN-PERSON Program

Register for the ONLINE Program

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

The force is strong in you, tg.  I just got an email from CHSA about our next programs committee meeting.

[Drunk Monk]

Issue Date: March 11, 2022 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Nathaniel Jue, Communications Manager
njue@chsa.org, (408) 712-0025

NEWS RELEASE
The Chinese Historical Society of America Announces Opening of the San Francisco Homecoming “We Are Bruce Lee” Exhibition on April 23-24, 2022 

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11, 2022—The Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) is pleased to announce the long-awaited return of San Francisco Chinatown’s native son as part of its groundbreaking exhibition, We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family. This multimedia collaboration between the Bruce Lee Foundation, top collectors of Bruce Lee memorabilia, and a team of artistic innovators will showcase state-of-the-art engagement to magnify the vision and values of a Chinese American icon who transcended race, geography, and culture. We Are Bruce Lee will debut as part of the re-opening of CHSA museum at 965 Clay Street in San Francisco: CHSA members are invited for a members-only viewing on Saturday, April 23; the exhibit will officially be open to the public on Sunday, April 24. 

For San Francisco Chinatown, this is a proud, heartwarming homecoming for a legendary figure who was born in Chinatown’s own Chinese Hospital in 1940 and grew into an international superstar. This exhibit offers unique perspectives of Bruce beyond martial arts and acting—as a visionary, athlete, thinker, and unifier who fought discrimination with uncanny strength, unwavering resilience, and profound engagement with a multicultural society. Visitors of all ages will learn about his evolution from a kid from Hong Kong to a global pioneering entrepreneur and his immortal influence on fans and followers across generations, backgrounds, and all walks of life. 

The generous contributions of the Bruce Lee Foundation, and collectors Jeffery Chinn, Robert Gomez, Ken Hao, and Perry Lee present a trove of rarely seen artifacts, historic photos, handwritten letters, memorabilia, video, film, artwork, graphical displays, and multimedia technology. Collectively, this exhibit reveals Bruce’s personal philosophies on life and society—which offer relevant lessons in present day, a time currently fraught with xenophobia, racism, and social injustice. 

Key selections from the artifacts on exhibit include:

• 35mm celluloid prints from each of Bruce’s movies installed in glowing light boxes; 
  
  
• A custom-designed installation featuring original artifacts depicting Bruce as Kato from the TV show The Green Hornet including an original October 1966 TV Guide, the first feature of an Asian American on a nationally distributed magazine cover; 
  
  
• Bruce’s personal weight bench and dumbbell set; 
  
  
• Rare photos of Bruce in costume on the sets of his many films; and
  
  
• An original copy of The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce’s publication on his martial arts philosophy
  

The inaugural exhibition breaks ground in San Francisco with a mission to bridge communities from two historic neighborhoods—Chinatown and Fillmore/Western Addition—in an effort to tell the story of cross-community respect and collaboration. We Are Bruce Lee features an art gallery curated by African American Art & Culture Complex Co-executive Directors Melonie and Melorra Green showcasing Bruce’s influence on the Black community from the perspective of some of the Bay Area’s premier Black artists and other creatives of color. In addition, CHSA is excited to debut the complementary Bruce Lee mural “Be the Bridge” in the museum’s Yick Gallery, produced by Bay Area art collectives Twin Walls Mural Company and Macro Waves. This expansive art piece takes inspiration from Bruce’s unifying of communities and offers a one-of-a-kind immersive experience. It utilizes artwork and animated projections by creatives from different cultural communities, including a customized soundscape and playlist by local musicians Mike Dinkins and De’Ahna Turner.  

The journey to present this historic exhibition was born as a result of the challenges that Chinese Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), and San Francisco Chinatown have faced over the past two years. Amid this unrelentingly difficult time for AAPIs, the hardships have become an opportunity to bring light to our community. We Are Bruce Lee and CHSA aim to revitalize the Chinatown neighborhood in which Bruce was born; strengthen the Chinese American and AAPI communities; and combat racism and hate by bringing diverse audiences together in solidarity. 

[*]As Bruce himself stated, “Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.”

[*][*]Special thanks to our donors and funders, including Grants for the Arts, the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, the Office of Economic Workforce and Development, Friends of Roots, the Rose Pak Community Fund, the Candelaria Fund, Ken Hao, Anna and Wilford Hoover, Charles and Qian Huang, Jerry and Charlene Lee, the Lui Foundation, Hazel Louie, the Robert Joseph Louie Memorial Fund, Melvin Wong, Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, and Ming Zhang.

[*][*][*]For ticket information, visit chsa.org. 

[*][*][*][*]The Chinese Historical Society of America in San Francisco is the oldest organization in the country dedicated to the presentation of Chinese American history. Since 1963, CHSA has strived to be a responsible steward of the remarkable narrative of the Chinese American community through education, programming.

The Bruce Lee Foundation was founded in 2002 by Linda Lee Cadwell and Shannon Lee, with a vision to share the art and philosophy of Bruce Lee with the world for generations to come. Today, the vision has grown to actively inspire confidence, motivate action, bridge cultures, and champion humanity. It believes that the life of Bruce Lee and the actions of the Bruce Lee Foundation can ignite positivity in the world and inspire people to embrace their uniqueness, discover their limitless potential, and help one another thrive.

---

Chinatown Bruce Lee exhibit will celebrate the S.F.-born icon and his vision of racial harmony
Yoshi Kato March 11, 2022Updated: March 11, 2022, 10:49 am
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“We Are  Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family” will be at the Chinese Historical Society of America at 965 Clay St. for three years, opening in April.Photo: Franchon Smith / The Chronicle

There’s a statue of Bruce Lee in Seattle, where the global icon spent his early adult years, and a plaque dedicated to him at St. Xavier’s College in Hong Kong, where he was educated in his youth. Now the San Francisco native will be the subject of an extended exhibition in his hometown at the Chinese Historical Society of America in Chinatown — about two blocks from the Chinese Hospital on Jackson Street, where he was born.
“We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family,” which marks CHSA’s reopening and is expected to run for three years  starting April 24, will feature artifacts from Lee’s film, television, martial arts and writing careers sourced from the private collections of several noted Bruce Lee fans including Perry Lee (no relation) of Seattle, San Franciscan Jeff Chinn and Hillsborough’s Kenneth Hao, “We Are Bruce Lee”  sponsor, as well as from the Bruce Lee Foundation. Items include promo trailer celluloid reels from his final five films; on-set photos and magazine covers from his time as Kato from “The Green Hornet” TV series that ran in 1966-67; and his exercise equipment, including his weight bench.
Jane Chin, the exhibit’s project lead, told The Chronicle in an exclusive interview that the long-in-the planning project came about as a way to revitalize interest in Chinatown, which had been severely impacted by the pandemic both economically and socially.
“The idea of bringing native son Bruce Lee back to San Francisco was just a mesmerizing story to me,” Chin said in a phone interview from her home in San Francisco. But focusing on Lee’s brief time in the Bay Area proved challenging, Chin noted, prompting CHSA to expand the exhibit’s scope.

Bruce Lee subdues a bad guy  in a publicity photo for the TV series “The Green Hornet”, circa 1967. Lee starred as Kato.Photo: Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images

Lee was born on Nov. 27, 1940, while his opera singer father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was performing in the city on tour with the Chinese Opera. He was raised in Hong Kong and left for Seattle when he was 18, and later studied philosophy at the University of Washington. Hong Kong and Seattle currently have Bruce Lee exhibits, so “We Are Bruce Lee” completes a geographic trinity of his early years.
Considered the first Asian American superstar thanks to his appearances in films and TV, he died on July 20, 1973, from cerebral edema and a subsequent allergic reaction to medication. But Lee has since remained part of the cultural zeitgeist and an influence to artists, athletes and more throughout the world.
“We were looking around for the story we could tell and a place where we could do it. All that took time to germinate, for the Bruce Lee story is not just that he was a movie star or a martial arts star,” Chin said. “As you really delve into him, you realize he was a deep thinker and a philosopher and a visionary.”

Bruce Lee on the set of “Big Boss,” written and directed by Wei Lo.Photo: Sunset Boulevard / Corbis via Getty Images

Lee was also a unifier, Chin added, referring to how Lee wanted to share his knowledge of martial arts with others to cultivate better relationships between different ethnic communities. After developing his own style of martial arts, Jeet Kune Do (“the way of the intercepting fist”), Lee opened the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Seattle, before branching out to Oakland and Los Angeles.
“He worked with Black Americans to teach them kung fu, so the message about him standing up, being a unifier and bridging communities is one thing that we really want to present in these times,” Chin said.
In fact, Chin said the “Under the Sky, One Family” title of the exhibition was taken from a television interview on “The Pierre Burton Show” in 1971 where Lee stated, “Under the sky, under the heavens, man, there is but one family.”
That theme of unity is underscored by CHSA’s collaboration with the African American Art and Culture Complex, the Fillmore Collective and Oakland-based Shades Magazine. The multimedia section of “We Are Bruce Lee” also combines contributions from artists of color, which again aligns with Lee’s philosophy.

A mural of the late Bruce Lee, by Marina Perez-Wong and Elaine Chu of Twin Walls Mural Co., will be featured in the exhibit at the Chinese Historical Society of America.Photo: Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Among those artists are Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong of the Bay Area-based Twin Walls Mural Co. The pair created “Be the Bridge,” a 24-by-10-foot mural that will be on display in CHSA’s Yick Gallery. The expansive piece depicts a shirtless Lee with outstretched arms and clenched fists at the center, flanked by San Francisco and Hong Kong skylines, and surrounded by painted historic images — many which were inspired by photos provided by his daughter Shannon Lee, who chairs the Bruce Lee Foundation.
“We love the idea of Bruce Lee as a bridge,” said Chu in a joint phone interview with Perez-Wong of their mural. Perez-Wong added: “Elaine and I have been following his philosophy, that we are one part of a whole, since we were little. So that’s what our mural is about — that definition of intersectionality.”
Shannon Lee approved Chu and Perez-Wong’s mural proposal last July and provided feedback during the 18-month process of creating it,  including during a museum visit on Feb. 19 before she served as the honorary marshal at this year’s San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade.

Anthony Tsai (front left), “We Are Bruce Lee” exhibit consultant, and Janice Lee, a consultant to the African American Art and Culture Complex, take photos of De’Ahna Turner, Mike Dinkins, Melorra Green, Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee, Melonie Green, Marina Perez-Wong and JR Valrey in front of the Bruce Lee mural at Chinese Historical Society of America.Photo: Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

“We worked hard to come up with a theme that reflected the overall exhibit and what resonates to us about Bruce Lee,” Chu explained.
Music producer Mike Dinkins and vocalist De’Ahna Turner, also known as the Oakland duo Mike and Dee, composed a score and created a soundscape for the mural along with curating the exhibit’s official playlist. Dominic Cheng, Jeffrey Yip and Anum Awan, of the East Bay art collective and creative studio Macro Waves, also created art to be projected on top of the mural as well as on two blank walls.
“It’s been a labor of love,” said Chin of the exhibit. “But the love is for Chinatown as much as for telling the story of San Francisco’s native son. We hope the exhibit will attract visitors from all over and revitalize the community.”
“We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family”: Opens April 24. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. daily through May 1; Wednesdays through Sundays thereafter. Through April 2025. $20 general admission; $10 for students and seniors 55 and older; free to members. Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay St., S.F. [url=https://www.wearebrucelee.org/]www.wearebrucelee.org

[Drunk Monk]

I'm feeling much better...just this damn nagging cough. So I'm hopeful that I'll make it for the opening tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

[Drunk Monk]

Well that was fun. What a perfect evening in Chinatown. Good to reconnect with several old friends and meet a few new ones - including Tarika Lewis (google her if you don’t know).

The exhibit - D00M recommended. It’s only $10 to get in and it’s very well done.

[Drunk Monk]

Hold the phone...

It's been over a year already. Have any of you even seen our museum? I'm reading your books. I liking your spider pix and weird IG reels. I'm poaching your unusual cover posts. The Bruce exhibit has been going for over a year now. If you haven't seen it yet, turn in your freakin martial arts fan card. You don't get it back until you go. 

It's a freakn Bruce Lee exhibit. For just $10!!! WTF?

[Greg]

You're right. I should stop in. It is so convenient to the Lair.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Oh, but it is so far out of the way. I haven't visited The Smithsonian either, but they aren't whining about it on the DOOM board.

[Drunk Monk]

Well thanks for the support here brothers.

Next time any of you get on a program committee for a museum, we'll see if I go. 

We'll just see...

[Greg]

If I am ever in San Francisco again, I'll stop by.

I mean you have read my grandfather's book. It's not just gathering dust at the bottom of your TBR pile.