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  • Front
    • News Archive
    • Calendar
    • Newsletters Archive
    • Follow
  • About
    • Mission & History
    • Executive Board
    • Committees
    • Membership
    • Contact Us
  • Scholarships
    • Application
    • 2022 Scholarships
    • 2021 Scholarships
    • 2020 Scholarships
    • 2019 TACT Gala (50th Anniversary)
    • 2018 TACT 49th Annual Scholarship Dinner Photos
    • 2017 TACT 48th Annual Scholarship Dinner Photos
    • 2016 TACT 47th Annual Scholarship Dinner Photos
    • Updates from Past Recipients
  • Curriculum
  • Donate
  • fundraiser

Asian Ties to Hispanic Heritage Month

9/29/2017

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​National Hispanic Heritage Month  (September 15 to October 15) recognizes the many contributions of Latin Americans,  currently 17 % of our nation’s population.  Latinos of Asian descent make up only a small percentage in Latin American countries, but here are some books that teachers may wish to add:
​Yes! We Are Latinos:  Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience (by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, illustrated by David Diaz. 2016)  shows different racial, religious,  time periods, and national backgrounds of young Latinos  in free verse and prose.  Indigenous, African, and Spanish influences are celebrated, as are Asian influences in Latin America.  This book is also valuable for its list of resources and inspirational Latinos.  Grades 4-8.
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​Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle and Rafael López 201 is a story based on Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese/African Cuban girl who broke Cuba's taboo against female drummers.  The poetic text and colorful illustrations show both African and Chinese cultural influences in Cuba.  Grades K-2.
Mama and Papa Have a Store by Amelia Lau Carling  
Mama and Papa Have a Store is a beloved book that was reprinted in 2016.  It shows a Chinese family in Guatemala City, based on the author/illustrator’s memories .  Many of the details are familiar to Chinese Americans:  food, siblings, memories of China, using an abacus, and running a store.  Others are related to Guatemala:  selling thread to Mayan weavers, interacting with Spanish speaking clientele, and Guatemalan foods.  Grades 1-3.
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​Lion Island: Cuba's Warrior of Words
Lion Island:  Cuba’s Warrior of Words by Margarita Engle is set in the 1870s.
This is a powerful historical fiction based on the early years of Cuban activist Antonio Chuffat who protested the slave/near-slave conditions of both sides of his African/Chinese family.   The author created two friends, Wing and his sister Fan, to show how refugees fled to Cuba from the anti-Chinese riots and lynching in Los Angeles.  Despite its somber subject matter, the book is uplifting and addresses questions of multi-racial identity.  Grades 6-8. 
​El Chino by Allen Say.  The book begins with Billy Wong’s childhood in Arizona and depicts his subsequent journey to become a bullfighter in Spain.  The writing and watercolor illustrations are beautiful, but there is controversy over bullfighting, both in Spain and Latin American countries.  Grades 1-3.
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​Sylvia and Aki by Winfred Conkling. This is a chapter book based on the young life of Sylvia Mendez whose court case Mendez v Westminster challenged segregation of Mexican American students in the 1940s.  It also tells the story of Aki, a Japanese American girl who is sent away to a relocation camp, and later becomes Sylvia’s friend.  Grades 4-6.
God of Luck by Ruthanne Lum McCunn is the story of a young Chinese man who was captured and sent on a slave ship to Peru in the 1800s. The details are grim and draw parallels to the African slave trade. The grief and marginal survival of his wife and family in China are also told.  About 100,000 Chinese men were kidnapped and ultimately perished in Peru in large numbers (almost 75%) due to brutal treatment in the harvest of guano deposits.  Few ever found their way home.  This short book is bleak, but important for its historical facts.  Teachers may choose to use one chapter from it.  High School.
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Chinatown 2017: Continuity and Change

9/22/2017

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A photographic examination of changes and continuities in San Francisco Chinatown during the past 35 years prepared by Malcolm Collier, Emeritus Faculty, Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University. 
  • Opening Reception: Tuesday, September 26, 5-7 pm
  • Closing Conversation: Thursday, October 12, 5-7 pm
  • Location: 41 Ross Alley, San Francisco Chinatown
  • Dates: September 21 - October 15, 2017 / Hours: Thurs-Sun, 11am - 4pm
High school teachers, students, and staff might be interested in a photo exhibit in Chinatown's Ross Alley, opposite the fortune cookie factory.  It shows changes in the Chinatown community from the 1960s in photos taken by students from San Francisco State University's Asian American Studies classes.
On display will also be a brilliant Lego model of Chinatown.  High school students from the Chinatown Alleyway Project used different colors of Legos in a block-by-block rendition of housing, commercial and other (i.e. non profits, churches, hospitals).  It is a stunning reminder of how much housing is crammed into those Chinatown blocks.  The largest block of housing, the four Ping Yuen Public Housing Complexes, were originally built in the 1950s to house WWII Chinese veterans and their families.
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Also possibly available at a discount will be Exploring Chinatown:  A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture by Carol Stepanchuk.  The book is illustrated by local artist Leland Wong, who created some of TACT's most beloved t-shirt designs.  The book can be used in Grades 4-8 and describes food, reading and writing, celebrations, families, religion (good for 6th Grade), art, and performing arts.

Last but not least, go across the street into the fortune cookie factory and see the mural of Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors.  He came to Chinatown a few years ago to promote their game in which the team wore Lunar New Year t-shirts.
You can't miss this.  All exhibit items will only be on display for a month with limited viewing hours.
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We Are Also DACA

9/18/2017

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How many of our kids and grandkids know that they may be descendants of illegal immigrants (paper sons), marriages of convenience for citizenship, or students and tourists who have overstayed their visas?

​The decision of President Trump’s administration to end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) also affects Asian Pacific Islander Americans.   Here are some statistics from ASPIRE,  a Pan-Asian undocumented immigrant led group in the country housed under Asian Law Caucus based in San Francisco Bay Area:
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In addition, ASPIRE has excellent short biographies of many undocumented youth from various Asian Pacific Islander groups.

The history of Chinese Americans in this country has been characterized by illegal immigration, forced by the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Action in 1882 and its aftermath.  Over 90% have immigrated illegally themselves or have been descendants of illegal immigrants (Francis Leo, immigration official, 1967). 
 
We are not just a nation of immigrants; we have long been a nation of illegal immigrants.  Did the Pilgrims arrive with papers?  How about the Jamestown settlers?  They did not land in an empty space, but intruded upon native tribes who gave them sustenance. 

Although the news has focused the DACA issue on Latino Americans, we must also remember our own history and support efforts and demonstrations to maintain this program.  No evidence has been found by research conducted by National Public Radio (NPR) and the Associated Press (AP) that young people eligible for DACA adversely affect jobs, but that they contributed to the economy.
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​A beautifully written picture book to use about immigration is Faith Ringgold’s  We Came to America.  All arrivals to our shores, no matter when or how or with whatever religious beliefs, some with hope, some in chains, they are all part of our country.
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​Paper Son:  Lee's Journey to America by Helen Foster James and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh, illustrated by Wilson Ong 2013.  Although there are many books on Angel Island, this book specifically shows how many of us had to use false identities to enter the country.

-Irene Collier
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TACT Executive Board Meeting

9/18/2017

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Our next TACT Exec meeting is this Friday, September 22, 2017. (5:30pm at Lakeshore Elementary). Agenda items include board positions and outreach to SFUSD new hires.
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    TACT is a non-profit operating under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). We are entirely volunteer-run. ​Our tax ID is #94-2325845.
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