June 3, 2009 by Chinatown Blogger.

The Chinatown Blogger just read this May 22, 2009 article written by Stephanie Fan and the Chinese Historical Society of New England (CHSNE) and published on the SAMPAN’s website. The article poses the question: “Why did the Chinese stay in Chinatown?” Many different European immigrant groups lived in the South Cove area along with Chinese immigrants, but why did the Chinese stay? These were the important points Fan and the Historical Society made:

- Due to restrictive immigration laws, Chinese immigrants were not allowed to bring their families over and Chinatown became a bachelor society. Fan argues that because of the bachelor society, the Chinatown community was needed to act as the family unit.
- Discrimination played a factor in preventing the Chinese from owning property outside of Chinatown.
- Immigration laws were relaxed in 1965 and more families eventually came to the U.S. But by then, the Chinatown community had been firmly established.

Check out the article at the SAMPAN’s website.

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June 3, 2009 by Chinatown Blogger.

While in the Bay Area, had the opportunity to visit both San Francisco and Oakland Chinatown. Here are some photos:

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June 1, 2009 by Chinatown Blogger.

ENVISIONING DIASPORA:
ASIAN AMERICAN VISUAL ARTS COLLECTIVES
BOOK TALK AND Q&A WITH AUTHOR ALEXANDRA CHANG

SATURDAY
JUNE 6, 2009
1:00 - 2:30 PM
Boston Chinatown
Neighborhood Center
38 Ash Street
Boston, MA

FREE to the public.
Phone: 617-635-5129
Email: giles.li@bcnc.net
RSVP online, visit the facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=93369898784&ref=share
Download: Envisioning Diaspora PDF Flyer

In Envisioning Diaspora: Asian American Visual Arts Collectives (Timezone 8 Limited
and project partner Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU) Alexandra Chang investigates
“Asian American Art” through the formation, membership and artwork of three important
post-’90s Asian American artist collectives: Godzilla: Asian American Art Network,
Godzookie and the Barnstormers. We see how the term began as an outgrowth of the
late ’60s civil rights movement, to its integration into mainstream multicultural discourse
and its legacy today. Envisioning Diaspora peers into the nuances of artist collective
formations and communities of affinity, and ultimately the core issues of identity politics,
aesthetics and diaspora involved in Asian American Art.

Alexandra Chang is the Director of Public Programs & Research Manager at the Asian/Pacific/
American Institute research center at NYU. She has curated exhibitions and written on
contemporary art, graffiti, design and architecture, including co-curating the current exhibition
“Art, Archives, and Activism: Martin Wong?s Downtown Crossings” at the 7th Floor Gallery at NYU
(Through Dec. 2009). She has served as the Managing Editor for Art Asia Pacific magazine and
Features Editor for amNew York.

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June 1, 2009 by Chinatown Blogger.

More photos of San Francisco Chinatown from a recent trip to the Bay Area.

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May 28, 2009 by Chinatown Blogger.

(Poster depicting the events to save the former I-Hotel, Manilatown, San Francisco, circa 1977. Near the middle, there is a sign for the Chinese Progressive Association, a community agency which still exists today.)

The Chinatown Blogger just came back from visiting the Bay Area. While there, he visited San Francisco Chinatown, Oakland Chinatown and Berkeley. While in SF Chinatown, the Blogger visited the redeveloped New International Hotel. But before we talk about 2009, let’s go back in 2003 when the Blogger was last there. At that time in 2003, the site of the former I-Hotel was located in what was then known as Manilatown, was under construction. Manilatown no longer exists but Chinatown still remains. Below is a photo of the construction site the Blogger took in 2003.

(Construction on the site formerly known as the I-Hotel, 2003)

When the Blogger took this photo, the construction workers took a break to admire this mural. On the mural is an Ode to Al Robles, who recently passed away on May 2, 2009. Robles was a community activist who fought to save the I-Hotel from demolition and narrated in the documentary film Fall of the I-Hotel. In honor to Al, here is the text of Ode to Al Robles as painted on the mural:

Ode to Al Robles
“Coming down from the brown
mountains - where the dreams
cry of laughter and lonliness
back home to a warm bowl
of rice - back home to this place
back home to this hole - where the Manillatown
seeds will once again grow…

Curtis Choy’s 1983 film Fall of the I-Hotel and narrated by Al Robles, is a classic and is widely used in Asian American studies programs as an example of Asian American activism. The film examines the history and migration of Filipinos workers called Manongs who settled in Manilatown, San Franciso and documents the struggles by the remaining Manongs to preserve their community from urban revitalization

Some more background history from the Wikipedia:
The I-Hotel, officially known as the International Hotel, was built in 1907 and was a low-cost residential hotel located at the corner of Kearny and Jackson Streets in the Manilatown section of San Francisco. It was home to many Asian Americans, specifically a large Filipino American population. The primarily Filipino population of immigrants living at the I-Hotel represented an area of Kearney Street in Chinatown known as San Francisco’s Manilatown. Despite its full occupancy, during the urban renewal and redevelopment movement of the mid-1960s, the International Hotel was targeted for demolition. The first eviction notices were issued to residents in 1968, and began an almost 40 year battle spurring disagreements and debate among activists and public officials… The final residents were evicted on August 4, 1977.

Today, the site is home to a new development completed in 2005 and consists of 105 affordable/low-income housing units. Our tour guide, David Ho from the Chinese Community Development Center, said that about 10 of the original tenants from the 1977 evictions were located and agreed to move back in.

Today, here is a picture of the lobby of the New International Hotel:

Pictures from the roof of the New International Hotel:

Photo of San Francisco Chinatown from the top of the New International Hotel

David the tour guide said that some of the major issues facing San Francisco Chinatown is rehabbing the older buildings and preservation of the community. He pointed out that the community was fortunate to have a community master plan in place since 1985. The SF Chinatown master plan established zoning and land use restrictions that was instrumental to preserving the community during the dotcom development boom. There may be lessons that Boston Chinatown can learn from San Francisco Chinatown and the Chinatown Blogger is anxiously hoping he can get a copy of the 1985 SF Chinatown master plan.

Over the weekend, photos of Oakland Chinatown will be posted.

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