Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was a Chinese-American Hong Kong actor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, founder of Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement, and martial arts instructor. He was born in San Francisco on November 27, 1940 but was raised in Hong Kong for most of his teenage years. His mother was half Asian and half Caucasian, while his father was a full Asian. It wasn’t until 1958, when he moved back to the United States at the age of 19. Bruce Lee was known as one of the most influential artist of the 20^th century and was put on the top 100 most influential people of the 20^th century.

Initially, Bruce Lee trained in a form of martial arts called Wing Chun, but later started the movement of Jeet Kune Do, which incorporated martial arts from many different sources. He began teaching martial arts one year after he returned to the United States and believed in the philosophy of having fewer numbers of students but teaching each of them with great quality. Throughout his fighting and teaching career, he settled in many different areas all across the United States.

Lee had a lot of confidence in his fighting abilities and was not afraid of anyone who challenged him to a fight. He had an extreme fighting history where he defeated all of his opponents and left most in critical condition. He was named as his high school’s Boxing Champion and as Crown Colony Cha Cha Champion of Hong Kong. One of his most memorable fights lasted exactly 11 seconds where he hit his opponent 15 times and kicked him once. This event showed how fast and strong Bruce Lee actually was.

By the age of 18, Bruce Lee appeared in at least 20 different films. In 1967, he slowly started making guest appearances in films and television shows such as Ironside (1967), Here Come the Brides (1969) and Blondie (1969). He also played Kato on the show Batman in 3 crossover episodes. In 1969, he not only appeared in a film called Marlow, he began choreographing fight scenes for different films. From 1969 onward, Bruce Lee also participated in the making of other renowned movies.

Bruce Lee exemplified that hard-work and self-determination can bring a person very far in life and to reach his own goals. He was a model to Asian Americans, and brought pride and hope to many Chinese communities. Not only was he famous to the Asian society, Americans were impressed by his martial arts skills and sought to learn from him. 




Submitted by: Tanya Luc

Flower Drum Song

The Flower Drum Song was a stage musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and based off of a novel written by C.Y. Lee, a Chinese American author. This piece opened on Broadway in 1958 and was later produced as a musical film in 1961. After the musical film production, actual performances on stage were rare. In 2002, the musical was revived by David Henry Hwang, but with revisions to the plot.

The original novel focused on a man named Wang Chi-Yang who fled from China to avoid the communists. His sister-in-law, Madam Tang, who takes citizenship classes, constantly urged Wang to adopt Western ways. Because Wang was a traditional Chinese man, he resisted assimilation while his children integrated to the American culture. Wang also had a severe cough which he stubbornly refused to treat, thinking that it gave him authority in the household. His son, Wang Ta fell in love with May Li, who had just come to San Francisco with her father. She would sing flower drum songs on the street in order to support herself. After Ta vowed to marry May Li, she was accused of stealing a clock from the Wang household which led to father Wang to forbid their marriage. Throughout the novel, Wang struggled to understand the conflicts which were tearing his household apart. His opposition to assimilation isolated him from his family. In the end, Wang gave in to his family’s advice to treating his cough and walked into a Chinese-run Western clinic. This symbolized Wang beginning to accept the American culture.

The 1958 musical plot was much different from the original novel. It focused on a young man named Wang Ta, who found love interest with a young woman named Mei-Li after many different events. Mei-Li had just arrived from China illegally and was arranged to be married to another young man named Sammy Fong. Wang Ta on the other hand, had a blind date with an extremely Americanized woman named Linda Low, who was a stripper at a club and Sammy Fong’s actual girlfriend. Throughout the whole musical, many different dramatic and controversial events occur. Eventually, Wang Ta ended up with Mei-Li and Sammy Fong with Linda Low.

In the 1950s, there were only a few Asian American actors and actresses. After a long search, the producers successfully put together a cast which consisted of mostly Asian American actors and actresses. During that period of time, there was a strong demand for Asian Americans because different shows were opening; therefore the producers hired people of different races that would pass as Asian Americans after they put on their costumes and make-up.

Despite the huge success of this musical, many saw the show as stereotypical and even patronizing towards Asians. Others criticized the show as “inauthentic” and “offensive”. It even started a furor when the show was allegedly going to be reproduced in San Francisco considering the sensitivity towards Chinese immigrant due to problems that were occurring at that time. To Chinese Americans, the Flower Drum Song did not represent how they truly acted in real life. The author refuted these negative claims by explaining that he was attempting to rewrite history in the form of a musical. The Flower Drum Song did indeed show the different and struggle between traditional Asian traditions and Western traditions. It also showed the different degrees of assimilation that different Asian immigrants/Asian Americans had (ex. Mei Li and Linda Low). These different degrees of assimilation affected the experiences that each Asian had in the United States. The Flower Drum Song also showed the pressures of the Asian Americans to assimilate to the American culture and suppress their own cultural identity in order to avoid discrimination. This musical was extremely successful due to the amazing performances and production efforts but contains many underlying messages and reflections of Asian life and struggles in America. 

Submitted by: Tanya Luc

Patsy Takemoto Mink

          It has been seen throughout history that women tend to fall behind in their success when compared to men.  Right along the side with women are the colored, or immigrants.  Well one historical event that I wanted to focus on was on Patsy Takemoto Mink and her entering the Congress.  What makes this so significant is that she was the first Asian-American women or women of color to enter Congress.  This acted as a stepping stone to all the efforts she would make.

          Patsy Mink was a very intelligent individual and was extremely dedicated towards her causes.  She was born December 6^th of 1927 in Hawaii.  Before she was the first Asian American congresswomen she had pushed towards her education.  She had graduated from college as a Zoology major and went to further her education in grad school.  However when applying to medical school she was soon rejected to various schools, only to find the low admission rates of women in medical school.  She still pushed forward to law school where she graduated from Chicago Law School and met her husband.  After this she was elected into Congress.

          When entering Congress she was recognized for her standing as the first woman of color but went to prove herself with her various efforts.  For example, she was a firm believer of equal rights and worked with projects that aimed for these rights, and more specifically women’s rights.  She began her career in the Hawaii State House of Representatives (1956-1958) and two years later served for the Hawaii State Senate (1958-1959).  Because she had been a victim of “racial discrimination as a child and adult” (Info) she felt the need to work towards equal opportunity.  While in Congress some of the committees she took part in include the Committee on Education and Labor, Committee on Interior and Insular and on Budget Committee.  During the time she was not in Congress she had acted as “Jimmy Carter’s assistant secretary of state for oceans international, environmental, and scientific affairs” (Rise Up). 

          Now these are all titles, but what is more important is what she did with these positions.  Such as how she worked along the side with Martin Luther King Jr. against the “all-white Mississippi Congressional Delegation in 1964”.  Also she protested against things such as Nuclear Testing.  She was determined in everything she worked on.  Her daughter said that she was her “role model” and she showed “personal courage” and a “deep love for humanity” (Rise Up.)  A major change she made was “Among the education acts Mink introduced or sponsored were the first childcare bill and legislation establishing bilingual education”.  This proved to be very important to today’s education, creating the bridge for bilingual children.  She is known for bettering the “lives of all races and ethnic backgrounds” (Rise Up).  So even more than helping just Asian Americans she more helped all people of color.

 

Links Referenced

http://us_asians.tripod.com/timeline-1960.html

http://www.usariseup.com/setting-it-straight/patsy-takemoto-minks-fight-equality-across-gender-race-ethnicity

http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=173

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0878905.html

Submitted by: Reyna Lanzas

Operation Adoption-1956

          Throughout this class we have focused on various difficulties that have had a major impact on Asian Americans and Homosexuals.  One that I found to be very interesting was the idea of the Parachute child.  So what I wanted to focus on was an example of one of the companies that helped with this idea.

          I wanted to look at the Holt International Children’s Services that was created by Harry and Bertha Holt.  This couple had a kind heart from the beginning always giving back to others.  One of their first contributions was sending money to Korea to help children that were in need.  However this couple thought they could and should do more to help out.  So what they did was in 1956 they adopted eight children from Korea and brought them over to the United States.  This was out of the norm for their time considering most felt the need to hide if they had an adopted child.  Because this was so controversial and because it would be hard for these two individuals to take care of all these children they had to go through congress.  They were successful in passing a law through congress that helped them with their process.

          This not only helped the children they brought over from Korea find a home but also acted as a Revolutionary Movement.  Like I mentioned, being adopted was not something to be proud of however this act slowly began to change this perception.  They were able to show how “the love of a family could prove stronger than the race and nationality barriers”.  The Holt family had not done this believing that they would help anymore than those they adopted.  Little did they know, this was a stepping stone to the tremendous amount of help that would be aimed towards orphans.  Even after the passing of Holt himself the agency proved to live on!  

          Similar to what we had watched in class, I found a story about one of the children that were taken to the United States to find a new family through the Holt Company.  The girls name was Susan Soon-Keum Cox.  She explains how she remembers Holt as a very caring and compassionate person.  He was always there when one was sick and she always knew him as her “grandfather”.  She goes on to explain how “I was the 167th child to be adopted from Korea.  More than 50,000 Korean children in the last 40 years have made the same journey” (Cox).  As for her life in the United States she lived comfortably with the constant appreciation of Korea.  Or in other words, her family made sure she knew where she was from and respected that she was adopted.  We even see how her parents were very open to talk about any questions she had about the whole situation. 

          Susan had gone on later to visit with her husband the orphanage in Korea that she was raised at.  Here she was nervous, which one should be, but yet she did find a familiar face; the daughter of Holt himself.  Susan had seen the looks on the faces of the orphans, the want for belong, the want for a family.  She had finally felt that want to help, just as Holt and his wife had felt at the beginning of their journey.  She recognized her status with “The melting together of being Korean-American.  American by osmosis and experience.  Korean by birth and ethnicity. Shared by both” (Cox).

          Overall the adoption of these eight children had begun just as a way to help the orphans of “mixed color”.  It had evolved to a more revolutionary program that continues today through the Holt International.  Today their goal is to focus on the “Elevation of the importance of homeless and orphaned children”. 

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675064649_Harry-Holt_Korean-orphans_children-arrive-for-adoption_disembark-from-airplane

Video about what Holt and his wife did

   

Referenced Links

http://www.holtinternational.org/about/historical.shtml

http://www.holtinternational.org/cox.shtml

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675064649_Harry-Holt_Korean-orphans_children-arrive-for-adoption_disembark-from-airplane

http://us_asians.tripod.com/timeline-1950.html


Submitted by: Reyna Lanzas

The Korean War, Orphans and The Holts (early to mid 1950s)

The Korean War lasted 3 years from June 1950 to July of 1953. It was primarily between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The United States sided with the Republic of Korea along with the allied nations of the United Nations. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was supported by China and got a lot of help from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This was all due to the result of political division in Korea, hence the long, drawn out names of the divisions of Korea. The political divide came from the end of World War II. This is where the victorious Allies made the agreement to divvy up Korea.

Within Korean, the North established a very communist government, while the South established one based upon capitalism. A lot of tension came about when negations took place and no one was ever happy. Actual warfare started when the aggressive Northern part of Korean invaded the South in 1950. This was also considered the first significant conflict of arms of the Cold War. Many tactics from WWI and WWII were present in the Korean War. Trench war and bombing raids were common.

With the war ending on 27 July 1953, a armistice agreement was signed. This agreement created a restored border between North and South Korea near the 38th Parallel. This created Korean Demilitarized Zone which is now a 2.5-mile wide buffer zone. Outbreaks of drama and fighting still happen in the present day.

One huge affect of war was many Korean children that were left as orphans. In addition to the full Korean children left in terrible, over-crowded orphans. A huge number of mixed-race babies were left as well. These children were called, ‘G.I babies’ which were created from American and other western soldiers and Korean women. This was probably due to The United States making up a whopping 88% of foreign troops while the United Nations made up the other 12 helping South Korea.

 This is where Korea started to use children as one of their #1 sources of economic growth. With so many excess orphans, Korean became the #1 exporters of babies being adopted to other countries (like the U.S.). This primarily started with Harry and Bertha Holt in 1954. This religious and loving couple were raising 6 of their own kids and decided to adopt some of the Korean orphans left from the Korean War after they saw a film about G.I babies and how they lived to suffer under bad conditions. From what started with a heart of compassion, the Holts adopted 8 children to add to their already 6 kids at home. They even had to get a bill passed by Congress which allowed them to adopt the 8 children in 1955. This took a few months and was rightfully called the “Holt Bill.” There is now also an adoption agency called the Holt adoption agency that caters to and sponsors kids all over the world. The Holts' story created an inspired nation and a new movement to adopt the leftover orphans from the Korea War.

Submitted by: Lauren Fukuzawa

The Kim Sisters- Debut on the Ed Sullivan Show (1959)

The Kim Sisters were one of the first famous Korean singers who made it big not only in their hometown of Korea, but in the United States as well. They were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The trio was made up of Sue and Aija Hae-Song and their cousin Mia Kim. One of their claim to fames was that they looked like triplets. They all grew up being daughters of musicians and conductors. One of which, was daughters of one of the most famous singers before the Korean War (Lee Nan-young).

Their mother/aunty Lee had been singing for the foreign troops to earn enough money just to get by. Sadly, in 1953 their family lost everything in a bombing during the Korean War. This spurred the girls to try and help their family rebuild, which created the idea for them to literally sing for food. The Kim Sisters started off performing for chocolate and beer, then they would go and exchange that for food. The girls did not even know English at that time, so they learned the songs phonetically. Surprisingly they were only 13, 12 and 11 years old when they did their first performance but they still left a lasting impact on those American Gis watching. The first song they ever sang was the Hoagy Carmichael’s “Ole’ Buttermilk Sky.”

American men stationed in Korea heard the girls at bars and returned to the United States and spread the word about the up and coming trio. Shortly after they started, Tom Ball (from Los Angeles) signed them to a contract and the girls went to Las Vegas. The girls learned how to play around 12 instruments and were known to be very dynamically well rounded and talented. It was in Las Vegas when the girls' careers really picked up. The Kim Sisters started their contract at the Stardust Hotel and got a lot of publicity because of their rare and exotic Asian look. They got the attention of the famous T.V. show host Ed Sullivan and he requested them to perform on his show in 1959. Not only was his variety show ranked #15 for the best shows of all time (by T.V. Guide) but Ed featured people like Elvis, The Beatles and The Supremes. The Kim Sisters were so loved that they were invited back on the Ed Sullivan show more than 22 times and became nationally known. This is Kim Sisters on the Ed Sullivan Show

They were on all the big TV shows of the day, they were featured in LIFE and NEWSWEEK and other magazines. They kept performing for the next 15 or so years continuing to do most of their gigs in Las Vegas. The Kim Sisters came out with many records and eventually made around $13,000 a week (compared a few chocolate bars before).

Submitted by: Lauren Fukuzawa

Tamio Kono - Bodybuilder, Record Setter and Olympic Winner

 Tamio Kono was born June 27, 1930 in Sacramento, California. As a Japanese American, Kono broke all stereotypes in the sport of weight lifting. Although there were some setbacks in Kono's life (like only being five feet, six inches), it was through these trials that he was able to find the sport of weightlifting. He set many records during his career which spanned in the 1950's through the 60's. An amazing feat accomplished by Kono was his ability to compete in 4 different weight classes. Even today, he is the only weight lifter to have set world records in four different weight classes, something that was unheard during his time. Kono's claim to fame was his performances in the Olympics, as he gained popularity through his accomplishments. He went on to set 22 world records and six Olympic records. Other notable things was him being a bodybuilder, winning Mr. Universe title in 1955 and 1957.

Kono went on to win a gold medal at both the 1952 and 1956 Olympic games. Although he took home a silver at the 1960 games, his status in the Hall of Fame was cemented eternally. As noted earlier, Kono set records in 4 weight classes; including lightweight, middle weight, light-heavyweight, and middle-weight. Also included on his resume was being the world champion from 1953 to 1959 and Pan-Am games champion in 3 separate years. He is the only two-division Olympic champion in weightlifting history. He won the lightweight (148 pounds) title at Helsinki, Finland in 1952 and the light heavyweight (181 pounds) crown in 1956 at Melbourne, Australia.

Tamio Kono displayed strength throughout his life and was able to overcome his setbacks. Because Kono was of Japanese decent, he faced many hardships growing up. To begin, he was placed in an internment camp during World War II, yet it was at the camp that he was introduced to weight lifting, As an Asian American, it is nice to see something great come out of a rough time that was the internment camps. Also, Kono had asthma, another setback he would not let stop him from his dreams. It is ironic that Kono would want to get into weightlifting which requires much heavy lifting and breathing. All his lift, Tamio Kono showed a resilience to become the best at what he did.

In closing, you can really see how strong of a person Tamio Kono was during his life. Not only did he win gold medals on the biggest stage of the world, but he also competed in different weight divisions. He faced trials and tribulations through the internment camps and his asthma, yet he did not let those things slow him down. All of Kono's work paid off when he was inducted to the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame in 1993. From a boy in an internment camp with Asthma to a hall of fame weight lifting is quite an amazing accomplishment and story. After moving to Hawaii, Kono continues to give back to his community and held weightlifting work shops to this day. 

Submitted by: Lauren Fukuzawa