Artistic cultural performance with the musical ensemble melody of china from San Francisco, artists from some of the most prestigious music conservatories in china who play together as a Nonprofit Group to promote traditional and contemporary chinese music. Theyll be here live in our studio, all that on our show today. Well, its not that the public in general doesnt know there were Chinese Workers on the railroad, but do people truly understand the contributions they really made and how important it was for chinese immigration . Well, frankly, it wasnt recognized during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the completion of the railroad, but maybe that will change in this 150th year. Joining me now are two people familiar to our viewers who are very connected to thChinese Community and its history. Sue lee is the former executive director of the Chinese Historical Society of america, and a longtime mover and shaker at San Francisco city hall. Also with us is grant din, a nonprofit consultant and genealogist who actually attended along with sue the recent 150th anniversary celebration in utah. Welcome to the show. Sue lee thank you. Grant din thanks for having us. Robert well, first i got to hear about what happened in utah. How was it there . Sue utah was fantastic. You have to remember that 50 years ago, we were unsuccessful in getting chinese recognized. So, this 150th, we werewe were determined to get a chinese speaker on the podium at promontory summit. We did, Connie Young Yu spoke. And the celebration itself was really inclusive. There were performances, there were reenactments, it was fantastic to be there. Robert couldnt have asked for a better speaker there to speak on that than connie, huh . Sue absolutely. Robert grant, what was your impression about that . And what it quite encouraging given what had happened at the 0th anniversary . Grant it was. As sue mentioned, there were performing groups. There was a musical describing the wholeall the spectrum of workers on the railroad. And it wasyou know, everyones singing and dancing, and they all sounded like happy times when they were working. Of course, reality was a lot more challenging, but it did show a lot of the groups, it showed what happened to the native americans, it showed how difficult it was for the chinese. And it was just well done, and they really emphasized the multicultural aspects. Robert yeah, yeah, in fact, when you included the chinese, now you also get to include the others that were also involved in it. Sue right, they talked about the irish, they talked about native americans, they talked about mormons. And so, they really did a good job of being inclusive, and it really transformed the way we can talk now about the history. We dont have to gripe about not being recognized anymore. Robert right sue we can now move ahead. Robert tell me about what sue is saying there. How important is it to you personally when you hear your history being recognized like that . Grant yeah, my family has railroad roots. They didnt work on the transcontinental, but they worked on other railroads in california. And so, to have that story told to current and future generations is really important for all of us, for all americans. Robert yeah, and sue, doesnt it sort of raise the importance of the workers themselves . I mean, they were faceless, anonymous people who people just talked about when they talked about like the labor. Now, youre talking about individuals came here to america seeking the american dream. Sue we now have names of railroad workers. We now know who some of those families are. So, we can move beyond the nonrecognition and talk about the actual contributions. So, we know the chinese burgers built the summit tunnel. They built 15 tunnels through the Sierra Nevada with hand tools, right . We didnt have machinery, but they did it. They laid ten miles of track in one day, you know . So, we can talk about the accomplishments, and we can put a stake in the american historical narratives that we have a chapter in American History and we have stories to tell. Robert right, and in fact, you did a documentary, voices from the railroad. Tell me a little bit about it in terms of what inspired you to do that. And hashave things changed since you made that documentary . Sue so, voices from the railroad is a book based robert a documentary book. Sue a documentary book about nine families that are descended from railroad workers. And we found those families beginning five years ago when the department of labor recognized Chinese Railroad workers for the very first time. And those families took a lot of persuading to become public in talking about their stories because theyll say, oh weyou know, were nothing special. You know, weve been here a long time, but theres nothing special about our family. But there is because they have 150 years of history to tell. Robert and its so good to see them going from almost being embarrassed to being proud of what happened. Sue and inspiring others to tell their stories. Robert yes, thank you very much for doing that, and im really glad. I hope the spirit kind of catches on and people kind of appreciate whats going on in this sue its very exciting. Robert all right, well, to purchase the book, again coedited by sue and historian Connie Young Yu, voices from the railroad, visit hyperlink www. Chsa. Org. Thats chsa. Org, a great read. And from the wide open plains to the vast ocean, coming up, we look at the colorful history of chinese fishermen in monterrey, so stay with us. Robert well, i was born in monterey, so ive always had an interest in the history and culture there, but it was still many years later before i even knew just how much chinese fishermen were a part of it. With me now is gerry lowsabado, a Community Preservationist who spearheaded a documentary called by light of lantern an untold story of montereys chinese fisherman. Welcome to the show. Gerry lowsabado thank you. Robert well, give me an idea why you made that documentary, why . Gerry actually, students from Cal State University monterey bay, the teledramatic art and Technology Department made that documentary. And they invited me to come to hear their proposal. And during that time, people didnt talk about the chinese story. I didnt even really know that much about it. Robert why . Gerry and i wasnti think because in 1906, the chinese village was burned down in pacific grove. And after that, i believe the chinese didnt speak about it out of fear and also because they had to get on with their lives, and they had to go to work, and they just moved on. They still persevered. Robert and why did you and the students feel like you wanted to combine to tell that story again . Gerry well, the students actually were going to write a documentary about the japanese fishermen. But when they were doing their research, they found that there were chinese historychinese fishermen before. And they wondered why they didnt find anything about it. And so, they started delving into it, and somehow they heard about me, and we gelled, and we made a documentary. And little did they know that that project in 2003 would still be used today. I use it as a teaching tool to educate the community. Robert and you have a personal Family History, right, with that . Gerry yes. Robert what is the Family History with that . Gerry so, my ancestors came from Southern China in 1851 in a chinese junk, thats a boat with no engine, all the way from china to the mouth of the carmel river. And they built their village in point lobos. So, if you go to point lobos and you go in the whalers cabin, you willif you go in the back, you will see a picture of a chinese lady on the wall there. And the first time i saw it, i didnt even know that she is my great grandmother, quoc moi. She was born in the village in 1859. Shes the first documented chinese female born in the monterey area. Robert they were fishermen and in the fishing industry when they came here, or they became part of the fishing industry to make a living . Gerry i believe that they were fishermen in china and women. And they came for gold. But the black tide brought their boat to the monterey bay area, and there they continued to be fishermen. Robert and did they suffer during that time, like for example when that got burned down, the village got burned down . Did they suffer any consequences from that . Gerry well, the village was burned down. And although my great grandfather, my fathers grandfather, tried to help rebuild, the people tore down what was built. And eventually, they brought the military in to build a fence. Sound familiar . Robert yeah. Gerry and so, its difficult to see history repeating itself again. I feel we didnt learn the lesson. Robert its like when were talking about the railroad, prejudices against the chinese affected a lot of the way people documented the chinese contribution, including eliminating it. Gerry yes, and so, when people say that the village burnt down mysteriously, to me it wasnt mysterious if i listen to ancestors. Robert right, right. Gerry so, it depends on who is telling the story. Robert now, of course you have a vested personal Family Connection here, but why is it important to you that the chinese fishing part of history be a part of the monterey history . Gerry well, as my generation was growing up, we knew nothing about that history. The ancestors didnt even exist in our minds. So, in order to bring life to their story and to bring meaning to the struggle that they had and to the injustice that they had to endure, i need to tell the story. And i try to influence the Younger Generation also to tell the story. And i was so happy when one of my nieces sent me an email and she wrote a report about quoc moi. I thought, oh, shes going to be the next one. Robert as were hearing from the people talking about the celebration of the railroad, completion of the railroad, and how chinese are being recognized now, since that documentary, do you feel as though theres been a lot of progress . Do you feel as though there is more awareness, or still a lot more to go . Gerry there definitely has been more awareness and people are listening to me. And in fact, the aclu of Northern California presented me with the ralph b. Atkinson award for Civil Liberties for telling the story. And so, now other generations of our family have heard about the documentary, have heard about my work in the monterey, pacific grove, carmel area and come to learn more. In fact, tomorrow, im eating some descendants of quoc moi, so relatives of mine who i never met, theyre coming from oregon, and ill be showing them some of the history. But its like were putting the village back together. Robert we got to do a separate segment on that sometime, okay . Gerry yeah, sure. Robert thank you very much for telling us more of the story. Gerry thank you. Robert all right, well, coming up, yes, there was a chinatown in san jose, more than one. What happened to them . How can you still see what was there . Stay with us, thats next. More than one, and they once thrived. Their history is a rich and yet painful one, but one you can still see at san joses history park. We went there to give you an introduction. [bell tolling] female announcer welcome to ng shing gung, the temple of the five gods. The sound you just heard was developed and used to summon the gods of the temple. Ng shing gung was primarily a taoist temple, but elements of buddhism, confucianism, and traditional folk practices were also mixed in. Robert this replica of ng shing gung, the temple of the five gods, was built as part of one of five chinatowns that once existed in san jose in the 1800s. That all eventually disappeared, victims of the antichinese sentiment of the day. The temple and many artifacts were rescued and preserved, and then restored by Chinese Community leaders in the 1970s. And after massive dedication, including fundraising, that history can be seen at san joses history park. Al low so, it is important to us to capture that and to see what our forefathers did, what they believed in, and their hopes and aspirations, and why did they come to the united states. And they would then petition to gods to make sure then that they would find gold, they would be successful and, in the end, be able to send money back home. Never really wanted to stay in the united states. But of course, with e exclusion laws and the other things that came about, that whole picture changed and their focus was, i guess were stuck here now, so lets make the best of it. Robert you can really kind of feel almost the yearning and their aspiration through looking at this, huh . Al yes, you can, right. Robert one big change, the old history timeline was on a board with photographs, but now its on a computerized touchscreen. Anita kwock its just exciting that we can do this. Were looking to expand the timeline to the current day, 2019. We stopped at 2015, so this exhibit with ai weiwei on alcatraz, were able to show what was actually there. Kids like to see, like my brothers grew up with michael chang, so this was important for us to have a picture of him with his french open. But kids like to see pictures and they like to see, you know, things that are current. Robert some other exhibits. Anita weve been working with Stanford University since 2002. And two graduate students were asking us how we could enhance our exhibit at the Market Street chinatown. We wanted to connect with younger students who in the schools are using qr codes. With the qr codes, theyre able to get a description of the item, get a video clipping, so they videoed somebody talking about the item. Theres somebody that talks aboutwe had a dentist talk about the toothbrush. And you know, interestingly, we dont have plastic in the 1880s, right . So, they used pigs hair in the toothbrushes. Robert and you find that out through the code. Anita yes, this particular lion is dated back to the 1930s. And what we hope to do by the end of the year is to have an ipad here with visual, in other words sound of the music and the instruments that are being used to show, and a 360 view of the head itself, a lion head dancing. Robert coming to life in a way. Anita coming alive. Al we have the ability then for you to come in and see firsthand for yourself actual exhibits and the actual temple that was in existence before. And they say, well, these are what the other Chinese People brought in. Robert and again, there is still so much more, we just dont have enough time to show you, so go see more at the chineseamerican Historical Museum at the ng shing gung inside the san jose history park. And on stage next is our traditional artistic and cultural performance featuring melody of china, a groundbreaking group mixing chinese classical, folk, and contemporary music. Dont miss it. With me is melody of china from San Francisco, professional musicians from the top music conservatories in china playing a combination of two melodies, beautiful flowers in full moon and golden snake dance. Who do we have here with us . Yangqin zhao we have six musicians today, and this is xian lu, plays the dizi. And theplays the erhu. Shenshen zhang plays the pipa. And my names yangqin, i play the yangqin. And heres wanpeng guo plays the sheng. And gangqin zhao plays the guzheng. Robert very great, welcome. All right, well, you can find out more about melody of china and all of our guests at nbcbayarea. Com. And were also on facebook and twitter, so thanks for watching. And we close now with melody of china, enjoy. [audience applauding]. The fda should have acted sooner. Good morning, welcomeo sunday today on this september 29th, i am willie geist, nancy pelosi was moved by what she saw this week to support an impeachment inquiry into the president of the united states. President trump