A list of resources for Asian Heritage Month suggested by the UCV BIPOC Caucus

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UCV Friday Night Films during Asian Heritage Month

Friday Night Films 7-8pm, May 2021

Training workshop

hollaback! Bystander Intervention (free, one hour)

Books and Writers

Recommended by Meena:

• The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy
• Evelyn Lau, Chinese Canadian writer, poet

Recommended by Cynthia:

• The Diary of Dukesang Wong: A voice from Gold Mountain, the only known first person account by a Chinese worker on the construction of the CPR. Edited by David McIlwraith, diary translated by granddaughter Wanda Joy Hoe. 2020
• Bird Tracks in the Air, 2021.By Profs Jan Walls and Yvonne Walls, renowned scholars of Chinese language and literature. The book is composed of the translated poems of revered poet and political reformer Wang Anshi, whose was committed to compassion and social justice ( a comparative study with Unitarian 7 principles). Virtual book launch with both authors

Recommended by Megumi:

• Obasan by Joy Kogawa
• Enemy That Never Was by Ken Adachi
• Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto

Recommended by Glenn:

• A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry. This is my favourite novel about India and one of my favourite novels by living writers
• The God of Small Things and My Seditious Heart, Arundhati Roy. The second book is Roy’s recently published collection of nonfiction
• Imaginary Homelands, Salman Rushdie. Though it is not exclusively about South Asia, I really enjoyed this collection of essays and journals
• Running in the Family, Michael Ondaatje. This is a memoir about O’s family’s life in Sri Lanka. I found it to contain his most charming writing

Articles

• Keeping Love Close, The New York Times — Beautiful article and photographs of Asian love in a time of hate. Asian and Asian-American photographers show what love looks like

Video suggestions

• CBC Gem Asian Heritage month including the recently made film Meet and Eat at Lee’s Garden which was nominated for two awards.
• Global news on Anti-Asian hate
• Chinese Restaurants series On Canada. The producer Cheuk Kwan also has a book coming out “Have You Eaten Yet?”
• Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2021 Todd Wong’s Scottish-Chinese celebration event
• Heritage minutes: Chinese railroad workers, Japanese Asahi, and Vietnamese boat people
• The White Tiger, drama film written and directed by Ramin Bahrani
• “Way Too Asian” Asian Canadian writing class at UBC gives a collective “F” you to Maclean’s for its tone deaf Guide to Canadian Universities, 2010 Edition.
• The Myth of Race. Classifying people according to skin colour started with Carl Linnaeus the father of modern taxonomy.

Music

• The Great Wave Washes the Beach (4:38 min). This Chinese classical musical instructment is Pipa which has been around 2000 yrs. Played by Liu Fang, a member of the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble.
• The Dream of Yesterday (2:23 min). Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble
• Sawagi Taiko, founded in 1990, this is the first Asian/Indigenous heritage all-women taiko group.
• First Friday Forum at Tonari Gumi 42 West 8th Ave (at Ontario) Vancouver BC
• Harry Hiro-o Aoki 1921-2013, Nisei harmonica and bass player, known for his musical virtuosity and fostering intercultural understanding through music

Asian Canadian community organizations fighting for social justice and equality

• Challenging a Racist BC
• Civic Engagement Network Society of Canada (CENSC) Vancouver based
  https://www.facebook.com/censcanada/
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/CivicEngNet/?ref=share
• Fight Covid Racism In 2020, CENSC partnered with other organizations in Toronto to establish the platform that allows individuals to share their experience of racism, and allows the project to track and record incidences anti-Asian racism during COVID 19
• #Elimin8hate multi-lingo online report form
• Project 1907

Cultural and Historical societies

• Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC
• Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
• Chinese Canadian Military Museum
• Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre
• Powell Street Festival Society

Arts and Culture resources

• Asian Canadian Writers Workshop
• Centre A Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
• Griffin Art Projects current exhibition
• Karen’ Tam’s Movable Feast Moves on
• Karen Tam’s CBC Interview (scroll down to listen to Karens segment!)
• Curator/artist Karen Tam’s website
• The New Gallery
• Treaty 7 First Nations Chief’s Association
• Heritage Calgary
• Calgary Chinatown Historical Context Paper
• Clover Living
• The Calgary Chinese Elderly Citizen’s Association
• I Love YYC Chinatown Association
• Fred Wah — Scholar, Poet and Fifth Canadian Parliamentary Poet
• explorAsian 25th Anniversary Festival

Vietnamese Blue Dragon by Goran tek-en
CC By SA 4.0