SFPL Documentary Screening: "Witness, from Mountains to Sea"

This San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) documentary screening event will focus on the sacrifices and contributions of Chinese Americans throughout U.S. history.

From the first day Chinese immigrants arrived in America, they toiled and labored on this land. Chinese fishermen on the Monterey Peninsula in California pioneered the commercial fishing industry in California, while Chinese laborers in the Sacramento River Delta transformed swamp lands into orchards and farmland. More than 12,000 Chinese railroad workers accomplished “the mission impossible” by building the railroad over the Sierra Nevada mountains in the mid-19th century. During the Second World War, about twenty thousand Chinese American soldiers, many of whom were not yet citizens, fought for the United States on all fronts. However, for over 150 years, Chinese immigrants have endured discrimination and exclusion. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 ignited an unprecedented wave of anti-Chinese sentiment in American history. Even in the 21st century, Chinese Americans often face various forms of injustice and discrimination. 

Speaker: Min Zhou, Bay Area journalist, documentary director, and CHCP member.

RSVP