Program Four - Segment Five: Cambodian Deportation
As the United States left Cambodia in 1975, Pol Pot and his deadly Khmer Rouge regime took control of the country and forced people to move into the countryside to work in what would be known as “The Killing Fields.” Those who tried to escape fled to the border of Thailand through mine fields to make their way to refugee camps. Between 1975 and 1985, more than 700-thousand South East Asians arrived in the US. 120-thousand were Cambodians. Andrew Thi was six years old when his parents and four sisters came to California. Though his family worked hard, Andrew still grew up in urban poverty. He wanted things he couldn’t afford and he got in trouble with the law for robbery and auto theft. And now because of a 1996 Immigration law, he faces deportation to a country he barely remembers.
Acknowledgements:
Andrew and Sing Thi, Professor Bill Hing, Porthira Chimm, and Jay Stansel.
Shasta Taiko was started in 1985 by Russel Hisashi Baba and Jeanne Aiko Mercer, both recognized artists in traditional and contemporary Taiko, new music, and jazz. They have appeared in numerous concerts throughout the west coast and teach Taiko to all ages.
shastataiko.net
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