During the dreaded immigration review process, Chinese immigrants were asked minute details about their family history and living conditions in China. Their answers had to agree with those of their sponsors and witnesses to prove their identities and right to enter the US. Since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, every Chinese immigrant was interrogated in this way until 1943 when it was repealed. With poverty and political chaos in China, many Chinese looked to America for refuge. But with the Exclusion Act barring all but a few, Chinese immigrants had to find another way around the system. Children of parents who entered as paper sons still feel the sting of that interrogation process. Judy Yung is a professor emeritus of American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her father entered as a paper son and her mother as a legitimate wife of a merchant.
Acknowledgements:
Professor Judy Yung and her family, especially for use of excerpts from her book, "Unbound Voices." Actor Andres Alcala.
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
Purchase Spirit Drum CD
