Program Overview

OACC is proud to announce that we recently received a challenge grant of $5,000 from the East Bay Community Foundation’s East Bay Fund for Artists,  to commission Francis Wong to  complete and present “Diaspora Tale #2: 1969” at OACC this October.
 
“Diaspora Tale #2: 1969” is an interdisciplinary work featuring music by the Francis Wong Unit with spoken word artist A.K. Black and dancer/choreographer Lenora Lee.   "1969" commemorates the 40th anniversary of the UC Berkeley Third World Strike for ethnic studies on the UC Berkeley campus. It followed on the heels of a similar strike at San Francisco State University the year before. Both were historic examples of student self-determination that inspired activism on campuses nation-wide.

“1969” centers on the experiences of Francis Wong’s brother Thomas, who entered UC Berkeley in 1969 during the Third World Strike. Thomas became politicized and active in both the martial arts community of the East Bay and the SF Chinatown community. Wong was only 12 years old at the time, he became aware through Thomas’ experience of Asian American cultural identity in the context of the turbulent late 60’s early 70’s Bay Area community. The piece ends in 1982 with the passing of Thomas from a drug overdose and Francis himself pursuing an activist path.

In addition to the performance, there will an exhibition of photos documenting the Strike and its legacy and a short panel discussion about the history of the Strike. The panel discussion will be moderated by Belvin Louie, who participated in the strikes as a field marshal and will feature Oakland City Councilmember (District 4) Jean Quan; UC Berkeley, Asian American Studies Program lecturer Harvey Dong; Eastside Arts Alliance founder Greg Morozumi; and, Teresita Bautista co-founder of Filipinos for Affirmative Action.  They will discuss their experience during the Strike as well as the impact and legacy of the Strike on the East Bay community.

The Asian Improv aRts, whose mission is to produce, present and document artistic works that represent the Asian American experience, will serve as co-presenter of the work. Light refreshments will also be served.