WiserEarth Group Support

In the Summer of 2007 I went to China for 2 1/2 weeks with a small group of other Chinese-Americans.  This speech (or at least most of it) was presented 3/1/08 at Chinese Culture Center, Hilton Hotel, San Francisco. 

Hello family and friends,

I’d like to begin by sharing a quote from an elder of the Lakota people of North Dakota, who are Native Americans. In his quest to spark a thriving language, culture and support network for his people, he said: “The support of the outside world is important because the young need to experience an embracing of who they really are, and they are gentle horsemen capable of being great warriors in the world”.

When I read that, I was of course reminded, of the In Search of Roots program and the fact that I really needed to work on my speech. And I was reminded that my experience has been shaped by so many of you in the audience today. If you are a family member or another intern’s family, a special thanks for sharing with us your stories, photos, for raising us and accepting us.

And if you are a fellow roots intern, or if you are Al Cheng, our hella wise friend and mentor who can cross the barriers of culture, age and language, I thank you for the support and making this experience meaningful and memorable.

As a Politics major from UC Santa Cruz, I can’t help but take this opportunity to also talk a little about Politics, so please bear with me for a moment. These are times when there is obviously so much at stake between China and the rest of the world. And as Chinese Americans we are a bridge between two countries which need to work together if we are to solve the most pressing issues of our time, whether its the environment, war, peace and human rights, or poverty and disease.

While visiting each of our respective villages as Roots Interns, I felt like we were guest diplomats who were on a mission to prove to the Chinese officials and citizens we met along the way, that we wanted to earn their respect while they demonstrated respect to us. When we had lunch with a local news team who was covering the trip to my grandpa’s village, I remember briefly giving up my vegetarian diet after the reporter placed the first piece of cha-siu (BBQ pork) on my plate. I thought to myself, “Oh gosh. If I eat this, I won’t enjoy it. But maybe she’ll give us a better story. ” So after a bit of hesitation, I ate it - and sure enough, that night we watched a great story on our group’s trip to my village on the local TV news station.

I also remember briefly overcoming my shyness, when we were having dinner with Sondra’s city officials. After singing as a group, a disappointing rendition of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (that’s the song from the Lion King which goes “In the jungle, the mighty jungle…”), we were rewarded with another song from the city official, who in all honesty was ten times of a singer than anyone else there. If you don’t believe me, check it out on Youtube.

So when he finished, some said that we needed to sing another song to return the courtesy and that the best singer should sing a song. So I was shocked when I began receiving some suggestive looks, probably due to my drunken karaoke night performance of the Backstreet Boys the night before, which didn’t amount to much. So, I thought to myself, “If I sing, I will make a fool of myself. But maybe something cool will happen, like world peace”. So after a bit of hesitation, I gave my best attempt at singing the song More than Words, which I will spare all of you from hearing today.

So what does this all have to do with Politics? In this program, I learned that in our rush to change the world, we quickly point the blame and forget that we are all human beings with differences, but share the same needs, flaws and great obstacles to overcome. I recall Al telling me one day after our trip, “You don’t have to save the world, just do a nice thing everyday and the world will be a better place”. I urge you all to do the same. Slow down, learn about a culture or language, go camping, share and cook good food, or build friendships.

For more times than I can count, my Dad has told me the story of how my grandma was instrumental in leading the family to the United States. So grandma, you may not understand me or hear me, but thank you. My grandparents made the move to Nicaragua (which is a country in Central America) from China and stayed for nearly 30 years while raising a family of five who all know Chinese, English as well as Spanish. So I’ve always made it a point to tell people, that not only do I have roots in China, but Latino roots as well.

But it took me a while to make the connection that my grandparents also had to flee China 30 years earlier because of another war, World War II, when the Japanese army invaded China. I discovered that this happened when my grandpa was 25 years old, 2 years older than I am now. And I’ll admit to have cried when I saw the area where my grandfather’s home in China used to be. I’m not exactly sure why I cried but I know I was seeing something which both my grandpa and grandma (who I learned was married in this village) had kept hidden from me about their past, and that I was standing in an area which they had spent so much of their lives.

This experience also help me realize how firmly rooted my grandfather was in this village and how beautiful it was. And if it weren’t for the war I realized it was a place my father might’ve been raised in, and some place I might’ve been really familiar with as well.

Thank you for coming today and listening to us.