The Struggle to Bring Community College to San Francisco Chinatown

For over a century and a half, the Chinese have worked long and hard to establish and maintain a residential and commercial community in San Francisco.

Against adversity, whether created by nature (the 1906 Earthquake) or man-made (Chinese Exclusion legislation), the Chinese have fought to survive and thrive. Only a few decades after the demolition of the infamous International Hotel on the very same block of Manilatown, political power brokers paid by monied property owners attempted to obfuscate the environmental review process, in this case to obstruct the construction of a world-class Community College facility for largely low-income, limited English proficient adults.

Education, revered as a gateway for immigrants to elevate themselves and their families out of poverty, leads to the American dream of social acceptance and economic advancement. It took decades to secure public financing, identify a site, and move from several substandard locations scattered throughout Chinatown/North Beach, to a new central location for a Community College Campus (beautifully designed by EHDD and Barcelon Jang Architecture).

The film Block By Block presents the many obstacles laid out by San Francisco big money, power and greed, as they waged a public relations war to stop the new Chinatown/North Beach Community College (CNBCC). In response, with equal determination fueled by a sense of indignation and outrage, a broad and diverse coalition, Friends of Educational Opportunities in Chinatown (FEOC), organized rallies, radio/TV/newsprint and petition campaigns, educators, students, non-profits, labor unions, churches and family associations to fight for community self-determination. All these forces collided in a climatic vote shown in the film. This is a San Francisco “hometown” story, where audiences can explore and learn — who decides for a historic community, the role and responsibilities of professionals (designers, planners, attorneys, advocates) to neighborhood residents, and how a low-income minority community can win against overwhelming odds.

See the trailer of Block by Block: Block by Block Trailer

Impact Circles and SFCG's Continuing Education Committee invites you to a tour of the building, a viewing of the documentary, and a question and answer session with Joanne Low, the former dean of the campus, and Henry Der, the former executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action.

10:00 AM - Door open

10:15 AM - Tour starts

11:00 AM – Program Begins

11:15 AM – Film Screening

11:45 PM – Discussion + Q&A

12:15 PM – Mingling / Light Reception

12:30 PM – Group #2 Tour (if group 1 exceeds 20 participants)

• Joanne Low, the former dean of the campus
• Henry Der, the former executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action
• Jessie Huang, founder of Impact Circles

The “Block by Block” film is part of the “Oral History Project” by Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA, a nationally recognized civil and immigrant rights non-profit organization based in San Francisco Chinatown). Collaborators on the project include the UC Berkeley Asian American Research Center and the UCB Ethnic Studies Library.

Impact Circles Story Slam project aims to elevate the untold stories about individual and collective actions to equip the community with change management tools and inspire individuals to “be the change they wish to see in the world.”

The images in the poster were extracted from the film.

Space for this event is extremely limited, so please confirm your availability before reserving. Hope to see you there!

Host or Publisher Impact Circles