A personal journey through the development of San Francisco’s Bruce Lee exhibit. The first in a three-part series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Janice Lee, shades Magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bruce Lee first entered my life about five decades ago when I was a child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While my American-born Chinese mother was reading the Hollywood magazines on Elizabeth Taylor\u2019s fifth husband, my Canton\/Guangdong-born father would bring home Hong Kong magazines that he picked up from Chinatown. I couldn\u2019t read a word of Chinese, but I remember the photos. Like Elvis retrospectives showing him and Priscilla in her pouf veil cutting their wedding cake. The American pages were printed on a green news stock, while the Chinese celebrities were on a white glossy paper stock in full color. Whether dressed in a kung fu jacket or wearing Italian sunglasses, Bruce Lee popped from the pages of those magazines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My family lived in San Francisco, the place where Bruce Lee\u2019s parents gave birth to their son in 1940 at Chinese Hospital and where I also was born 23 years later. My mother proudly pointed out that her family name was the same as Bruce Lee\u2019s, \u674e. Even though she married a Lee, my father\u2019s is the less common \u5229. My parents always referred to Bruce Lee by his Chinese name, phonetically \u201clei-xiao-loong,\u201d<\/em> translated \u201cLittle Dragon Lee.\u201d My sister remembers that my father came home one day with a poster of Bruce Lee. It may have been the only thing that ever<\/em> made it on the wall because Chinese American families who were new homeowners didn\u2019t hang things to avoid poking holes on their property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With my brother and I being the youngest of four children, our father was sometimes responsible for entertaining us \u2013 or at least getting us out of the house. We remember him bringing us with him to do grocery shopping along Chinatown\u2019s Stockton Street, sneaking in a movie at a nearby theater where ancient Chinese people were flying \u2013 an art I now see Wikipedia says is called \u201cwire fu<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a rare family occasion that all six of us left the house together for anything other than attending a wedding, funeral, Red Egg and Ginger baby party or visiting a close relative\u2019s home for Christmas or Chinese New Year. So, I knew it was a big deal that my whole family went to the downtown movie theaters to see \u201cBig Boss,\u201d \u201cFist of Fury\u201d and then in 1973, to the premiere of \u201cEnter the Dragon\u201d on the big screen to a packed, diverse audience. <\/p>\n\n\n Bruce Lee<\/a> was that much of a big deal in our family and, as I later learned, everybody else\u2019s household. A Chinese American whose physique, unique talents and charisma captured the attention of Hollywood, he also was recognized around the world with just the mention of his name. He was the first Chinese American man who I noticed people didn\u2019t pick on or mess with. My parents were so proud of him, so I was too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The following is my story about how four years ago I got involved with making Bruce Lee a symbol for a new generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Homecoming<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A group of Chinese Americans including the late Mayor Ed Lee had an idea to tell the story of Bruce Lee in San Francisco. There had only been a small plaque at Chinese Hospital to honor Bruce Lee at his birthplace. After the mayor suddenly died at the end of 2017, the Chinese Historical Society of America board member Gorretti Lui took on the idea of a Bruce Lee exhibit in the mayor\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For two years beginning 2017, then-CHSA President Hoyt Zia and Vice President Jane Chin, a San Francisco Chinatown community leader, met with two major collectors of Bruce Lee memorabilia; reached out to potential sponsors; researched exhibit sites in San Francisco; and met with staff of Seattle\u2019s Wing Luke Museum, which was hosting a major exhibit on Bruce Lee\u2019s time in Seattle. Jane also was in contact with the staff of the Bruce Lee Foundation, the organization founded by his widow Linda and daughter Shannon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the spring of 2019, after completing her work on the production and premiere of the “Mayor Ed Lee” documentary film, Jane told me she was working on this Bruce Lee exhibit. By the summer, she approached me about developing the exhibit concept and managing the project. As much as I understood the importance of Bruce Lee to older Asian Americans, I was certain that someone else could figure much better than I how to do a fan exhibit about a famous movie star athlete with vintage items from his \u201cGreen Hornet\u201d TV show, the ubiquitous \u201cGame of Death\u201d yellow and black track suit and knowledge about martial arts.<\/p>\n\n\n My career has been with community development organizations, mostly in communications. I have no museum experience other than as a visitor. With few exceptions, most major exhibits seem disconnected with People of Color like me or in denial that we co-exist. Asians in major U.S. museums have been represented with artifacts plundered from places of worship and marketed with exotic references to women. Most Asian museum programs don\u2019t appeal to me as a modern Asian American looking for a new, exciting and relevant message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But maybe I could change that. So I had a different pitch for Jane. It involved some observations at the time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – The allure of the tech industry had San Francisco flooded with enthusiastic young people dreaming of making it big and working on their start-up to push their big ideas. Although he was never recognized as such, Bruce Lee was an influential entrepreneur, someone who turned an age-old practice of Chinese martial arts into a popular sport for men, women and children from all different backgrounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Economically successful Gen X and Y Asian American professionals didn\u2019t seem to be giving back to their community, particularly the men. I was told that this lack of engagement is because they don\u2019t see the need. Many Chinese immigrant parents bring up their children to focus on success and shield them from their personal hardships. My mother always provided me with details of her family\u2019s poverty, but only because I asked. Her grandfather and father were in the cigar manufacturing business and lived in the factory. Rice with soy sauce was their daily meal unless a family member found discarded vegetables from the garbage bins on the street. My uncle, who eventually had a career at IBM, once cringed at the sight of a cute Mickey Mouse ornament in my house because he recalled his childhood with mice running free everywhere. Everyone should hear a story of hardship of their people to make them understand the importance of giving back. I knew Bruce Lee had faced racism in Hollywood because I remember the story of him losing out the main role in the 1972 \u201cKung Fu\u201d series to a white actor. Maybe these new generations who see successful Asians today in movies think discrimination is only a word of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Quick searches of Bruce Lee on the Internet brought up a lot of Black hip hop artists like Wu-Tang Clan and LL Cool J saying they were inspired by his philosophical quotes, such as, \u201cI\u2019m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you\u2019re not in this world to live up to mine.\u201d From my teen years, I remember that famous staged picture of basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabbar towering over Bruce Lee with a kick above his head. He seemed to have a special relationship with Black people that was not widely known. I don\u2019t even recall any \u201cminority\u201d actors of different cultures working together. I wondered if this idea of inter-community unity was a theme we could use to promote dialogue beyond the experience of visitors at the exhibit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jane, Hoyt and board member Doug Chan said CHSA wanted to reach new audiences. It would take a lot for people to want to bother climbing up the hill from Stockton Street to go to the museum. Museum staff had a major educational exhibit on the Chinese Exclusion Act, drawing the connections to how to be inclusive in today\u2019s world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bruce Lee could put the museum on the map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jane agreed to have me move forward with these concepts, while she focused on the relationships needed to raise funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Collectors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two of the world\u2019s top collectors of Bruce Lee memorabilia, who also are called \u201cBruce Lee historians,\u201d were involved with this project. Collectors are passionate about what they do. My brother has been a comic and toy collector since he was a kid, cultivating his collection with the care of an archivist and the knowledge of a scholar. So I understand a bit about what\u2019s important to collectors. <\/p>\n\n\n San Francisco-based collector Jeff Chinn was bullied as a youth. It was through watching how Bruce Lee handled himself and how people responded to him that Jeff began practicing the Wing Chun form of martial arts and developed his inner strength. The way he pays back Bruce Lee is to honor his legacy by continuing to tell his story to empower others. He validated the issue of Hollywood racial discrimination and said that because Bruce Lee could not get major lead roles on TV or film, he went to Hong Kong for his career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seattle-based Perry Lee carries the title of the world\u2019s top collector of Bruce Lee memorabilia based on the size, quality and rarity. The Wing Luke Museum features many of his artifacts. He and Seattle philanthropist Jerry Lee were committed to supporting the San Francisco exhibit, with Jerry ordering special commemorative FiGPiNs for upper level sponsors.<\/p>\n\n\n On March 1, 2020, Jane and I visited the collectors at Jeff\u2019s house where he holds his private collection. We were there with filmmaker Kenneth Eng who was shooting a short film for the exhibit after we secured a grant from the Robert Chinn Foundation. Watch<\/a> the film trailer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By March 16, the San Francisco Bay Area shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was within days of managing CHSA\u2019s annual event and, like the rest of the world, had to cancel everything and isolate at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch for our next installments:<\/strong> Homepage\/Feature Photo: Anthony Tsai <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOW AN ASIAN AMERICAN MAN CAME TO SYMBOLIZE STRENGTH AND UNITY FOR EVERY NEW GENERATION A personal journey through the development of San Francisco’s Bruce Lee exhibit. The first in a three-part series. By Janice Lee, shades Magazine Bruce Lee first entered my life about five decades ago when I was a child. 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In Part Two<\/strong>: <\/em>The Storytelling, The Look<\/a>
In Part Three<\/strong>:<\/em> The Technology, The Artists and The Launch<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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