MILESTONES: A 100 Year’s Journey
The years 1907, 1947, 1967 and 1997 represent watershed moments in the story of Asian migrants in Canada, and in the story of Canada itself. These historical dates mark the anti-Asian riots in the early history of Vancouver, the hard-won franchise of full citizenship rights following World War II, the new immigration act in Canada’s centennial year, and the handover of Hong Kong merely a decade ago.
The year 2007 is also a time to remember this 100 year journey: one of institutionalized discrimination against people of Asian descent, the denial of the rights of Asian Canadians by way of government policies through escalating injustices, and the dispossession and dispersal of citizens marking Vancouver’s history.
The history and development of the Downtown Eastside is linked hand in hand with the Asian Canadian communities in our midst. The infamous 1907 anti-Asian riots in our streets, the uprooting of Japanese Canadians during World War II and the street protests in Chinatown and Strathcona to save the neighbourhood from freeway expansion in the late-60s have all had a dramatic impact on our community.
Sometimes we still hear the echoes of shattering glass.
The Heart of the City Festival is pleased to join with Anniversaries of Change 2007 to commemorate this anniversary year, and to spotlight the incredible breadth of creative Asian Canadian writers, filmmakers, musicians, dancers, actors, satirists, DJs and Hip Hop artists, organizers and activists who live in or are connected to the Downtown Eastside. These artists include Sid Chow Tan, Shon Wong, Doug Masuhara and Seymour Taiko, Ya-Wen V. Wang, Jennifer Jone, Silk Road Music, Sawagi Taiko, Larry Wong, Hayne Wai, Elwin Xie, Sean Gunn, Takeo Yamashiro, Karin Lee, Jeet Kai, Sinag Bayan, T. Cee, Riffraff, Paul Wong, Jay Hirabayashi, Vancouver Cantonese Opera, Kin Fung Athletic Group and the Strathcona Chinese Dance Company.
Join us in a celebration of the strength and artistic achievement of Vancouver’s Asian Canadian communities as we learn and apply the lessons of the past so that history will not repeat itself.
For more information about the events, policies and changes made during these anniversary years, please visit the Anniversaries of Change website www.anniversaries07.ca.