Lit& Lunch at Minna Gallery

May 11
Lit&Lunch at Minna Gallery
111 Minna St.
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
FREE

Author, scholar, and director of the California State University International Programs in China, Marlon Hom talks about the poetry that's carved into the walls at the Angel Island Detention Center -- unique glimpses into the heart of the immigrant experience and how they were ultimately saved for future generations.

In the early 20th century, nearly 200,000 Chinese immigrants were detained on Angel Island. Many of them carved poetry into the detention center's wooden walls. The poetry remained for nearly a century as a testament to a crucial phase of California's history, but then in the 1970s the center was scheduled for demolition.

Whether staying for a few days or as long as three years, these immigrants created beautiful testaments to their reasons for leaving China, the difficult journey they endured, and their hopes for a future in the United States. Hom gives Lit&Lunch attendees a rare chance to hear what these immigrants thought of the first Americans they met, as well as their disappointments and triumphs.

Sandwiches and alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for lunchtime sustenance.