When Women Rise:

Chinese Immigrant Women Surviving and Kicking the Gold Mountain

It still resonates among Chinese immigrants here and Chinese in China that America is the “Gold Mountain.” During the California Gold Rush of the 1840’s, sons of Chinese farmers were drawn to the west to find gold. It was advertised that America, meaning “beautiful country,” was where aspirational young men could dig gold out of mountains and head home as rich men. When they arrived, they faced enormous discrimination because they were not white.

The steady increase of Chinese immigrants since 1965 allowed them to protest discrimination. In 1982, 10,000 Chinese garment workers went on strike until Chinese contractors signed the union contract. In the same year, 12,000 of them marched from Chinatown to City Hall to protest the construction of a new jail in Chinatown, resulting in concessions from politicians to build a senior housing for Chinese elderly right next to the new jail. Despite these gains, when garment factories moved to developing countries, the homecare industry blossomed. Poor immigrant women who took up widely available homecare work faced a new form of exploitation - work 24-hours for 13 hours of pay. This gained the attention of a generation of young American-Born-Chinese who are outspoken against inequality. Through marches and hunger strikes at City Hall, and pickets at the workers’ union and employers, they show a defiance to subjugation - kicking the myth of the gold mountain and demanding justice.

Through about 25 paintings, this story will be depicted. To learn more, or to support this project with a tax deductible gift, please click here.

For upcoming exhibitions on this project, please go to “Events.”