Basement Workshop The Genesis of New York’s Asian American Resistance Culture Ryan Lee Wong Signal 06 * 26 “…we have shared ten months of relating— emotionally, politically and artistically. In the process we made efforts to re-examine our own perspectives; and we his plain passage introduces Yellow Pearl, an grew. In trying to project experimental publication collectively produced by members of Basement Workshop in 1972. a view of ourselves as TDespite its understated tone, this third person plural manifesto put into words a radical experiment. It expressed three lessons that still resonate with arts collectives today: art is a social Asians in America, we production, making art demands collective self-examination, and identity can be defined through political stances rather found this best expressed than cultural markers. Yellow Pearl remains a unique object. Some forty-some- through a clear statement thing offset sheets of paper sit together in a box approximately the size of a 12” record. The folios are printed in black ink on several shades of yellow paper, a visual nod to the idea of dif- against basic philosophies ferent racial groups coming together under “Yellow” or “Asian American”—a relatively new concept at the time. It mixes of exploitation and amateur and professional art and poetry; some contributors would go on to make art their whole lives, while others stepped oppression—of away into other fields. The folios include one of the first Asian American feminist poems, sheet music by Chris Iijima and Nobuko Miyamoto, original arabesques, a comic illustration of individuals as well as a ribs recipe, and images of third world women holding ma- nations.” chine guns. Signal06 * 28 This page spread: Two illustrated sheets from Yellow Pearl (Basement Workshop, 1972); previous page: Box cover of Yellow Pearl; background pattern taken from a page of Yellow Pearl; page 26: Peter Pan, Corky Lee and Arlene Wong during a Basement meeting break, 1973, photograph by Henry Chu. Signal06 * 30 Such an eclectic object to adopt a united front. Asian could only have been produced students—until then separated by an experimental, collective, along national lines—decided non-hierarchical group of art- to form a coalitional identity in ists and organizers. Basement order to join the other coalitions Workshop sat at the intersection of Chicano, Native American, of both New York countercul- and Black students. The idea tural spaces of the 1970s and quickly caught fire, spreading the Asian American political through college campuses and movement. Now that we are in a community centers. New York, situation where federal funding with its large concentration of 1971. offset printed poster, Bob Lee), (art: for the arts is in question, where Asian Americans, especially in Asian American identity is be- Chinatown, and strong lineages ing remade rapidly by racial pol- of activism and art, became a itics and immigration patterns, natural focal point of this Asian and where new generations of American Movement. A Grain of Sand performing in NYC, 1973, photograph by Henry by photograph Chu; 1973, A Grain of Sand performing in NYC, StreetChinatown Fair arts collectives are forming, it Chinatown, meanwhile, is worth examining Basement was witnessing an explosion in Workshop. The organization population from the newly-open is an exceptional case study in policies of the 1965 Immigration collective organizing, art pro- Act. Chinatown’s economy was duction, and identity formation booming, but so were organized developed without precedent by crime, poverty, and a need for young people coming into their social services. In 1969, the own through that work. Ford Foundation commissioned a young urban planning student, • • • Danny N.T. Yung, to produce a report on this transformation. “Asian American” wasn’t coined At the conclusion of the project, as an identity until 1968, Yung and others he had worked when the Third World student with recognized the need to pre- strikes at San Francisco State serve the research they had done, University and UC Berkeley and rented a musty basement galvanized students of color space on 22 Catherine Street Signal06 * 32 Two screenprint posters created at Basement Workshop, mid-1970s. to store their boxes. Inspired by the activism happening in the neighborhood—includ- ing the first-ever Chinatown Health Fair—they started to meet in that basement to talk over identity, politics, and art. This was the start of Basement Workshop, and Yellow Pearl was their first large undertaking. By 1974, Basement had grown into a large volunteer force with several distinct ar- eas. Bridge: The Magazine of Asians in America was a quar- terly blend of criticism, political education for adults and youth commentary, poetry, and fiction. summer programs for high The Asian American Resource schools students. At its peak, Center gathered into a small Basement Workshop spread library and archive all the re- over four rented spaces, includ- sources available—not many at ing a large loft at 199 Lafayette the time—on Asian American Street. histories, as well as on other In the 1986 Basement organizations from around the Workshop Yearbook, Fay Chiang country doing similar work. —for many years the Executive Members of Amerasia Creative Director of Basement—states Arts produced visual art and that funding mostly came performances, and offered art from government grants: after workshops for the community. Yellow Pearl was published, the They mounted exhibitions, silk- National Endowment for the screened posters for demonstra- Arts offered a seed grant, fol- tions, and held acting classes. lowed by a New York State grant Finally, Basement offered ESL for the arts programming, and Signal06 * 34 Members of Basement Workshop at work, early 1970s, photographs by Henry Chu. an National Endowment for the Humanities grant to conduct oral histories. Some revenue came from sales of Yellow Pearl and Bridge magazine. Basement also became a founding member of Seven Loaves, a coalition of Lower East Side organizations (in- cluding Charas, The Lower East Side Print Shop, and Cityarts), which provided needed connections and fundraising opportuni- ties. As Basement acquired grant funding, it also had to profes- sionalize: in the mid-seventies, it formed a board of directors and offered a salary to Chiang for her role (much of which she paid back to keep the organization afloat, while working other jobs). With a few exceptions, Basement Workshop was never a job. Members would work day jobs or part-time and head there afterwards and on weekends. Never a full cooperative (unlike, for example, East Wind in Los Angeles), several Basement members were roommates in Chinatown, or would rotate apartments and Signal06 * 36 Page from the Basement Workshop 1986 Yearbook. jobs as needed. and focused its energy on the During the mid-seventies, Amerasia Creative Arts and inspired both domestic groups Resource Center. Members of like the Black Panthers, and Worker’s Viewpoint went on global movements like the to found Asian Americans for Cultural Revolution in China Equality, an organization with and the revolution in Vietnam, mass appeal twhich eventually many segments of the Asian became a non-profit with major American Movement turned influence in Chinatown housing to Maoism. Believing that that and politics. revolution was the only way for- In the late seventies and ward, and that trained cadre had early 1980s, Basement faltered to struggle within the communi- financially and organizationally: ty towards the right party line, a there was a dispute with the IRS, variety of groups—such as I Wor an accountant went missing, and Kuen (“Righteous Fists”) and it was thousands of dollars in Wei Min She (“Organization debt. Chiang took a couple of of the People”)—brought their medical leaves, between which interpretation of Maoism the leadership changed. In 1986, to the streets of Chinatown. the members of Basement felt Around 1974-5, members of its work had been done and de- one of these groups, Workers’ cided to close doors. Viewpoint Organization, criti- cized Basement Workshop for • • • receiving federal funding and demanded that it focus on revo- The full activity of Basement lutionary activity rather than Workshop’s fifteen-year span, culture. After heated debates, with its many programs and off- position papers, and physical shoots, is impossible to capture threats against Chiang, Worker’s here. Fifteen years is no short Viewpoint forced Basement life cycle for non-profits and arts to give up half of its spaces. collectives. Not only did the ear- Basement held on to the loft ly members of Basement come space and 22 Catherine Street of age during this time, but the Signal06 * 38 Original artwork and finished cover by Tomie Arai for UNiC Expression, Spring 1976. Signal06 * 40 This page: Bridge Magazine, v7n3, 1980; opposing page: Bridge Magazine, v1n6, 1972, cover art by Frank Okada. “Where is the slopehead Huey Newton?”; in other words, why hadn’t Asian America produced a revolutionary icon? The au- thor wrote, “by being groovy you could transcend the hori- zontal prejudice and get to be Somebody. The real trouble for Asian-Americans is that they have yet to egest an ar- chetypal hero that fits into the American Myth.” Though the author’s “Somebody” appears to rely upon dominant notions of success, the piece is a humor- very nature of Asian American ous and energetic expression of activism went from small, radi- the desire to create a mythology cal, grassroots movements to a and radical styling for Asian national network of organiza- America. tions and organizers that could In the following pages mount sophisticated protests of the same issue, a review of (e.g. the justice for Vincent Frank Chin’s play Chickencoop Chin campaign in 1982). A Chinaman—a deconstructed few examples of Basement’s ac- telling of The Lone Ranger— tivities will help to outline this called it “the first play by an evolution.