Joseph Ma Week 3: Nothing Angelic about Angel Island
Nothing Angelic about Angel Island
When people travel to San Francisco, Alcatraz is always on the top of people’s lists. Another island, often bundled in third party websites as an extra after the trip is Angel Island. It is a calm and serene island off the coast of Mill Valley (About 15 miles north of Golden Gate Bridge) with a maze of scenic trails designed for mountain biking and hiking. Scattered near the bike trails is a group of featureless two stories tall yellow and white buildings. The buildings that are the first stop for many Chinese immigrants during the Chinese Exclusion Act period.
What makes the Immigration station stand out from the countless other Immigration stations is the Angel Island poets. Over 200 poems in Chinese were found in the wooden walls of the immigration barracks during a renovation done by a park ranger. The poems were mostly nostalgic and longing for home. I’ll provide some examples here.
“I left my home because I have nothing to lose, leaving my wife and kids behind to board this ship, riding through the waves until I reached Mexico, looking at the moon and my heart followed home”.
“ I left my home town a long time ago; who could have known that I’ll be stranded in this wooden building as a prisoner? I cry tears into my handkerchief when I see a reflection of myself; what crime did I commit to deserve this.”
Some of the poems are carved into the wall incompletely, but they are incomplete just as the Chinese immigrants feel far from home and unrooted in the society brand new to them. They are missing a name, but they are usually the voice of many with similar experiences. The anonymity echoes with the work that many immigrants have done goes uncredited.
The poems, carved onto the walls of the Immigration barracks, were discovered a decade later during renovations, but the meaning remains intact under the layers of paint. The poems on the islands are clear proof that writing is a way to convey meaning to yourself or others, no matter how much time has passed and what circumstances one is facing.
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Ps 1: The translations done by me are not perfect. Feel free to access the online library
Ps 2: Angel island is a great place to visit if you are searching for somewhere to go in Marin!
Credits:
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Hi Joseph, this was a very interesting read! I have always been interested in history, and learning about Angel Island and its history was very fascinating. I didn’t even know there was an Angel Island. I’ve only been to Alcatraz because it was on the top of my list (lol). It’s quite ironic that Angel Island was used as a detention center, similar to how Alcatraz was used as a prison. It seems an island is an effective way to stop people from escaping. The poems written by the detainees of the island are very moving, as they are very personal and I feel bad for them. I found it interesting that some poems were incomplete, and I researched it and apparently immigration officials tried painting over it to erase their poems. Crazy how erasing things seems to be a common theme in history. Anyways, I hope I can visit Angel Island in person one day!
ReplyDeleteTo tell you the truth, whenever I would visit Angel Island or Alcatraz, (which I must admit was not often), I would always try to look around the pristine signs and other symbols covering the walls and wonder what the Chinese lettering would really mean from the perspective of the viewers. Though I did not understand the script, the way it was written seemed desperate. Your gritty description of Angel Island conditions provides me with a better understanding of the situation and emotion immigrants went through while transferring through the immigration stations, for which I thank you. In particular, providing specific quotes of previously incomprehensible poetry both gives one a window into the immigrants’ experience and helps them to realize a portion of their writing style, even if translation makes that writing style less accurate by its nature. Your note of incomplete Chinese writing helps me to understand the bigger picture, an attitude to which I can relate to because I prefer that others see multiple sides of a situation. Thank you for your writing on Angel Island, as well as your interest on the jarring subject.
ReplyDeleteTo say the least, this is a tragic read. Prison is a dark place both physically and psychologically, and incarceration can make hateful people out of even the kindest. Many immigrants come from nothing, in search of a better life, and after enduring the long journey here, it's so frustrating to see that this is the treatment many of them receive. It really brings me to tears just how horrible and vast the incarceration of innocent immigrants have become. These poems were likely erased or hidden so that the people in charge of these programs would not have to see the guilt of their actions, which sickens me to the core. Thanks for bringing a light to this subject.
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