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The Guardian
22-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Bruce Lee statue in San Francisco to honor ‘a story for all Americans'
For many, Bruce Lee is the first name that comes to mind when thinking of San Francisco's most iconic figures. Now, the city's Chinatown is honoring that legacy with a statue. A bronze Bruce Lee statue will be erected in San Francisco's Chinatown, his 1940 birthplace, following a proposal by memorabilia collector Jeff Chinn to the Chinese Historical Society of America. The 6ft (2-meter) statue will depict Lee in a prowling stance, ready to strike; the South Korean artist Arnie Kim will design and create the piece. The Rose Pak Community Fund has pledged $50,000, and the historical society is fundraising an additional $200,000. Justin Hoover, the group's director of special projects, said the project reflects a much larger sentiment felt by the community. 'This story is a story, not only of what it means to be Chinese in America, it is a story of mutual aid. It's about helping each other,' said Hoover during the project's launch event last week. 'It's about solidarity, and a story that is about not only the Chinese in America, but as a Chinese American story that's a story about all Americans.' The statue comes at a time when Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders remain concerned about the spike in violence in recent years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. A national survey by Stop AAPI Hate, a US-based coalition focused on fighting discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, found that 49% of AAPIs in the US experienced some form of race-based hate in 2023. Asian Americans account for about 34% of San Francisco's population. 'This statue project combats Asian and Asian American hate by uplifting togetherness and unity,' said Janice Pettey, the executive director of the Chinese Historical Society of America. Lee starred in just five films before dying at 32 from an allergic reaction to a painkiller. Despite dying at a young age, he became a legendary Asian American action hero, all while defying Hollywood's racial stereotypes at the time. He famously rejected roles that required him to wear a queue, or braided pigtail, or embody the servile, desexualized tropes often forced onto Chinese men. In an era when it was typical for white actors to portray Asian characters by donning prosthetics and slanted-eye makeup, Lee lost out on major roles, one of which was a Shaolin monk in Kung Fu, which cast white actor David Carradine over him. 'An often unseen side of Bruce Lee was his place in civil rights advocacy as a practitioner of kung fu,' Pettey said. 'Against cultural tradition, he welcomed people of all backgrounds to his studio, including Black American, Caucasian and other Asian American students.' 'Bruce Lee was a unifier who embraced people of all races and genders, and spotlighted them in his own martial arts films, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,' Pettey added. The NBA basketball star Abdul-Jabbar trained under Lee and appeared in his film Game of Death in 1972. The statue of Lee is also part of broader efforts to boost appreciation of the Bay Area's Chinese heritage. In Oakland, a new proposal is on the table to change the name of the Lake Merritt Bart station to 'Oakland Chinatown', but the funding source for the estimated $750,000 project remains unclear. The statue in San Francisco will depict Lee facing off against Han, the one-handed crime boss from Enter the Dragon, Lee's most iconic film, which he never lived to see. He died a month before its release. 'Having a public statue to educate others about his San Francisco Chinatown roots and his Chinese American heritage will serve as a living tribute to his incredible story as a martial artist, filmmaker, philosopher, businessman and loving father and husband,' Pettey said. With birthright citizenship hanging by a thread in the US, Pettey said the group will continue to amplify San Francisco voices such as Lee's and Wong Kim Ark, who provided the interpretation of the 14th amendment's birthright provision. Pettey called them 'heroes that we would appreciatively amplify to ensure that the narrative of the Chinese in America is shared and explored'.
Axios
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Bruce Lee statue to be installed in SF Chinatown
San Francisco is finally getting its very own Bruce Lee statue. Why it matters: Locals had for years advocated for a statue in his honor amid the city's efforts to take down those with racist histories. The martial arts icon and film star was born in Chinatown in 1940. Driving the news: The Chinese Historical Society of America Museum (CHSA), which is leading the project, has hired artist Arnie Kim to bring Lee's sculpture to life and will work with community representatives to identify the ideal location in Chinatown for the statue. Lee's statue will immortalize a moment from his 1973 movie "Enter the Dragon" in which he prowls on the ground in a fight to the death. Context: The project is a collaboration with the Rose Pak Community Fund, the Bruce Lee Foundation and Stand With Asians. The Rose Pak Community Fund will provide $50,000 as first-round seed money, and CHSA is asking the community to help fundraise the $150,000 needed in total. What they're saying: Lee broke barriers not just in film and martial arts but also in the way he handled adversity throughout his life, especially in an industry that emasculated him because of his racial identity, Mark Young, Stand With Asians co-founder, said as part of a launch event Friday. The statue will be a tribute to Lee's role in galvanizing the local community to understand its own history, according to CHSA. It will also serve as a "pilgrimage destination" for people around the world, said Gorretti Lo Lui, vice president of the Rose Pak Community Fund. Between the lines: The statue builds on CHSA's efforts to spotlight the life and times of what it calls "Chinatown's native son." That includes the " We Are Bruce Lee" exhibit examining his creative talents, athletic prowess, philosophical inclinations and role as unifier between Black and Asian communities. Flashback: Lee's connections to San Francisco run deep. Even though he lived and trained in Hong Kong as a child, he made a name for himself after returning to the city at 18. He later opened Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute in Oakland and went on to debut his famous one-inch punch and two-finger push-up during an exhibition at the International Karate Championships in Long Beach, where he was discovered by Hollywood. The big picture: Under former Mayor London Breed, San Francisco took down multiple statues with racist implications, including one of Christopher Columbus and another one that portrayed the colonial subjugation of Native Americans. The city later formed the Monuments and Memorials Advisory Committee (MMAC) to assess the future of its public art collections. The MMAC issued its final report in June 2023 after surveying almost 680 community members. When asked what they like most about the city's monuments and memorials, 53% said they "represent the histories, stories, and/or events I want San Francisco to be known for."
