In 1980 the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA) was formed and was based in San Francisco. It is now known as the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). It was formed during a historical period in Asian American media when many other organizations were being formed such as Asian CineVision in New York. The organization was found to promote Asian American media like television and filmmaking. They did this in an attempt to promote social advocacy by trying to change the negative image of Asians portrayed in mainstream media. While trying to promote social advocacy, the CAAM also opened up new opportunities for Asian Americans by having new jobs available in more media oriented work.

CAAM also holds a film festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), every year and has since 1982 which has helped launch many Asian American independent filmmakers and has been a successful at showing Asian films. This helps open them up to new audiences and make them better known in the community. They also give out funds to other Asian American media projects that they deem to be engaging or provocative.

One program that CAAM produced was the “Silk Screen” series, which won an award, that PBS broadcasted from 1982-1987. It was supposed to educate the audience of the issues involved with Asian American imports. They continue to produce works for PBS, more so during Asian/Pacific Heritage Month.

CAAM helped put Asian Americans into mass media which made them visible to the public. They put out different videos, films, etc. to show Asian Americans in a different way than how they were portrayed by mainstream media. Asians were still being stereotyped in a negative manner and CAAM was able to help change the views of Asians by the media. This helped break through the stereotypes and show Asians in a more positive manner and helping them make their way into mainstream media. Since Asians were seen as more technological and scientific, CAAM helped by showing that Asians were also creative and are able to work in different fields. Not only did the programs break down stereotypes but just having Asians produce films showed America a different side of Asians not seen before.

Through CAAM and the various programs it produced, it has shown the diversity of Asian cultures. It also brings out various issues in ethnic communities and makes them more public so that more people can see what is going on and try to change it.

During the early 1970’s Chinese Americans had no national organization to unite their population into one voice. There was already a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) but there was nothing for the Chinese American citizens. With oppression from earlier events such as the various Chinese immigration acts, it seemed about time that the Chinese Americans would step up and try to fight for their rights. This struck Kung-Lee Wang along with a group of people to found the Chinese American Leadership Council in September of 1971. This group traveled across America advocating the formation of a national organization for Chinese Americans. Their work led to the formation of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) in 1973 with Kung-Lee Wang becoming the first president of OCA.

The organization was the first and is still the only national Chinese American civil rights organization in Washington D.C. Though it started small, it has grown and now has 50 chapters across the U.S. Their goal to establish a united voice for Chinese Americans was successful and they now reach out and work for all Americans with Asian or Pacific Islander descent.

This time period was when Asians were stereotyped as more quiet, this organization rallied together to have a voice in government and try to fight for rights. They showed that Asians will also fight to have their civil rights. The organization also helped move towards having more Chinese Americans participate in government and political affairs. It was a stepping stone for more Chinese Americans to participate and led to them taking positions in politics such as March Fong Eu, secretary of state of California who served four terms and was the first Asian American woman for such a spot. Another figure was Shien Biau Woo who was elected as Delaware’s Lieutenant Governor in 1984. They integrated with American society and found themselves in positions where they could help other Asians and represent the race. The organization helped show other Americans that Asians are also capable of being active in politics as well as other areas and are not just stereotypically passive.
OCA had called for an Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week and congress passed the resolution in 1978 which was celebrated the first week of May. This solidified the Asian American presence in America as something that could not be removed and has in fact become a part of society just as much as everyone else. The heritage week has now become a heritage month and is still celebrated by Asian Americans today. Along with this OCA also fought for Asian Americans to be included in all the federal minority opportunity programs so that they could receive assistance from the government.

“Enter the Dragon” was released August 19, 1973 by Warner Studios. Directed by Robert Clouse, it was a martial arts film that starred Bruce Lee as the main character. This was the first Chinese martial arts film that was produced by a major American studio working together with an Asian production company. Since the movie is predominantly Asian oriented, the movie was shot mostly in Hong Kong. After its release the movie was a hit and became one of the highest grossing films of the year.

The movie plays out with Bruce Lee as the main character, Lee, who is a Xiao Lin martial artist and is very adept at his art. In the movie, he is invited to fight in a tournament by Han, who happens to be a corrupted Xiao Lin student. Lee is also approached by Braithwaite, who is from an international intelligence organization, and asks Lee to help him gather information on Han. Han is believed to be involved in different crimes but part of his island is outside of international jurisdiction so Lee is asked to gather information to persecute Han.

The film helped set Bruce Lee as a cultural icon and helped spark an interest in karate. Bruce Lee played an Asian version of James Bond, an undercover agent trying to reveal the plots of an evil mastermind. During the time period when Asians were generally seen as more feminine and submissive, Bruce Lee showed the world a different side to Asian culture. He was masculine, muscled and able to defeat his enemies with nothing more than his own strength and knowledge. Bruce was the complete opposite of the typical stereotyped Asian at the time changing what people thought they knew about Asians. Bruce also showed, during the Vietnam War, that Asians are not just enemies as in the movie he was an assistant to help take down a common enemy.


Along with breaking down stereotypes, the movie sparked a major interest in the different forms of martial arts. Following “Enter the Dragon” were many other martial arts based films such as “The Karate Kid,” “Drunken Master” and “Shaolin Temple” among many others. Since karate was seen as an Asian form of fighting, it helped make Asians more accepted in American culture as well as making them more prominent. Karate was not only affecting popular culture through film but was also popularized by Carl Douglas’s song “Kung Fu Fighting.” Through the popularity of “Enter the Dragon” martial arts became integrated into American society, popularizing a largely Asian style of fighting and helping Asians gain more recognition.

Hey, I'm Robert and the three topics I'm going to write on are Bruce Lee's movie "Enter the Dragon", the founding of the the Organization of Chinese Americans, and the founding of the Center for Asian American Media.

Bruce Lee died in the year 1973 which was the same year his movie "Enter the Dragon" was released. The movie was one of the highest grossing films of that year and helped sky rocket Bruce Lee's popularity as well as glorifying the martial arts.

The Organization of Chinese Americans was founded in 1973 and was the first and is currently the only Chinese American civil rights organization in Washington D.C. It was formed to try and give the Chinese American minority a single representative voice.

The Center for Asian American Media was founded in 1980 is built to help promote Asian Americans in independent media such as television and film making.

With these posts I will hope to show how each item had impacted Asian Americans and the importance of each event to popular culture.