Records

My great-grandmother came to America under a false name. That's not a metaphor. That's not artistic license. That's just what happened. In 1933, she crossed the Pacific Ocean with a name that wasn't hers, a family history she had memorized but never lived, and papers she had bought because there was no other way in for her. Even her marriage to my great-grandfather - a US citizen - wasn't enough to bring her over legally. The Chinese Exclusion Act made sure of that. So she di

SOP performing live in China There is a document somewhere - a piece of paper purchased in 1933 - that is the reason Kyle Shin exists. His great-grandmother bought it because there was no other way in. The Chinese Exclusion Act had made legal immigration nearly impossible for Chinese nationals, and even her marriage to a US citizen wasn't enough to bring her over legally. So she did what thousands of Chinese women did during that era: she became someone else on paper. A paper