Book Review: The Snake Dance of Asian American Activism, by Michael Liu, Kim Geron and Tracy Lai

Review by Todd Lee
 
The Snake Dance of Asian American Activism is an important book, and is essential reading for students of Asian American history, contemporary Asian American activists and anyone interested in the development and continuance of Asian American communities.   Mike Liu, Kim Geron and Tracy Lai have written a bold book, with bold goals.   They have succeeded in writing a compelling, vital history of an under-appreciated movement that should become the new starting point for people who study the development of the Asian American Movement.   Snake Dance also debunks many myths about that movement, while leaving an interpretive narrative of its history for this and future generation of activists and scholars to study, build upon and understand more deeply.  
 
The context for the book is the lack of knowledge, even among Asian Americans, about the Asian American Movement (AAM), and where knowledge exists, the misinterpretation of its significance, its aims and its essential nature.   With Asian American studies a tenuous field of study that has never existed on most campuses and in most K-12 classrooms, and which is struggling where it does exist, it is no surprise that the movement is largely unknown.   Where it has been acknowledged and chronicled, the authors argue that the AAM has been misinterpreted.   They assert that the movement was not essentially a movement for identity, which has been the prevalent focus of past characterizations, but was given its drive and vitality by the conscious aim to change social, political, economic and cultural structures - to change society so that Asian Americans achieved equality in America.   Moreover, they think that past analyses have been off the mark in that they used analytical frameworks that did not focus on the movement as a social movement.   They contend that social movement theory provides the best tool at hand to dissect and understand the AAM.  
 
In this context, the authors of Snake Dance attempt to do three things.   First, they seek to show that "the Asian American Movement's length, breadth, and effects were of a significantly greater magnitude than generally understood."  Second, they argue that, "the AAM was grounded in a vision for structural change and not primarily an assertion for identity."  Third, Liu, Geron and Lai state that "a social movement theory lens better assesses the AAM's significance than current narratives." 
 
The " Snake Dance " of the title is drawn from a maneuver:
...that Japanese students developed to distinguish themselves in anti-war marches.   Looping and undulating in a long line from one side of the street to the other as they inched forward, the Snake Dance asserted their distinct perspective on the war.   The Snake Dance visibly signified that the Asian American Movement would pursue an independent course in activism.
 
The book has a progression and dynamism that calls to mind the development of the movement it describes. The structure of the books' narrative mirrors the " Snake Dance " of the title and the contours of the movement.   The story Liu, Geron and Lai tell is an historical progression that follows the twists and turns of the AAM, its process of development and eventual ebb, like the movement of a snake through history. The flow of the book places the changes in the movement within the context of broader social forces of the time - international events, the politics and large social movements in the country of the particular period, changes in the demographics of the Asian American population, etc. This sense of interplay between context and the movements' own inner dynamics makes the narrative compelling, and literally, moving.
 
The historical sweep of Snake Dance is expansive, yet concise.   A lot of ground is covered within less than 200 pages.   The authors talk about the little-known early history of Asian American activism, including organizing in the militant trade unionism of the 1930;s, the developing of civil rights associations and organizations, and other instances of resistance and rebellion. The authors examine the post World War II era through the 1960's.   During this period, the suburbanization of much of the Asian American population, the development of resources, education and professional skills bolstered by the G.I. Bill and other social programs, and the dramatic population growth ushered in by the 1965 immigration reforms bringing thousands of working class Asians into our communities created the conditions which enabled the birth of the AAM.
 
Snake Dance tells the story of the birth of the AAM, highlighting the critical catalyst of the Vietnam war in politicizing Asian American activists, who found they shared not only their opposition to the war, but resistance to its racist dehumanization of Asians and connection to an imperialist foreign policy that subjugated Third World countries while oppressing people of color at home.   This exciting time was characterized by new ways of thinking that challenged the oppressive structure of American society while also challenging the entrenched community leadership. The period helped the movement garner skills and experience, begin to change the power dynamics within the community, and developed a cohort of people willing to commit their lives and sacrifice to propel the movement forward
 
The period from 1976 through 1982 is defined by Snake Dance as the flowering of the mature movement, characterized by expanding and sophisticated work, especially in labor and among students, and weaknesses in in-fighting among competing political groups and focus on industrial labor as the economy was shifting to a knowledge-based economy. The period from 1983-1989, which included the Vincent Chin case and the Jesse Jackson for President campaigns - represented a time when the AAM grew in its sophistication, resources, effectiveness and national reach.   Yet, while activists were able to mount something as sophisticated and successful as the national redress and reparations campaign for Japanese Americans, the focus of the movement narrowed and many organizations lost the sense of both their connection to other aspects of the movement and the unifying goal of fundamentally changing the structures of society.  
 
The movement eventually ebbed in the post 1990 period, due to a combination of factors.   The collapse of the Soviet Union, the tragedy of the Khmer Rouge, and the continuing turn of China to a market-driven society left the AAM without a credible international model for a political framework.   Meanwhile, the continuing momentum of the country to a right of center politics, an Asian American population becoming more diversified ethnically and increasingly more professional and moderate in economic status, and fragmentation of the community's infrastructure combined to undermine the sustainability of a unified movement.   Despite its sharp decline, and its failure to resolve its essential goal of full equality, the AAM has pluralized and democratized the Asian American communities' leadership and politics, helped improve the conditions, community support and organized power of Asian American workers, built up much of our communities' contemporary infrastructure, and overcome our historic isolation, injecting Asian Americans more into the national and urban stages as players and as a recognized constituency.  
 
Liu, Geron and Lai see a recent resurgence in Asian American activism and a hopeful return to activity which challenges the power structure.   The broadly popular WTO protests and opposition to "the war on terror" (in all aspects, from the Iraq war to the environmental, economic and social assault of the Bush regime) have sparked people to oppose not only specific grievances in their immediate impact, but tie this to a critique of the system that prioritizes the rich over the working class and every day people; and produces bombs to kill and maim while people still die for lack of food despite capacity to feed the world's people.   These forces have pushed activists to connect their struggles for reforms to a broader view of how to challenge the structures of society, and to take a harder look at the non-profit framework that is currently the "primary vehicle for change."
 
Each of these periods of the movement is brought to life by eye-witness accounts and contemporary writings by Movement activists, who give voice to the AAM through its various stages. Labor organizer Karl Yoneda writes about the new attitude toward the hardships of Asian Americans - from humiliation to appreciation -   in the early days of the Movement:
There are many heroes whose records are unsung and unknown.   We can enrich ourselves from the past in order to create the kind of society all of us are hoping and striving for.   Asian immigrants contributed greatly in enriching the US mine, railroad, farm, sawmill, fishing, cannery, sugar and pineapple industries.   We, their descendants, have every right to have a say in its destiny.
 
Virgo Lee speaks of the debate about ideology after the Vietnam War among activists in the revolutionary group I Wor Kuen:
... There was never a question whether ideology should take a low profile during the peak of the anti-War movement.   It was only when it began to appear that the war was going to end that it became an increasing level of doubt, if you will, as to whether this was the right way to organize in the community, whether the ideological message was the right way to go, which was putting the ideology first ...
 
Longtime Boston Chinatown activist Suzanne Lee recalls the grounded way that immigrant women confronted their challenges in fighting for safety for Chinese children during the school busing crisis:

The women didn't call this leadership training or use this kind of language, but that is what they were doing.   They just do what has to be done, partly because it is for the children and out of practicality.   One husband who didn't like his wife attending the meetings, and being so active locked her out of the house. Later on, she divorced him.  

 
Hyun Lee, of CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities in New York, talks about the tension between being in a 501(3) c and seeking fundamental structural social change in contemporary Asian American organizing:

It's very challenging to maintain a radical vision and also be a good nonprofit manager at the same.   It's all based on values that we try to fight against in trying to develop a different kind of culture in our organization.  

 
Along with the eyewitness accounts drawn from the activists who made this history, the prose and analysis of the book, which recreate the dynamic interplay between the developing AAM and its changing contexts gives Snake Dance its energy and make it a compelling read. Liu, Geron and Lai, all of whom have long, active histories within the AAM, convey a sense of the urgency and optimism of the Movement.   Of the early days of the movement, they write:

Similarly in other movement activities, Asian American activists organized with the same resourcefulness and passion, introducing new ideas, ideals, energy and creativity into many areas of the broad community and creating new relationships with a larger society.   They addressed chronic problems and inequities, undeterred by the lack of institutional support, experience, or expertise.   As a consequence, they created new community structure, Asian American studies programs, community services, grassroots organizations, and coalitions that persisted to address the problems and issues.   The AAM refashioned their communities.

 
In similar fashion, the tensions and challenges that faced the movement at every turn are given life.   Snake Dance relates the choices facing artists in the AAM's maturing period:

... the evictions of tenants from numerous buildings not only left elderly tenants and movement organizations homeless, it left arts organizations like the Jackson Street Gallery and the Kearny Street Workshop without a place in the community. In this context arts groups began to face the issue of institutionalization, creating nonprofit organizations and seeking grants from private foundations and government sources.   This began a new phase where organizations struggled to maintain their store fronts, and artists and activists tried to negotiate making a living ...

 
In looking at the current "framing", or political vision of the re-emerging AAM, the authors write: 
 
Asian American awareness has also advanced to some further understanding.   The unity of the leadership of the Asian American communities after 9/11 was an unprecedented development. The anti-globalization movement has also presented a set of ideas - decentralization, democracy, environmentalism and diversity among them.   While worthy of consideration, they lack a guiding, cohesive analysis to chart a new direction.   Those working to build organized resistance in communities and workplaces as well as the cross-linkages that gird a movement need a more fully formed, material, and resonant set of ideas.
 
Snake Dance raises some provocative, pivotal questions about the AAM today and going forward.    The authors write, "while standing on shoulders of the past AAM, this new emergent activism does not inherit the preceding movement cycle's dynamics.   It creates its own and occupies a different terrain". What is that terrain?   Will the Obama administration offer an opening for new activism, or will it be the same story, different face?  Will the economic ascendance of China and India, and the social/political/economic developments in Asia affect the AAM and the conditions for Asian Americans?   Who will be the allies of the new AAM?  What are the other social, economic and political forces that define the context of the new activism, and what does the emerging movement itself look like?  
 
The book also posits the need for "a guiding, cohesive analysis to chart a new direction".   What will that analysis look like, and where will it come from?   The authors suggest that there needs to be a new synthesis which combines the experience and knowledge of older AAC activists with the ongoing work of contemporary activists.   They write, "If this new synthesis is to come, it will arise from those who daily struggle for change and out of the ferment of their ideas and intersections."   This will be no armchair process; it will arise out of people trying to struggle through the new movement's questions and strategies both in practice and in theory.  
 
The authors of Snake Dance also raise the question of what should be the vehicle or vehicles for change.   Like others, they question whether the constraints of non-profit status, while helping to develop resources, may not make it the organizational form for organizing a renewed unified struggle to push for structural social change.   Though no alternative is obvious now, are there other forms of organizing that are more viable and independent of the restrictions of 50[c]3's?  
 
Covering a period that stretched more than 30 years, involved multiple actors and constituencies, and many subgroups within those constituencies; it is not feasible for Snake Dance to cover all the aspects of the AAM in great depth.   Hopefully, the book will inspire both Asian American scholars and activists to look more deeply into the many aspects and periods of the movement, and examine more closely the many questions it raises in documenting the choices activists have made and are making. In doing so, they will shed more light on the AAM's history, in all its richness, detail and complexity.
 
In many ways, the authors have left a gift for the re-emerging Asian American movement.   It is not a passing of the torch so much as a sharing of the torch.   The history of the AAM is offered not as dogma or as nostalgia, but as set of specific lessons tied to specific times, some of which will apply to the changing conditions of today; some which will not. The Snake Dance of Asian American Activism challenges older activists to join younger Asian American activists so that the synthesis of our experiences and understandings can help rebuild the AAM and move our people forward. For those once active in the movement, we are challenged to re-engage and help support and nurture this new generation of activists.   Implicitly, the challenge for younger activists is for them to delve into and understand the history of the AAM, cull out what is relevant to today, and learn from its successes and mistakes .   Snake Dance's vibrant interpretation of the AAM's history is a valuable contribution to that continuing dance of activism in a rapidly changing world.