Angel Island Poetry

National Poetry Month is coming to a close and I thought I might raise a little poetic consciousness and at the same time spotlight the current immigration legislation controversy by journeying back to the days of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the detention of Chinese immigrants at Angel Island in San Francisco where they wrote poetry about their plight all over the walls of their barracks. Here's a great photo gallery. For a fun lesson for the linguistically curious and students (or former students) of Chinese language amongst us-- including audio readings in Mandarin and Cantonese-- try this link.
Scholastic has a nice account of children's author Li Keng Wong's (Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain) stay at Angel Island. A more adult, scholarly approach to the poetry can be found here.

Okay, enough history lesson! Read about Amnesty's concerns and take action on the pending immigration legislation!