Cynthia Yee, Yee Li Hing, 余麗馨 March 2021 1958 Boston Chinatown I had to go to the Kwong Kow Chinese School after American School every afternoon for three hours, and every Saturday morning, too. Three days earlier, I’d quit. I hadn’t told anybody, not my Dad, not my teachers, and certainly not MaMa. I’d just … Continue reading Duck
Mo Hi: Don’t Look June 3, 2019 Cynthia Yee “Easy now, easy, just take it easy,” I heard the girl whisper. Walking by my Aunty’s doorway, I saw the young, dark skinned woman’s hand slip inside the old, white man’s trench coat, at the height of his zipper. She made soothing sounds, “Coo, ooo, … Continue reading Mo Hi: Don’t Look
Arc February 8, 2019 by Cynthia Yee Previously published in Boston Art Review. Issue 03 I began life on the streets of Boston’s Chinatown, mazes useful for evading enforcers of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Act barred Chinese from immigrating, becoming citizens, and intermarrying. Repealed in 1943, its effects linger. I am the … Continue reading Arc
No Secret November 1, 2018 Cynthia Yee I grew up in a world of secrets and transgressions, surrounded by mystery, embraced by hope. Breaking rules was not so bad if somebody loved you. Sally slept with Lok Yen, but grown-ups didn’t talk … Continue reading No Secret
by Cynthia YeeRRRrrrr…rrrr… The humming came from the top of the summit, rrrrrrrrRRrrrrrr…. rrrrrrr... rrrrr…, the soundtrack of my seven years of life, MaMa's constant heartbeat, MaMa's sweet lullaby, MaMa's comfort song, trailing down, calling me home. I faced the wide, wooden bannister, worn shiny and smooth, perfect for mounting and gliding down. The gleaming … Continue reading Sky
Cynthia Yee … Continue reading BaBa
This was originally published in the AARW collection “Asian Voices from Beantown” in 2012. Link to the original Asian CDC blog post. My family did not believe in buying gifts for birthdays and Christmas. They always gave me red envelope money for the Chinese Lunar New Year and my birthday with good wishes and something … Continue reading Gifts
Blog post at the Asian Community Development Corporation. I lay here, all fragrant and dressed in my finery, listening to the sound of joyful chatter and laughter all around me. My head and graceful neck rest neatly by my side; my legs tucked under me with care. Elegance is my … Continue reading Life from the Viewpoint of a Chinatown Chicken
by Cynthia Yee, a Hudson Street resident displaced by the construction of the Central Artery in 1962. “The past lives on; in art and memory, but it is not static: it shifts and changes as the present throws its shadows backwards. The landscape also changes, but far more slowly; it is a living link between … Continue reading If Hudson Street Could Talk
Link to Blog Post by Asian CDC Cynthia Yee, a local writer who shared with ACDC her story reminiscing about the fond memories she has of playing with her cousin in the snow on Hudson Street in the 1950s and 60s. That joy was short-lived after hundreds of immigrant families, including Cynthia's, were forced to … Continue reading Snow Angels
Hudson Street Chronicles 