"Staying Alive: Side by Side" explores the historical significance of the co-emergence of freed African slaves and Asian immigrant labor on the Western Frontier.  While whites debated which ethnic group was lower or less amenable to white society, Asians and African Americans carved out communities and developed different strategies for survival.  Often pitted against one another over resources and legal rights, a division was created between the communities that has had lasting impact on the way they view one another spiritually.  Staying Alive navigates this historical territory while offering insight on how to create a unified future of mutual respect.

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Chinatown, San Bernardino, California circa 1860. 

"African American and Asian American communities have lived side by side for one hundred and fifty years in the American Pacific West. Both communities share a history of opportunistic oppression waged against them. Yet many African Americans remain distant from Asian culture and religion, and from Buddhism in particular. Some African Americans, including clergy, view blacks that leave their Christian roots for Eastern spiritualities as 'traitors.' (1) The source of this derision can be found in the struggles of both communities to survive in the early American West." Black Buddha, Lama Rangdrol (2000)

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