University of Hawai'i at Manoa Center for Chinese Studies

Acting Director, Baoyan Cheng

Associate Director, Ni Zhang

Academic Support Specialist, Adriana Choi

When filmmaker Robin Lung began research in 2022 for a new documentary about Hawaiian language newspapers (nūpepa), she set out to explore how the writings printed from 1834 to 1948 continue to influence today’s artists, scholars, and activists.

She didn’t expect the journey to lead her home—to her own family’s story in the Hawaiian Kingdom.

In this talk, Lung reveals the remarkable life of her distant uncle Lee Ahlo, who immigrated from China in 1865, married a full Hawaiian woman Lahela Kehuokalani, became a successful merchant and planter, and emerged as a powerful voice for Hawaiʻi’s early Chinese community.

Drawing from rare nūpepa articles and other primary sources, Lung reconstructs a vivid portrait of a man navigating identity, belonging, and resistance amid rising anti-Chinese sentiment and discriminatory laws. Her story opens new windows into the intertwined histories of Chinese and Hawaiian peoples and the shifting alliances that shaped the islands’ multicultural landscape.

The lecture also offers a “hands-on” component—guiding viewers to explore archival sources for themselves and to reflect on the legacies of families like the Ahlo–Kehuokalani ʻohana in today’s Hawaiʻi.

Following her presentation, Dr. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, Dean of the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and Robin’s former advisor, will reflect on the Hawaiian historical and cultural contexts of the nūpepa archive and the evolving relationships between Native Hawaiians and immigrant communities. Professor Min Zhou, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies and Director of the UCLA Asia Pacific Center, will offer a comparative perspective on Chinese diaspora experiences, family narratives, and community identity formation across the Pacific.

Together, their dialogue will explore a broader conversation about belonging, historical memory, and the power of storytelling to reconnect communities today.