On July 1st local time, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill designating May 17th of each year as "Bruce Lee Day". This also makes Bruce Lee, the martial arts superstar, the first Chinese-American to have a dedicated annual commemorative day in California's history.
According to the Associated Press (AP), California congressman Matt Hahn, who proposed the bill, stated that Bruce Lee is not only a legend of martial arts, but also a representative of the spirit of California.
The bill designates May 17 as a memorial day because Bruce Lee, who was 18 years old at the time, ended his life in Hong Kong on May 17, 1959, and returned to his birthplace, San Francisco, to begin his journey in America.
The CEO of the Bruce Lee Foundation and Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, said that this honor reflects her father’s enduring legacy that transcends cultures and influences the world. From inspiring young people to build confidence, to providing Asian families with a powerful and dignified image on screen, and even influencing generations of athletes in their understanding of discipline and inner strength, Bruce Lee’s influence goes beyond martial arts itself.
Hani said that in an era when Asian Americans long lacked representation on screens and were often portrayed in stereotypical ways, Bruce Lee helped generations of Asians see a self-image that is 'powerful and dignified'.
According to the bill’s proposal, the Bruce Lee Foundation and several Asian-American organizations hope to hold voluntary commemorative events around May 17th every year in various parts of California, such as cultural exhibitions, public activities, and classroom presentations, in order to promote the spirit legacy of Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940. At that time, his parents traveled to the United States with a Cantonese opera troupe, and he also obtained American citizenship based on local territorial principles. A few months later, his family returned to Hong Kong to settle down. From a young age, Bruce Lee studied Chinese martial arts and also appeared in films as a child star. In 1959, he went back to the United States and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. Later, he decided to drop out of school and devote himself entirely to martial arts training and teaching.
In the 1960s, Bruce Lee went to Hollywood to try his luck. He gained attention for his role as Kato in the TV series "Green Hornet." However, most of the roles he received from Hollywood involved racialist stereotypes. Unwilling to accept such limitations, he returned to Hong Kong to star in classic kung-fu films like "Don't Make Me Blue" and "The Chinese Wushu Association." He quickly became a world-renowned kung-fu actor. In 1973, Bruce Lee died of an allergic reaction to painkillers at the age of 32.
Although he passed away over fifty years ago, Bruce Lee’s name and image on screen still wield strong global influence today. The original story concepts he left behind also served as the inspiration for the HBO series “The Warrior”.
