Some of the grassroots organizing surrounding anti-Asian rhetoric in the Bay Area can be traced back to a seminal moment that happened in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1970s.
On Friday night, some people were able to learn about that history on the big screen.
Decades ago, there was a wave of activism from the Asian American community for Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee, who was wrongly sentenced to life in prison for a 1973 murder of a Chinatown gang member.
Nearly 50 years later, Julie Ha is trying to fill seats at the Roxie Theater in the Mission District with her co-director Eugene Yi and fill in the gaps of Chol Soo Lee's story with their film "Free Chol Soo Lee," from the scars left after incarceration to the journalists and community members who helped free him.
"This was such a unique movement," Ha said. "It wasn’t just young Asian American activists, but it was first generation Korean immigrants, church-going grandmothers who joined this movement. They sort of did the impossible."
NBC Bay Area's Gia Vang has more in the video above.
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