This quote is from a cousin and family friend of the Moy brothers, Gop Jung, who had made the journey to America when he was 12 when he stowed away on a ship bound for San Francisco. This story not only inspired the Moy brothers to leave China but also helped them visualize a more equitable educational experience they could expect to find in America. I find this quote and the whole story of Gop Jung incredibly inspiring as it pinpoints some of the true hardships that underpinned existence in late imperial China, namely how strict and discriminating the average process of educational attainment was in that country. I think the importance of this quote is how it reminds educators of the very real hardships many students from diverse backgrounds may have faced and reminds us to humble ourselves and maintain endless patience with students coming from these backgrounds. God only knows the difficulties and hardships they may have faced in their lives so it's best to air on the side of compassion so as to not add any unnecessary stress on what could be an incredibly stressful existence.

Linguicism - The Moy brothers were often on the receiving end of very racist and bigoted beliefs and violence, manifesting mostly around their race but also around their language. However, the men rejected these social binds and continued to speak their languages even becoming government interpreters thus bridging the gap between their unique skill set and the system which often excluded their language elsewhere. We have talked a lot about how linguicism impacts ELL students and I think these stories can act as a good bridge of how multilingual students are uniquely gifted and how they can use those gifts to support their communities even in a world that too often than not rejects them.

Social Identity - The way students see themselves in relation to their schools and community impacts language learning significantly. This is a language learning factor certainly talked about much in the book, in which language was often the only bridge the boys had to their Chinese communities given how varied the diaspora was. Thus, it's important to consider the relevance and cultural importance of language and educators should always be aware that they do not teach English to discourage traditional languages but instead to acquire another skill set.

Echavarria, J., & Graves, A. (2014). Sheltered Content Instruction: Teaching English learners with Diverse Abilities (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Moy Jin Mun - The middle Moy brother who worked as a gold miner and railroad worker before dabbling in a wide array of other occupations and leadership positions. Jin Mun was a prominent figure in San Francisco's Chinatown and helped lead powerful Companies in the area as well as assisting in stopping Triad (the Chinese mafia) gang wars. Like his older brother, Mun also had a gift for language and learned English quickly even becoming an official government interpreter at one point in his life. Like his older brother, Jin Mun also struggled significantly as a Chinese immigrant, almost being killed in an anti-Chinese riot and not receiving federal assistance after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Jin Fuy Moy - The youngest Moy brother and the only one to reverse the traditional order of his name. Fuy Moy was based in the New York Metropolitan area becoming one of the first Chinese Americans to graduate from medical school. He is best known for the Supreme Court case that bears his name due to trafficking in narcotics. He was arrested but had also been arrested prior for helping smuggle Chinese laborers into the US despite a ban being placed on them. Jin Fuy arguably had the most tumultuous life out of the three brothers but lived a life that fought back against many systematic injustices his community faced.

Triumph - While not everything that happens to the men is positive, Jin Kee especially gets a difficult ending as he loses his citizenship and dies in exile, but much of the narrative pinpoints specific events which show how triumphal these men were at shaping their communities by any means necessary.

Strength Through Adversity - As the name of the book would imply, the three Moy brothers were certainly tough, as they all lived lives of immense adversity and hardship but refused to lie down and take the beatings that befell their various ethnic communities.