Mississippi Yearning: Beyond Finding Cleveland is a documentary film that explores the seldom-told history of the early Chinese living in the Delta during the late 1800s to mid-1900s. The film is told through the eyes of a Chinese-American man from California who comes to Mississippi to find answers about his grandfather and great-grandfather, who are buried at the New Cleveland Cemetery. He learns they owned a grocery store, like many of the Chinese in the Delta, and goes on to make amazing discoveries about his family. The film examines 1) how and why the Chinese came to Mississippi; 2) how the Jim Crow laws affected Chinese and black communities; 3) the interaction between the white, black, and Chinese communities during this time period; and 4) how discriminatory laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act impacted the Mississippi Chinese and their families.
