Licensing

The Beginnings of Activism: Influences and Inspirations

During the late 1960s and 1970s, America was experiencing a time of enormous social change and upheaval. The Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, the rise of Black Power, and other revolutionary occurrences were changing the way people thought about race, gender, sexuality, political freedom, and civil liberties.

Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig herself was involved in the activism of the 70s, partaking regularly in Asian American for Action rallies and events, including protests against the Vietnam War. It was within this organization that she honed her political awareness and progressivism, as she watched the events surrounding the Vietnam War and realized the importance of challenging authority in the face of injustices. During one of the protests a press photographer captured her chanting and marching with everyone else, and her pictures showed up in the newspaper the next day. Anticipating displeasure from her family, she was not surprised when they commented unhappily about her being the “black sheep of the family, involving [her]self in activities that would be frowned upon by the rest of the community, most likely.” Her sister commented also on the kinds of reactions she might receive from her peers and the rest of the community, who would equally disprove of participating in such a ruckus.

This kind of “quiet pressure,” as Aiko calls it, was and often still is characteristic of the beliefs and traditions of the Japanese American Issei and Nisei generations. Relating to the “shikata ga nai” value, which dictates that one cannot help situations and should leave them be, many JAs do not believe in creating trouble, much less challenging authority on matters such as these. But regardless of cultural and traditional pressures, Aiko took a liking to sorting out and fighting for political injustices and human rights violations.

Similarly, being in an era of such movement around civil and human rights issues at a young age had an influence on Lorraine Bannai. Although not as pressured by family as Aiko might have been because of generational differences and being raised in different times, Lorraine knew that her parents might still be concerned. Still, Lorraine continued to be increasingly aware of the political activism happening around her, and recalls vividly those times of significant social change.

Both of these women were definitely a product of their times, where the activism that happened in larger society began to shape their own consciousness about the injustices in their own communities.

Source:Densho Digital Archive, http://archive.densho.org/main.aspx. Visual History Collections: Densho Visual History Collection: Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig Interviews, Segment 2 and Lorraine Bannai Interviews, Segment 11.

Photo: Online Archive of California, http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf8b69p0d4/?&query;=Vietnam%20war%20protest&brand;=oac.