Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1790/

Japanese American solidarity

I think if I have any one message to my own community is that we have been a part of the movement for social change for a very long time, and there have been people individual people who have lead the way. I can cite people like Yuri Kochiyama, people like Warren Furutani, Dale Minami, there have been role models coming up ahead of us Robert Takasugi, I have to include him and I pay tribute to those folks who always cared about community, but brought our community into the mainstream of the struggle or the larger struggle and brought us a place there and made space for all of us to be a part of it. And to take part in this in this much larger struggle that was bigger than us. But, but really that we are honored to be a part of.

I often see these old photos of all these people that marched with Martin Luther King back at the time when it was a lot less fashionable and really in many ways, that's where people are today. Marching with...I continue watching the Black Lives Matter when there wasn't wasn't a whole lot of us was a very isolating experience in many ways but not isolating because it was so much to do and so much so much support outside of the movements and outside of our marches that we always knew that that was there at least that part of that. We knew that people care enough about that to feel it will show up in that there was enough committed, absolutely conscientious people that would show up every single time.


activism communities equality Japanese Americans justice law social action social justice

Date: July 14, 2020

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Matthew Saito

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Interviewee Bio

Mia Yamamoto is a Sansei transgender attorney and civil rights activist. She was born in the Poston concentration camp in Arizona in 1943 where her parents were incarcerated. She joined the Army and served in the Vietnam War. Inspired by her father's courage to speak out against the unconstitutional incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, she attended the University of California Los Angeles's School of Law and has been a leader in the field of social justice, including working with the Japanese American Bar Association. (March 2021)

*This is one of the main projects completed by The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern each summer, which the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum have co-hosted.

Glaser,Byron

Growing up in a Japanese American community

Illustrator and designer

Ota,Vince

Main differences between Japanese and Japanese Americans

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

Sogi,Francis Y.

The Kona Island community

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

Bannai,Lorraine

The importance of Japanese American role models in childhood community

(b. 1955) Lawyer

Bannai,Lorraine

Recognizing issues of dual identity in the nisei generation

(b. 1955) Lawyer

Bannai,Lorraine

Heightened awareness of identity as a Japanese American

(b. 1955) Lawyer

Hirose,Roberto

Growing up with some Japanese families (Spanish)

(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman

Hirose,Roberto

The various realities of Nikkei in Latin America (Spanish)

(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman

Watanabe,Margarida Tomi

Relief fund to support Japanese communities (Japanese)

(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration

Watanabe,Margarida Tomi

Role of Assistancia Social dom Jose Gaspar (Japanese)

(1900–1996) The mother of Nikkei Brazilian immigration

Inahara,Toshio

Identified as Japanese ancestry

(b. 1921) Vascular surgeon

Abe,George

Taiko Community

(b. 1944) taiko and flute performer

Yamaguchi,Kristi

Support from the Japanese American community

(b.1971) Professional figure skater and Olympic gold medalist.

Uyeda,Clifford

Japanese Language School

(1917 - 2004) Political activist

Uyeda,Clifford

Different races have to live together and interact

(1917 - 2004) Political activist