Marion Barry keeps digging a deeper hole with racially insensitive remarks
Marion Barry is the elected councilman for Washington DC’s 8th Ward, but he’s more commonly referred to in the District as “Mayor for Life.” That’s because the man seemingly has nine lives, politically...
View ArticleA national town hall to mark the 30th anniversary of Vincent Chin’s death
Vincent Chin was beaten with a baseball bat 30 years ago on June 19 in a Detroit suburb, and died four days later. At the time, I was three years out of art school, managing a paint store, and was a...
View ArticleWhen will Asian Americans have an impact on national elections & media coverage?
Now that the Pew Research Center announced that Asian Americans are the “highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States,” and since the buzz on the Democratic...
View ArticleRichard Aoki, the Asian American Black Panther, was an FBI informant
When journalist Seth Rosenfeld wrote in a San Francisco Chronicle article in August that Richard Aoki, the mysterious Japanese American who was one of the leaders of the radical Black Panther Party,...
View Article2012 was a good year for Denver’s Japanese and Japanese American community
This was a good year for Japanese and Japanese Americans in Colorado. A lot of the credit goes to Ikuhiko Ono, the Consul General who came to Denver late last year, and has made a concerted effort to...
View ArticleThe students protesting for their high school history curriculum are fighting...
I grew up as part of a generation that found our collective voice in protest, for African American civil rights, against the war in Vietnam, and to advocate for women’s and LGBT rights and Asian...
View ArticleImmigration, refugees and the gift of citizenship
I was born in Japan, but because my father was born in Hawaii when it was a U.S. territory, I am an American citizen. I didn’t have to take a test, and recite an oath of allegiance. After my family...
View ArticleBuilding bridges with the Muslim community
Late last year, Erin and I were lucky enough to travel to New York City to see the Broadway musical “Allegiance” starring George Takei. It’s a story about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during...
View ArticleA Japanese American perspective on Trump and Japan
Many Japanese Americans I know don’t pay much attention to Japan, which I think is a pity. I believe JAs should keep up with news from Japan, and travel to Japan. A lot. However, most JAs I know...
View ArticleDon’t give up on civil discussions on social media
One of the great benefits of today’s social media – and why I urge everyone, young and old, to at least be on Facebook – is that it can connect you to people you know, people you don’t know, and maybe...
View Article
