[On September 28th, 2002 the great Patsy Mink passed away. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy Mink and four other Asian American leaders, past and present!]
On a few
of the many reasons why we should better remember the influential activist and
leader.
I’ve
written multiple times previously in this space about Yuri
Kochiyama, and wanted to keep this first paragraph short so you can check
those posts out if you would.
Welcome
back! Since I wrote those posts I researched Kochiyama more deeply in order to
include her in the Japanese Internment chapter of We the People, and
would now argue that she and her activism and leadership can help us better
remember at least two important sides to the internment era. For one thing, she
exemplifies multiple complex realities of the internment camps: not just their
unconstitutional and horrific imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of
Americans (a majority of them American citizens like the California-born
Kochiyama), but also the stories of Japanese American soldiers who volunteered to
serve while interned with their families (a roster that includes both
Kochiyama’s twin
brother Peter and her future husband
Bill) and the complementary activism that took place within the camps.
Kochiyama, for example, built on her college English degree to edit a newspaper
at her Jerome, Arkansas camp, and within that newspaper published letters from
and testimonials about Japanese American soldiers for her “Nisei in Khaki” column. Every
interned individual deserves a place in our collective memories, but Kochiyama
in particular illustrates those multi-layered histories quite strikingly.
Her
lifelong activism after the war, about which I did write more fully in those
prior posts (and which was often undertaken in partnership Bill, particularly
their shared
advocacy for collective memory of and reparations
for internment), likewise helps us better remember the lives and legacies of
interned Japanese Americans. But Kochiyama’s activism extended far beyond
Japanese American causes, and included extensive experience with the Civil
Rights Movement (including a friendship
with Malcolm X that culminated in her presence in a famous
photograph [CW for graphic imagery] of the aftermath of his assassination)
and her
participation in the October
1977 takeover of the Statue of Liberty by Puerto Rican nationalists. Better
remembering that lifelong activism thus helps us engage both with the
interconnected nature of many 20th century social movements and with
the complex but crucial concept of intersectionality, of how different
identities and communities can pull together toward the common causes of
equality and social justice. That’s a lesson we sorely still need.
Next
leader tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do
you think? Other Asian American lives or stories you’d highlight?
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