Densho Digital Repository - Rev. Michael Yoshii Interview (Densho ID: ddr-ajah-1-10-23)

<Begin Segment 23>

PW: During this same general period, I know you've talked to me about the Social Justice Committee, and I think this was also a committee within Buena Vista?

MY: Yeah.

PW: Tell me about that.

MY: So we have a national agency called the General Board of Church Society, and local churches are encouraged to have a local church committee. We called ourselves the Social Justice Committee where it would discuss just issues that the congregation maybe wanted to take on. And this is parallel to our Community Development Committee as well. So there was a particular point in time where we had a strong committee that was operating, and they were very critical at a certain juncture because we were forming coalitions in the community, and I think at that particular time, as the housing issue was beginning to get more visibility, there was something called the Alameda Diversity Alliance that got started. And there were key people, I think, in our congregation, Wendy Horikoshi was one of them, and Kathy Lee, Joanne Kagiwara, Keith Nomura, who were all part of committee, Jill Shiraki, who were part of committee, and that committee work was making relationships with this new Diversity Alliance.

The Diversity Alliance was doing things like holding city council, school board, what do you call them, candidates nights. And I still remember a candidates night, must have been back in, I would image it's '98, where the candidates night was asking the question about housing issues and the changing shift in the landscape of the city in terms of development and redevelopment. And no candidates would answer the question about affordable housing. "Where do you stand on affordable housing?" "No comment." And the existing members, council members, "Next question, please." So in other words, nobody wanted to touch it, and so that's where we began to understand this sacred cow in this community around housing policy issues and all the work that needed to be done in terms of shifting that sentiment. And I think that's where Renewed Hope and other coalition partners, over time that got developed, really shifted the whole direction of things. And so today, all city council members, every one of them will say they are supporters of affordable housing. And some of them will want to say that they're champions of it as well. So that shift is a real one that I've seen happen in my lifetime. There's still more to be done, of course, but it's something to see, that shift take place, and then the efforts of people who were involved kind of on the ground level to help bring things forward.