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Title: May Ota Higa Interview
Narrator: May Ota Higa
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: December 17, 2004
Densho ID: denshovh-hmay-01-0028

<Begin Segment 28>

TI: Well, and this would be a good, a good way to end this. Thinking about your biological great-grandson, and I'm guessing that maybe in about twenty years or something, he's going to watch this tape, this interview that we've just done. What, what kind of message would you give to someone who is coming into the world now in terms of your experiences?

MH: Coming into the world now?

TI: Yeah, coming into the world now, so he doesn't really know, but he's gonna hear from his great-grandmother about her experiences. What, what sort of message or thoughts would you have for him? I know it's a big question, and just thinking...

MH: It is a big question.

TI: ...what, what strikes you as important in your life?

MH: Well, I think compassion, integrity, especially integrity is most important. I want the kids to follow their, their passion. I don't want anybody to tell them what to do, I want them to discover their own passion and follow it. Have a good life, be good to each other, think, think about other people as well as yourself. I think people are so self-centered, little concern for others. And I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope that we can leave a peaceful world, world to them. I am a peace-nik, and I've done much to try and bring about peace. So I have done the civil rights marches, I've done the separation of church and state thing, in fact, we were in Newsweek on that, and I went on strike for the teachers. I think it's important that teachers get paid well. And I hope we do leave a good world to the kids. I do, I pray for it every day. And I'm gonna be honest, I just don't think it's right to be in Iraq now. We have to get out. I wish for that.

<End Segment 28> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.