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BY: Okay, last question is, on a scale of one to ten, how important is your Japanese American identity to you?

SM: Oh. Well, it's a ten, but it's not my only identity.

BY: Okay, what do you mean by that?

SM: Well, I identify very clearly as a Japanese American, as a Sansei. But I also identify as a political progressive, as a woman, as an activist. Identifying as a woman of color who works across ethnic groups, I have multiple identities, which I think is healthy.

BY: Okay. And any final thoughts that you would like to share with us?

SM: Well, I think I said it earlier, but I really do feel like I was blessed to have had the nurturing and the exposure that many of my peers never got. And oh, one thing I forgot to say early on as a young child, I was one of the first Sanseis born in the Portland Japanese community. I mean, I was born in Wisconsin, but in the Portland community, I was one of the few little kids at the beginning. So I was around adults all the time, Isseis and Niseis. And they all just kind of doted on me, and I thrived on it. As a little girl, I was a showoff. [Laughs] I would sing and dance, although I can't sing, I would do all these little things on prompts because I got reinforcement, positive reinforcement from all these people. I was around so many older people all the time, and my sister, being younger, didn't get the same advantage. Like my grandfather didn't take the two of us around, he took me around while my sister was a baby. And so I really feel like I was blessed to have all the opportunities, and that makes me have a responsibility to give back.

BY: Thank you, good job. [Laughs]

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.