Densho Digital Repository
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Jeff Furumura Interview II
Narrator: Jeff Furumura
Interviewer: Brian Niiya
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Date: June 1, 2023
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-539-6

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BN: And then as you're going along, you come in after the first year, then you're kind of there, from there to the end, so it's like four-ish years. How did your role change and then how did you think the paper changed over that time?

JF: Hmm, heavy. I think as far as my own participation... let's see now. We were, the staff members were real close and good friends. At one point we decided we would form this collective, a political collective that would be a living space for whoever wanted to be there, long term living space for whoever wanted to be there, and the focus would be on our community involvement and work. So it didn't have to necessarily be Gidra, but anything associated with the Asian American movement was fine as far as membership goes. So I think Duane Kubo, Bruce Iwasaki, I want to say Amy Murakami, Kiyoko Shibasaki... I'm naming all these names, what's the statute of limitations? No. [Laughs] And then Terry Nitta, Tom Okabe, and myself, I think we were the original six or seven of us. And then other people would join, Colin Kurada came in later, Clyde... I can't remember Clyde's last name, but he came in for a few months. I think it lasted for maybe a couple of years. During that time, I think the way that we thought about what we're doing became a little bit more serious. But during that period of time, I think this is the mid '70s, so '73, '74... well, '73, '74. It was a time when -- well, this is earlier, Fred Hampton's being murdered. People are dying because they're trying to affect the same kind of changes that we all wanted to. So when that starts happening, and then your activities become... you see them physically monitored by the authorities, then things take on a little bit more serious tone. Even though we were all just a bunch, I mean, we were friends, and of course we were doing all these, at the time, illegal activities, like smoking marijuana was considered a felony offense. But we just had a good time as well as we're involved in activities that we thought were trying to bring about positive change for the country or at least the Asian American community. But yeah, I think that focus, being in L.A. and focusing with primarily Japanese American communities, pockets in the L.A. area. I think that began to open up a little bit. Maybe not for myself personally, but for others on the staff, I think that began to expand as the time went on. Did I answer the question? [Laughs]

BN: Yeah.

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