<Begin Segment 33>

SY: So now your role in the JACL, what, how do you see your role now and how, what direction are you going?

NG: Well, I'm still committed, I feel, still feel there's a need for a JACL. We're not, it's too bad, maybe how we could change that so that it's not Japanese Americans, 'cause it's not Japanese American and in our vision we don't, there's no Japanese and there's Asian Pacific Islanders, and disenfranchised communities. So I wish we could change our, somehow, our name, but I still feel there's a need. Our president is Brian Moriguchi and he, his friends, his peers, they don't, they feel they're, they don't need it. There's not a need for it like it was back in '60s or '70s. and I don't, and his father was very, very active, president and everything, but he, the only reason he got involved was because of what happened to him in the sheriff's when they were, found all these negative, stereotypical epitaphs written and the supervisors wouldn't do anything. So he sued the department, to his, I mean, he lost a lot of years as far as moving up the department, and then JACL was there to support him, I think at that time, personally, it affected him. He felt that he, he was happy that there was an organization like that. And then, now that he's part of us I just feel like he really does appreciate the kind of work we do. And there's a lot of things that most, the Community Center people, they like going to the, they like going to Pachanga or, they like going to the, to the casinos. [Laughs] And if they're, so when we, to me, we can provide programs -- we showed The Harimaya Bridge this year, this past, yeah, this year, I mean, two hundred people came 'cause they're, maybe they're not up to go out to the theater. And then we brought, luckily Dan Taguchi brought his Manzanar musical to our center; we had three hundred people that came. And we had Grateful Crane that put on their camp dance, and so I feel like who, who else? We're there. And then our, like our speaker for the installation's going to be Julie Su, who is, who's now working in, who was just appointed by the governor in labor relations, but she was the head, lead attorney for that garment, the El Monte garment people. So I think our community needs to know that there are people like that. And your film, they're not gonna see that film. I mean, it's just...

SY: Well, it's nice that you have a community that supports the work that you do. So the San Fernando Valley, which is really outside of Los Angeles, the greater, well, it's far, it's really a separate suburb kind of --

NG: Right.

SY: -- that --

NG: Yeah, like Day of, the Day of Remembrance, you don't see Valley people there. So it's, I think it's important.

SY: Yeah, it's really pretty, somehow it's a little more isolated in Los Angeles, but yet you have a fairly strong base, right? I mean, there's still quite a few Japanese American families.

NG: There's a lot of families out in our valley. We just don't know them. They don't, we, they get involved first through athletics.

SY: Right, 'cause the young people, right?

NG: Yeah. And that's, that's a whole new, that's their life for, until high school. [Laughs]

SY: So it's really nice that there's, is there a core leadership group at your organization that, I mean, you're a part of that little core group that's sort of maintaining activities.

NG: Yeah, we're getting, we're trying, we need to recruit 'cause we're always, we're old, you know? Our board is old. And we, trying to find... we have this very, doctoral student on our board and just, he keeps us informed of the things that are happening out there. He just, we just got a new, they were going to disband that Asian Studies at Cal State L.A. I mean, a lot of work and a lot of petitioning, and they got it reinstated. But he keeps us abreast of issues and cultural events that have to do with the different ethnic communities.

SY: And are other people in your family, besides your, I guess there's one cousin who's very active, right, in the...

NG: Yeah, he's gone.

SY: Oh, he's gone.

NG: He did, he had the same, he had a real feel for... he was in Manzanar. It was an important, I think he liked, that was an important part of his life in his own self esteem, 'cause I think you're with a lot of your, you're not... 'cause his parents, my auntie and uncle, they stopped, after the eighth child they no longer were together. I mean, they never divorced, but there was always this estranged... so I think that period where must've been a lot of good, must've been a happy time 'cause they were all together at that time, so when I approached him about -- he didn't go on that first one, but after that he was part of it, and yeah, he felt it was important.

SY: So among the family he's probably one of the most supportive?

NG: He was, yeah. Yes, absolutely. And he, but he passed away.

SY: And your mom's still, and your mom's still around, which is nice.

NG: Right, yeah. She's good.

SY: Yeah. And your daughters, do they talk to her about, do you all talk to her about camp and her experiences in camp?

NG: No, we have not. But we should. This will kind of motivate us to ask more questions.

SY: Well I'm, I think we're gonna close because we've gone over and I think Ann needs to take a break. But thank you so much, Nancy.

NG: Okay. Thank you.

SY: Fabulous.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.