<Begin Segment 5>

BS: And I guess just moving on, we can skip around on the question list a little bit and go into the Wards Cove Act one a little bit more. It's a really interesting case, as the court case around it as well was really unfortunate. And I was reading about it in my research, and it was something I hadn't heard of before, so it was super interesting. But, from what I understand, there was a lot of political pressures at play, that were silencing the Asian American community, especially towards the Senate a little bit more. So, were there any, substantial obstacles that you face when you were working on the resolution? Like any type of coercion or ways that were trying to suppress you, as you were working to benefit the Asian American community?

HP: Yeah, you know, I actually didn't really have that much of experience with that. I think at this point, this had been like the nth time that Jim had introduced it into the house. And it was more, unfortunately, more of a ceremonial act, of really respecting the tragedy and some of the triumphs that came out of that whole court case. It was the first time that the United States government had held an international dictator responsible for acts on American soil against Americans. And so... and also what was really eye opening for me was working with Terry Mast in work... who was [inaudible] and their family, Gaia, and I forgot the other daughter's name. But, Gaia and... do you remember Bill? The two daughters Selmae and Terry... they're a part of --

BT: Yeah, I thought it was... It's not Cynthia.

HP: Oh okay, well, they're a part of the labor movement now like Legaya works in SEIU 1199 Northwest. She's been a member of APALA, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, for a long time. And so it's really interesting to see this legacy of organizing within the Asian American movement, particularly the Filipino American movement. And also at that time, I had worked closely with Ron Chew on some of the International Examiner events that they were trying to promote, because it was the anniversary of that and Ron was writing a book about what had happened there in Seattle. I mean, he was there, he was really young when that had happened, same age as Jean and Selmae, and there's a lot of trauma that comes along with being a person of color, and the Asian American -- no matter how light skinned we are, as Asian Americans, it still is really toxic and it forms in different ways. And I think for that piece, I was in a really supportive community because they knew what happened, they'd lived through it, it had formed in how they moved forward in their lives from that moment on, what after happened with their murders and then the court case, and then all of that. So you're dealing with people's actual lives here. And I didn't know anything about it. When I first started, I didn't know. And I didn't know Terry. I didn't know anything. So going in there kind of blindly, but also trusting people who were leaders and who were involved in the movement, made it a little bit more, I think, authentic and genuine because it's a very serious thing to talk about, but it's also a really important thing to talk about, because they really wanted people to learn from it and wanted people to learn that there's nothing wrong with standing up for what you believe in, and as scary and traumatizing as it might be, and there will be losses involved, and sacrifices that have to be made, like real, real sacrifice. When people say like, "Oh, we've made sacrifices." I'm like, "What are you talking about? Are you talking about glamping with no indoor plumbing? Or are you talking about like losing someone because of a political belief that they have, and they move on it?" So for me, that was something that was always really interesting to me and I think that kind of opened the lid in terms of running away with and having such a passion for community organizing and for policy.

BT: Yeah, and you talk about what you've learned from the policy, but what were your main takeaways from this whole experience in terms of, was in more on how to write policy? How to interpret it, how to advocate for it, what type of -- with respect to policy -- what was your main takeaway from this, would you say?

HP: I... that's a really great question. I think takeaways always change for me as I get older. Ha, ha. I know Bill's gonna laugh at this, but as I get older. But I'm pushing forty, and I look like I'm not pushing forty, but what the really important thing for me is having that experience is, particularly with Wards Cove, was a real building block for me. It really helped set the tone of letting people who have been most impacted lead. Let them lead, let them bring you along with you, learn about it, ask questions about it, don't feel stupid about it. The earlier you do it, the better,  so, you have that clarity. It just proved to me how you can move policy through different avenues. So, for example, you can use it through a civil rights organization as a standardized 501(c)(3), you have certain budgets that go along with that to make that piece of policy have some more teeth. There's another avenue in which... and then also like the coalition building, too. Because you're based off a membership type of organization, and there are still many, many organizations that still operate that way. I mean, unions operate that way still. You pay your dues, and then you have a pot for the collective good to decide, what are you passionate about? What's the most important issue for you and your community? And it doesn't necessarily have to be a racial group. It can be a labor movement, it can be BLM, it can be... but for me, race is always going to be central. It's always going to be a center point in my life because I have been so impacted by that. Sorry, I'm trying to keep a straight line of concentration, but my cat is not letting me. But sorry, can you help me get back on track? What were the... can you remind me?

BS: I think you've done a great job of answering it so far. It was just mainly what were your takeaways with respect to policy?

HP: Oh, right, right. I'm so sorry. So, civil rights organizations in general, and then you have, well, I'd say like (c)(3) organizations, and (c)(4) organizations where they're more political. They can do a lot more work around candidates and around races, and they can do independent expenditures, so they can take that money and use that to, for example, JACL was at the forefront of the referendum, oh god was it 74?

BT: Yeah.

HP: Good lord, around marriage equality. God, was it that long ago? Anyway, that's an example. Oh, my god, cat. Sorry. What was it?

BT: 2012.

HP: 2012,? That was like yesterday. Anyway, you can take that money and use it to contribute to an independent expenditure, but that just basically means it's a separate investment of money that you can use towards a campaign around an issue area, and nonprofits and (c)4s -- well, nonprofits can't do that, but (c)4s can do that. Nonprofits can endorse ballot measures. So, there are different... in the way that the system is set up and in the way you navigate around it, there are all these rules and regulations that you had to follow and have to have ethical and standards met and compliance, obviously. But if you know how to move within those systems, you can bring a lot more people around you and try to dismantle a lot of the racist stuff that is actually still adhered to it because it's still part of that institution.

And so the other part of it, for me has been around movement building. And that's been more with my experience working with BLM here in Seattle. And with the State Alliance, we really, really talk from an abolitionist policy point of view, and really double downing on that experience in terms of what it is that you push for. So for example, last legislative session, there were a slew of police accountability bills that went through. I'm pretty sure I was at every single one of those committee hearings, both in the House and in the Senate. And it is very draining to listen to impacted families, but it's even more draining for those impacted families to continuously wear their trauma on their sleeve, tell their story, after the loss of a loved one from law enforcement. And then you have a very powerful lobby when it comes to law enforcement. And to try to get those two that are so polarized right now in this country to come to an agreement on a policy that sets a statewide standard, and in which law enforcement has to abide by and there needs to be oversight by community. I mean, it's not just Black lives that are impacted, but they're the most, obviously, disproportionately impacted by this. So for me, I don't view the incarceration any differently. I don't view chattel slavery any differently. I don't view sex trafficking any differently. It is a symptom of the same problem, the institutional problem around anti-Black racism.

BS: Yeah, thank you. And then, thanks for going so deep into that. As a political science student. it's just super interesting to me, the policy, the politics side.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2021 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.