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AT: So, let's see. I also saw that you have collaborated with the Wing Luke Museum and, kind of just in general, what have you done there? And like, I think your activism within Seattle I think is very strong, and so you what has continued, what has motivated you to continue doing these things within Seattle? And kind of, this is a very broad question, but what you've learned along the way?

GG: Yeah, so I... well, right now I'm working with Wing Luke Museum. They have an upcoming exhibit on incarceration resisters which is inspired by a graphic novel that recently came out that they... what is it called? We Hereby Refuse?

AT: Oh, I wrote a review on that in the International Examiner. [Laughs]

GG: Yes. So which, I was also part of the kind of initial consulting team for that graphic novel. I think I was there sort of on behalf of JACL. Now, I'm just kind of part of this group on behalf of myself, but... but yeah, so I was a part of that process and now I'm a part of this process. And one thing I've really been advising Mikala Woodward, who's the curator of the exhibit, is really trying to kind of draw the link between... we've been talking a lot about looking at, trying to be as intersectional as possible in this exhibit. We often hear about like our uncles, and jiichans and whatnot and the 442 and all those "brave men," not to dis those brave men in any way, but like, I think Densho has done such a great job of talking about queer and trans Nikkei experiences from camp and centering youth and women as well. So we're really kind of being open-minded with looking at this word "resistance" and what did it really mean to resist? Even just like, perhaps like a mother teaching her children to be proud Japanese kids in some ways, like teaching them some Japanese art form inside of camp could really count as resistance because that was so against what people were trying to do. So we're talking about that and then we're also trying to... I've been talking to Mikala about -- I don't know if you're familiar with this, Ana -- but there are so many Yonsei and Gosei activists in the Instagram and social media space I feel like, so talking about how millennials and Gen Z are really carrying the torch of our elders and ancestors through social media activism and also through participation within Black Lives Matter and other forms of resistance in collaboration with other people of color.

So that's kind of how I'm working with them as well. I've also collaborated with Wing Luke in the past to present my own dance pieces there. I curated this event called Never Again is Now, the Art and Activism of Millennial Nikkei. [Laughs] And that was me and Troy Osaki, who does spoken word, and Kayla Isomura, who did the suitcase project. And it was just an event that was all about kind of the same thing of like how that was specifically looking at millennial Nikkei art activism related to the incarceration. Yeah, so I've been, I'm really honored. I'm super honored every time I get to work with the Wing Luke Museum. What have I learned along the way? I think that it's really interesting being in this Asian space. I think that Wing Luke is at a time when it's really trying to grapple with a lot of these interesting discussions that like we, that I was talking about, Kyle and I were talking about in the anti-Blackness group of, like, what does it mean to center ourselves as Asians to work for our own liberation while being a part of these other movements like Black Lives Matter? Or looking at what's happening, the border crisis and family separation. How can we show up to center ourselves while also seeing ourselves within this bigger picture because we know that we're not special. It's not just about us, it's about, like working in collaboration with other communities of color for our collective liberation. And I really see that conversation happening at Wing Luke and in these kind of all-Asian spaces. I think it's a question that we're having as we curate this exhibit, because I think that if you're doing a piece about resisting incarceration, and it's linked to today, you can't help but talk about these other resistance movements. So I think, yeah, just what I'm learning is that, like, what I'm learning is that it's complex, and the conversation continues. And even the way that we -- JACL talks about carrying on the Japanese American legacy. But that's not a straightforward thing. Like, yes, we do proudly carry on that legacy, but we have new conversations about it. And I think I'm just really excited to continue to have those conversations in community with others who are also critical thinkers and people who turn towards history and continue to ask questions about where we've been and where we want to go.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2021 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.