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BS: And then you kind of talked a little bit about how you'd like to see the Japanese American community and the JACL go more into work for African Americans as well. But what direction would you like to see the Seattle JACL go and directions for activism in the future?

SB: I think that I would really love to see -- I mean, the Seattle JACL was already great at this, and I think is really like a leader in this respect -- but I would love to see the Seattle JACL just continue working with communities outside of the Japanese American community, and there's just so many opportunities to do that. And I think there are so many, like, young leaders that are up and coming that have really great ideas. And so the Seattle JACL, like, historically, we have youth scholarships, we've sent youth to convention, so maybe continuing to figure out ways to engage young people and uplift them so that they have an opportunity to have their voices heard, I think it's just so, so critical. And yeah, I would love to revamp some of the programming that we've done in the past, like sending youth to convention is one thing that I've mentioned, but as someone that started at the JACL, when I was like, in my earlier twenties, and I'm in my earlier thirties now, that has just been such an incredible experience, and I'm a huge advocate for helping other people, and I think that young folks just can make a huge difference.

BS: Yeah, and that was interesting what you said about young voices. And I know in the past, the JACL maybe hasn't always embraced young voices, but would you say currently the Seattle JACL is doing a good job of being receptive to young community leaders and young voices out there?

SB: Yeah, yeah. Oh, Seattle JACL has a history of being receptive to young voices. Yeah, I mean, myself, and I think some of my predecessors, as far as like chapter presidents go, Toshiko and Paul, Heidi, are all really great examples of young people who have made a huge dent in the local community, in the broader community. And national JACL, I think is starting to incrementally right, get into that space. I think right now, the national board is the youngest it's maybe ever been, as far as like total board members, which is really cool. But it's one of those things that you think about the people, but you also have to think about the organization as an entity and it's like steering a ship. And it's gonna take time to kind of change course, a little bit, and it's not going to be an immediate thing. But I think that's how I think of a lot of projects, is like, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. And it's just going to take time, it's going to take energy, it's going to take a lot of passion and a lot of love. But I think there are a lot of really great folks out there that have that drive. And I think that there are a lot of really great folks like Bill, like other Seattle JACL board members, that want to support them. That, yeah, the JACL is going to keep doing some really cool work in the future.

BS: Yeah, definitely. And then I guess a follow up to that is like, are there any ways that you have tangibly seen young leaders steering the ship, as you said, towards certain issues, maybe towards certain events where it's tangibly shifting, what the national JACL is focusing on?

SB: So specifically, the first thing that came to mind is when I was on the national youth, National Youth Student Council, excuse me, or the NYSC, for short, because that's a mouthful. The NYSC, I think it's every other year, has like a luncheon at national convention, and they present an award to another organization who they think are doing outstanding work. And so there was a year that we presented the award to a BLM chapter. And it was awesome. And the speakers that came as representatives were really, really cool, and so inspirational. And that being said, there was definitely some pushback from some folks, that did not appreciate us inviting them into that space. And that was just, again, right, kind of an interesting dynamic, and looking at the history of the JACL and where it could potentially be going, and there's going to be a little bit of a clash sometimes. But that was just a really cool moment and a reminder that we're all coming from different perspectives, and we're going to have to work together in order to create change, even if we don't always agree.

BS. Yeah, definitely. I definitely agree with that.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.