Densho Digital Repository - In Memory of Tatsuo Nakata Interview (Densho ID: ddr-sjacl-2-32-1)

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BT: Hello, my name is Bill Tashima, and I'm a past JACL president for the Seattle Chapter and I'm also one of the chairs for our Legacy Fund project. And our project is funded by a national JACL Legacy Fund grant, and it aims to preserve the rich history and legacy of our chapter through preservation of our historical materials, but also supplementing these materials with our own recorded histories with some of our leaders. And in this session, we'll be having a conversation about Tatsuo Nakata. Tatsuo was a charismatic, energetic and visionary leader, who at the age of twenty-four, became our chapter's youngest president. Sadly, three years later, Tatsuo passed away after being hit by a car while he was crossing the street, by a careless driver. And leading our discussion today will be Brent Seto, a U-Dub intern. And he will be joined by Akemi Matsumoto, Emily Momohara, Joy Shigaki, Arlene Oki, and from time to time, myself. And in a few seconds -- in a few moments, Brent will introduce himself as well the others.

And before I turn over the screen, the session to Brent, I would like to give a brief bio of Tatsuo. Tatsuo was born in Hawaii as Matthew Nakata. His family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, when he was five, and he continued his schooling there until he was a sophomore in college when he went to Seattle University. And it was in Seattle that Tatsuo gained his identity as a Japanese American activist. And he changed his name from Matthew to Tatsuo to honor his Japanese American roots. After graduating from Seattle University with a degree in political science, Tatsuo became a legislative assistant to state representative Velma Veloria. And as Velma would fondly recall, "When I hired him, I wasn't hiring a legislative assistant, I was hiring the future of the Asian American community and the future of our country." In 2000, Tatsuo was already on the executive board for the National JACL and chair of the National Youth Council -- wait, National Youth and Student Council, or NYSC, which was a part of JACL that was devoted to youth and students. In 2001, Tatsuo received the chapter's Unsung Hero Award, and in 2003, Tatsuo became our chapter president. An open secret about Tatsuo is that someday he would run for political office, and he counted as his supporters and mentors countless community leaders such as Ruth Ruiz, affectionately known as Auntie Ruth, David Della and his wife, Odette Polintan, Bob Santos, again, we all know him as Uncle Bob, Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos, and so many, many more. Tatsuo was our first non-Nisei, non-Sansei JACL president and only our second mixed-race president. Tatsuo was able to pivot the chapter into wider social issues concerning social justice, civil rights, and he pushed for more inclusion of youth leadership and mixed-race programs and issues. And with that, we honor Tatsuo. We hope that the discussion today, among Tatsuo's friends, will lead to a deeper understanding of him, his accomplishments, and moreover, remembering his gifts that allowed him to be a lasting impact for our chapter. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Brent to introduce himself and start things off. So Brent, take it.

BS: Yeah, thank you, Bill. Hi, everyone. My name Brent Seto, I use he/him pronouns, and I am one of the Seattle JACL interns for this year. Just a brief introduction about me, I'm a junior at the University of Washington double majoring in Political Science and Law, Societies and Justice. I am passionate about activism and advocacy, and I'm heavily involved in the student government on campus. I'm originally from San Jose, California, and I wanted to intern with the JACL because I am a Yonsei, fourth generation Japanese American, but I know very little about JA history or culture. So the JACL provided me with the opportunity to connect with the JA community and learn more about myself and my identity.