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AO: Can you hear me?

BT: Yes.

AO: Oh, good. Okay. I was wondering if Bill had let me in, because my screen says I have to, you have to let me in. But my name is Arlene Oki, and I have been in JACL for something like thirty-five years. I first joined JACL when I was asked to be the secretary. And this was in the period of time when redress was being proposed. And it was the most difficult meeting that I've had to take minutes for, ever, because everyone was yelling at each other. And I was actually kind of scared because I didn't know the people there, and they were all men. And somehow, I started to tape, record the meeting and was able to get content printed. But it was a very difficult time, and I was very impressed with the degree of passion expressed by the members of the JACL. And I think it's still present today. We have a wonderful group of young people on our board. So I've been president, I've been vice president, I've been secretary, and I just finished being corresponding secretary where I wrote all the thank you notes, letters to people who have contributed. And it's been a wonderful experience for me.

And the reason, I think the reason why Tatsuo and I bonded was because we were both interested in politics. So whenever we would get together, we'd talk about politics, and what was happening and what could happen. And he had, he had such a wonderful personality, and he was the type of politician who I felt would really listen to people and act on the concerns of his constituents. And he would have been a wonderful elected official in any capacity. He was also very sensitive. He would see where there were moments when I was stressed, and the next thing I would know, he'd call me up, and he'd say, "Oh, why don't we have lunch?" And so we had a lot of lunches together and got to know each other. Our background... but he was always interested in everybody and was one of the kindest people I've ever known. Everyone loved him, the people in the city and city government and in the community. And he was so nice, but he also showed great leadership capability, was willing to take a stand regardless of the criticism that that he might take, and he was always someone who would speak up. I was really, I feel honored to have had that experience of being with him, and I still miss him today.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.