<Begin Segment 2>

AT: I mean, on the topic of JACL, I know, you just mentioned how you spoke to Gail and had an interest in it a little bit. But I guess once you moved to Seattle, did you just suddenly decide to go to that meeting and then just become fully engulfed in it? Or how did that process for you go?

JSG: That sounds exactly like what I did. [Laughs] Because I did -- I was working full time, but I went to my first meeting that was held in the evenings. And, at the time, it was held at the former Japanese language school, which is currently the Japanese Cultural Center. That location on Weller Street is where they'll be -- chapters met in the evening. So it's the current Japanese Cultural and Community Center. So I remember attending, and people were so welcoming. It was in just one of the boardrooms there, because it was the language school's facility. And I just recall talking with long, long time JACL leaders and they're... and not to name drop but one was, Kyle, your mom, Cherry Kinoshita, Ayako Heard, May Namba, Bob Santos, Sam Shoji, Mako Nakagawa, lots of Mako Nakagawa, Shea Aoki, Chuck Kato, Ken Kurata, a lot of leaders and some of whom are with us today. But what really struck me was the multi-generational group of active JACLers, and everyone was committed and engaged in the civil rights work of the JACL. So I was, I really did attend that first meeting, I was very welcomed. And then I attended the monthly board meetings, and then became pretty active.

So the way I came to be the president of the chapter -- and I will say that I lived in Steilacoom, which is south of Tacoma -- so I didn't live in Seattle. So it was a good hour commute, which isn't really a problem, but to... the way I came to be the president of the chapter was because the current president at the time, Tim Gojo, he stepped down because he was running for state legislative office. So the board and the executive board were really wanting and -- wanted to find someone to fill that spot. So when they asked me, I said, I could do that. But I was reluctant because I was still new to the area, and I didn't live in Seattle. They said that doesn't matter if you're committed and willing to do this.

So one of the things I did as the new president that took over from the current president, is I actually interviewed two long standing leaders of the JACL and one, again, is Cherry Kinoshita and then Bob Santos because I wanted to find out their perspectives about the history of the JACL, about the Seattle chapter, what they felt was important and what I might do as a president to really be effective. Because in those board meetings, sometimes there were disagreements about different topics and directions to go in. And, I think its healthy debate and dialogue, but I really wanted to be effective. So just some of the, what I remember from my conversation with those two leaders is just some of the historical context of what they shared with me that there was a large, aside from civil rights, which is key, that JACL also had a cultural and social aspect and objective to their purpose. So some of the things that I think Bob shared with me was, it was a way for younger people to get to know each other and not to stereotype Japanese Americans as really shy. But he said that that was one way where young folks could really gather and feel comfortable and get to know each other that way. So that was a very interesting perspective that was shared with me at that time. And then another thing that Cherry said that really stuck with me, too, is just looking again at the multi-generational members of the chapter, is the importance of having younger generations step in and help redefine the focus, if we're going to be sustainable as a JACL, to keep that civil rights focus alive and well. Because many active JACL members, at the time, were getting older, retiring, and just some concern about making sure that the chapter and the work would continue.

AT: Yeah, most definitely.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.