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EK: I mean, if that's one way I can describe her, it just seems from everything that you have all said, just an absolute force of nature. But moving forward, Bill, if you want to begin with this question, because I know that you knew, it seems like you knew Elaine the longest, but, as a JACL leader, both in Detroit and Seattle, but anybody is able to, of course, add, just because it also is contributing to -- it's a question about the Seattle JACL as well. But what were some projects or accomplishments of hers that contributed to both chapters that you would like to share that you were a part of that... something is worth noting about all the projects that Elaine has worked -- Elaine did work on?

BT: Yeah, Elaine, I think... I would start off by talking about the Vincent Chin incident again because I remember Elaine telling me that when that happened, she was chapter president. And one of the first things she did was pick up the phone and call the Detroit... at that time it was OCA, Organization of Chinese Americans, and talk to her and say, "We got to do something about this." That's Elaine's exact words. "We got to do something about this." And, from that time, Elaine was... she wasn't in the spotlight, but she was one of those liaisons between everything going on between Detroit and national and between the legal team that represented Vincent Chin's interests and, in fact, the lead lawyer for that case, Jimmy Shimura, Jim Shimura, was actually one of the people that Elaine grew up babysitting. So they were like family friends. Elaine was really pivotal in that. And it continued, and in, I think it was thirty years later, or forty years later, there was another remembrance of Vincent Chin and it was nationwide, and they got a hold of Curtis Chin, who produced a video and was going to have a nationwide discussion on this issue. And Elaine arranged for a simultaneous broadcast of this at the Wing Luke Museum to go on and coordinated that along with HyeEun Park, who was our chapter president in 2013. So yeah, Elaine was... that was one of her accomplishments in Detroit.

KY: If I could add on to that, I think the Vincent Chin case was the impetus for hate crime legislation, hate crime enhancement. During the trial, I think people -- I should back up -- leading up to what happened to Vincent Chin, I mean, Japan bashing, "Buy American," anti-Asian sentiment was at its height, especially in the automotive industry. And when the two perpetrators were found guilty of basically misdemeanor offenses -- three years' probation, three thousand dollars each. That's what really ignited people in terms of -- it took, I think it was three years, and a civil lawsuit against both the... Ebens and Nitz, I can't remember the names now. But even at that, winning the civil suit against them, it was only like, it was a pittance. There was no time served, and it was monetary, community service and the primary offender never paid up. So I think what Elaine did in terms of bringing national attention to this case, I mean, when she eventually was over in the Seattle Area District Council, she was also involved with Tim Otani, who was my predecessor. And Tim Otani is the one who brought JACL into -- it was a five state coalition called the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment. And that organization too focused solely on looking at hate crime enhancement and adopting. I can't remember what year it was that Washington state adopted hate crime sentencing enhancement for protected classes. But, I mean, Elaine would probably never have put herself -- put the two and two together. But it's because of the things that she did at the local level to make sure that people made the connection between what happened to Vincent Chin was as a result of this ongoing anti-Asian discrimination. So that was, I think, significant. Vincent Chin, it was huge for the Asian American community,

AO: And that kind of incident is still happening today, and to an even greater level.

EK: Absolutely, yeah. I remember learning about Vincent Chin. And it's actually kind of sad because I didn't learn about Vincent Chin, I think, until recently, maybe two years ago, but stuff like that should definitely be recognized more often even... just not within schools or within education or just like, it should be a known fact. And so hearing that Elaine was a big part of, being a part of fighting against that anti-Asian sentiment is very important. But I don't know if Arlene or Ann, if you wanted to talk about any of the bigger Seattle projects that she was associated with or accomplishments within those?

AL: I just, for me, personally, she got me involved in the educational part of JACL which was important, obviously, and bringing in youth to keep the chapter, to keep the organization viable and current. And so she never really... I can't remember if we really talked about it. I'm sure we did talk about the scholarship committee. Because my father was an educator, so, but I think just... it's hard to put into words, but I think I just learned... yeah, maybe that's where -- 'cause I know my father, he was an educator, but he was also a very organized person like Elaine. So... and I didn't really learn about my dad and how organized he really was. I mean, he was an artist, and just good in sports. He was athletic and all that, but I always wondered where I got my organizational part of me, and I guess that's where I got it from. But I think a lot of it, too, was my volunteer work and my community work. I certainly, I think Elaine... she taught me so much about probably, for somebody, maybe, and I wasn't a person that was maybe super confident about myself, but I always knew I wanted to do things for the community. I just thought it was really important. It was like breathing. It was like you have to, it's so hard. I've only run across a few people in my, in all my years of volunteering, work people. I mean, I'm sure people are impressed, but they're not really, if you really haven't volunteered and volunteered throughout a good part of your life, you're really missing out for one thing. And you just, I don't know, being with people that are donating their time and energy, and so I think Elaine taught me that. Because when she told me she wanted me to be the chair of the scholarship committee, I mean, when I joined JACL, I didn't think I would be chair of anything. I mean, I was a vice president, but I don't know if I really did anything vice president-wise, but being part of the scholarship community I think was a really like a promotion for me and Elaine knew that I could do it. And I actually did enjoy it and did it for a long time, not as long as the banquet committee. But she really -- I think it was just something about her that she gave you that I could do it and she's there to help me and I'm just kind of tearing up because she knew I could do it. And I think we need more people like that, too.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.