Densho Digital Repository - Kathryn Bannai Interview (Densho ID: ddr-sjacl-2-38-10)

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EK: And just going back to the JACL, and your work with it, I was just wondering, you are involved with -- you were involved with the Seattle JACL chapter, now the New York chapter as well. And so going, moving from state to state, you still are part of this community. So what value do you find in remaining in a community like the -- like the JACL? And how have these chapters helped you achieve the goals you set out for yourself, and even the work that you do, and currently have done?

KB: Right now, I am a member of the New York chapter. But I am not, I'm not active in it. But I can speak to what it's meant to me to be involved in the chapters. It's given me opportunities that I value as a volunteer to contribute to the chapter's grassroots civil rights advocacy, and to advance programs that serve the community. And it's turned out that, at times, my professional interests in civil rights and serving the community has aligned with the needs of the Nikkei community and occasionally my involvement in other community organizations or projects intersected with JACL chapter activities. And so, one of those examples was I talked about presenting testimony to the [Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians]. I actually... that was a situation where the Seattle chapter organized the testimony in Seattle and decided that there would be a panel which would include the Asian Law Association, and I was a member of Asian Law Association. And so when I organized our panel of attorneys and our research, that was in my capacity of the member of Asian Law Association but, in fact, it was also, the hearing itself was a collaboration with the Seattle JACL. Regarding the New York chapter JACL, I was its president from 2014 and in 2015.

And I'll just give, I'll just give one example of why I think it -- there was value in having a JACL, local JACL chapter. During my tenure, I received a call from a representative in a New York State teachers group that was working with the New York City councilmember to establish a Fred T. Korematsu Day. And they were seeking support from the local Nikkei community. I was told that the resolution was in an advanced stage of readiness to present to the New York city council, but I asked for the opportunity to review the draft resolution. It turned out that the draft resolution had factual and other errors and our chapter provided revisions that were accepted and reflected in the final resolution adopted by the city council, the New York City Council. Although the community... I felt that that was one place where, one example of where, if there, if there hadn't been a New York chapter. And that chapter had gone through -- had considered disbanding, actually. And I, certainly at that moment and some other moments, I thought this is another example where the fact that there was somebody there who could be contacted and be engaged and say this is really a great idea to establish a Fred T. Korematsu Day, but it's really important that the resolution itself be accurate. And people welcome our input, and I'm glad that we had -- we were there to be engaged and to help ensure that the resolution for this event, which now occurs every year, in fact, is accurate, the foundation, the resolution -- the foundation, which is based on the resolution, is correct. Communities differ, and I credit a significant part of my ability to have contributed as a volunteer in the Nikkei community organizations that I'm involved in, in Los Angeles, to my past involvement in the New York and Seattle JACL chapters. I think, as I said, we're, we're different, but we're -- we have similar sorts of experiences, similar sorts of histories, and, and to some extent, we have similar, similar goals as a community. And so, I am grateful that I've had the opportunities to be a part of the JACL chapters.

EK: Yeah, I mean, I just recently... because I'm joined for doing the, being an intern for the Legacy project. But I... during this short time that I've been working with individuals like Bill and hearing from individuals like you, the JACL is such a phenomenal chapter -- Seattle JACL and just the national JACL just... JACL in general is just a phenomenal organization and the community that it develops, I can just tell that lasts for a lifetime and impacts a lot of things. So, thank you for sharing that, Kathryn. And then, if you don't mind, talking about current Japanese American activism, and just Seattle JACL, and the younger Japanese American generation.