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AT: So for you, like just your for your time as president, I know that there's probably a lot of different things that you guys worked on. But for yourself, what do you think like some of your greatest accomplishments were when you were, whether you were president or not, just kind of your time in JACL?

RI: I'm not sure I personally had any accomplishments. I think that's the better answer by other folks. But I really think that that during that time, I was fortunate that Kip Tokuda was president before me and I think, Joy, I think you were president right before Kip, and then Cal Takagi was president after me, I think. But I think we, we started to have the organization move beyond just redress. And I know there were certain folks that started to address other long-standing issues. There were some... there were, actually there was a resolution, I think, that was introduced at the national JACL convention that upset many of the Nisei veterans community. And so the whole, the hard feelings that have lingered for decades between some of the veterans in our community and the "no-no boy" community, and what happened during World War II, why there were such hard feelings, I remember, I sat down with the commander of the Nisei Vets, at that time, just so I got more background on why there was such hard feelings. But I know like Mako Nakagawa is one of the leaders to both address that and also to meet with some of the veterans and start a discussion. So I think there were things that were happening within our community. And then, like I said, as an organization, starting to move beyond redress and be more active in the broader civil rights community. And I think that really took off a few years later when some of the younger folks took over the leadership. And it was really inspiring to see how organized they were how natural it was for them to work with other ethnic community groups, and to address issues that were going on that were important. And so I think it was the next group of folks that I think took it to another level that was really inspiring, and I was glad that maybe I could bridge, be a part of the bridge, to help them gain their footing, and be able to take over the leadership of the organization and the community for that matter.

AT: Yeah. Going off of that, what's kind of your, what are your thoughts on the current Japanese American activism, whether that be through JACL, or just the kind of, the younger Japanese American generation? And then I know, you're also a college professor, so you see a lot of college students and maybe what they're doing and stuff. What's your kind of attitude about just the activism going on in the younger generation?

RI: I haven't been involved that recently with JACL. So I really can't speak to what the Seattle chapter has been doing. But I know that there were folks involved with the Black Lives Matter and the protests around George Floyd, that I don't remember the full name, but Tsuru...

AT: Oh, for Solidarity?

RI: For Solidarity, right? That that came out, folks wanting to connect what happened to our community with what was happening now, with immigration issues and how folks were being treated. So, yeah, I think the young folks, they're very inspiring, right? Maybe not as a collective, right here it's JACL, but they take on things and speak to issues. A lot of them are now more the mainstream organizations. I've been fortunate to be involved with a couple different mainstream organizations as a volunteer. And a lot of... well, everybody's young to me now, but a lot of the younger folks naturally are leaders in some of these other organizations, and that is, that's encouraging. That being said, there's still a lot of work to do. But yeah, no, I have great hope for the future with how aware the young folks are with what's going on.

AT: Yeah, I agree.

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