Densho Digital Repository - The Kurose Family Interview (Densho ID: ddr-sjacl-2-42-6)

<Begin Segment 6>

EK: Moving on to the next question, Ruthann, this one is for you. As a woman of color who has broke glass ceilings and has paved the way for future female leaders seeking to enact equity and social change, what values do you find most important to you and have motivated you in your lifetime of work? Another dense question, I apologize.

RK: Yeah. I'm just trying to... I didn't give that one as much thought as I should have. I guess I was lucky to have mentors and role models that reached down and helped me along and they kind of were the yellow brick road in front of me. I guess let me divide up this question. The values that I find important and probably motivated me in my lifetime were social justice, racial equity, civil and political rights, human rights, and then I guess it's... I would say the same thing as probably I spoke to earlier that showing up where you need to be but... and I guess you show up to show solidarity and to support the movement, sometimes you have to resist. And I think there's real importance in finding common ground between movements, so that we can leverage our power to ask for change. But I was always very lucky, I found people who are willing to guide me and open doors for me in the community like Dolores Sibonga, Ruth Woo, I'm sure I'm gonna leave people out. And I like to believe that I also reached back and provided that kind of access and support for some of the younger people coming up. I think that there have been a lot of young people that I've had some contact with that certainly have ended up reversing the model, and if I've ended up learning from them and following their new leadership models. Because if anything, I'm recognizing that we need Gen Xers, and what's the other? Millennials, to take responsibility for making this world a better place. Because in some ways I'm not so sure we're leaving it a very good environment for you guys. And that's kind of negative, but...

PK: Ruthann is being very humble, too, in talking about her learning from younger activists because there are many younger activists who will speak of how Ruthann's been a mentor to them and a role model for them.

EK: Absolutely. I was just going to say, Ruthann, you mentioned that you would hope to be this kind of driver for -- or leaving, I guess, a platform for future generations. And I personally can attribute to the fact that you have and you continue to be a very important catalyst for social justice activism today. And so I just want to express my gratitude in that, and also in the knowledge that you just shared currently. And so, yeah, thank you so much for all those words of wisdom.