My Blog

Today on this day of remembrance, I pay tribute to all the Isseis, the first generation Japanese like my parents Jack and Hide. What bravery they had. They navigated the most difficult of times with a great deal of courage, dignity and grace. They set an example for all of us.

80 years ago on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which gave the U.S. Army the authority to remove civilians from the military zones that were established in Washington, Oregon, and California right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This led to the incarceration of more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were American citizens.

Diane Fujino, activist-minister Ron Fujiyoshi, and community organizer Miya Sommers in a conversation around Fujino’s newest book, Nisei Radicals: The Feminist Poetics and Transformative Ministry of Mitsuye Yamada and Michael Yasutake. Fujiyoshi, a long time friend of Yasutake, will share on his experiences working alongside Yasutake with a shared “jubilee liberation praxis.” Sommers will provide context for these stories within the current landscape of Japanese American community organizing. Portions of an interview with Yamada by Fujino will also be shared. 
 
Demanding liberation, advocating for the oppressed, and organizing for justice, Mitsuye Yamada (1923–) and Michael Yasutake (1920–2001) rebelled against respectability and assimilation, charting their own paths for what it means to be Nisei. Weaving together the stories of two distinct but intrinsically connected political lives, Nisei Radicals examines the siblings’ half century of dedication to global movements, including multicultural feminism, Puerto Rican independence, Japanese American redress, Indigenous sovereignty, and more. From displacement and invisibility to insurgent mobilization, Yamada and Yasutake rejected stereotypes and fought to dismantle systems of injustice. 

Diane Fujino, activist-minister Ron Fujiyoshi, and community organizer Miya Sommers in a conversation around Fujino’s newest book, Nisei Radicals: The Feminist Poetics and Transformative Ministry of Mitsuye Yamada and Michael Yasutake. Fujiyoshi, a long time friend of Yasutake, will share on his experiences working alongside Yasutake with a shared “jubilee liberation praxis.” Sommers will provide context for these stories within the current landscape of Japanese American community organizing. Portions of an interview with Yamada by Fujino will also be shared. 
 
Demanding liberation, advocating for the oppressed, and organizing for justice, Mitsuye Yamada (1923–) and Michael Yasutake (1920–2001) rebelled against respectability and assimilation, charting their own paths for what it means to be Nisei. Weaving together the stories of two distinct but intrinsically connected political lives, Nisei Radicals examines the siblings’ half century of dedication to global movements, including multicultural feminism, Puerto Rican independence, Japanese American redress, Indigenous sovereignty, and more. From displacement and invisibility to insurgent mobilization, Yamada and Yasutake rejected stereotypes and fought to dismantle systems of injustice.