Public Record, 1989: What Did We Learn from the 60s and 70s?

INTRODUCTION

The Vietnam War threw a whole American generation into a sea of struggle with the contradictions in American society. Racism, sexism and American imperialism were our key hate-words. We did our job in helping to end the war. And now that things have settled down a little from the 6Os, the chickens have come home to roost-not just to the American government-but into all of our own back-

Twenty years older, I have witnessed fellow travelers from the revolutionary path now spouting their own brand of Asian American "racism." While this Asian American "racism" towards the new influx of Asian immigrants might not be rampant, it nevertheless serves to pinpoint the changing face and changing complexity of social issues that are currently relevant to the Asian American community and what is left of the Asian American "movement."

The ironic twist is that the Vietnamese people, our once beloved brothers and sisters, have now come here to live with us in the same Asian American community. Of course, there is always a class justification that the Vietnamese who have come here are not the same ones whom we cherished as heroic leaders in our fight for world revolution. But it still serves as an ironic stab into the past that part of the same community of people that the Asian American movement so strongly identified with in the 60s, are no longer received with open arms as part of us.

Not only were the Vietnamese valiant in their struggle against U. S. imperialism, but they continue to provide dauntless examples to American society today. The example of young children, who in barely a year adapted to a new language, are winning spelling bees over America's "finest." Vietnamese Americans continue to show us a fortitude to survive against all odds.

While this question of Asian American attitudes towards the new Asian immigrants may not be the "burning issue" of the day, I find it an important, soul-

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searching question especially for those of us who still proudly bear the 60s ban- ner in our hearts and minds. It is also a relevant issue for all American-born Asians, in terms of our ability as a diverse community, to become ever broader in our perspective. Without this larger perspective, the complex questions that are unfolding on us in the 80s and 9os, cannot be challenged in a determined way.

When my co-worker, Glenn Omatsu, told me about this twentieth anniversary issue of Ame~usia Journal, it spontaneously motivated me to pursue what we learned from one of the greatest upheavals in modern American history. The idea for Public Record, 1989, was a logical project for me to undertake, since I left the movement with many unresolved questions and criticisms. Sometimes, it seems like those who are still active haven't learned a whole hell of a lot. But since it is the conscious sector which must provide leadership to today's struggles, lessons must be retrieved in order that these past twenty years do not go down in vain.

It merely stands to reason that all of us who went through the 60s and 70s movements have modified our perspectives from what they were in our old days of glory. This is what Public Record is about. What do the 60s activists have to say today, given the long years of service they have put in to making social and political change in this country.

Out of some eighty-odd letters sent out, asking people to contribute what they think is the most important lesson from this period, I am grateful to have gotten at least a sampling of views. While the validity of most of the contributors is that they have remained politically active, the least represented sector-those who fell out of the ranks due to settling down to their life work of careers and raising families-might very well be the sector that has the best perspective on the major lessons from the 60fl0s movement. Time will have to tell on that score.

Still, we have a diversity of views that can at best open up a much broader discussion of what still needs to be learned from the WOs to help today's movements and budding activists from committing the same mistakes that we should be able to see in hindsight.

This brief collection is being presented to you in the spirit of "let the people speak'*-following the 60s slogan that "the people are the makers of history." We invite responses, differing points of view, and other lessons, for a possible follow- up and broadening of this discussion. Welcome back to the 6Os!

Mary Uyematsu Kao

NISEI WEEK, 1972. CHARLOTTE MURAKAMI (1948-1 985), PICTURED AT LEFT, ESTABLISHED AMERASIA BOOKSTORE IN LlllLE TOKYO, LOS ANGELES. PHOTO BY M. WEMATSU

A Quick Reflection Something phenomenal happened throughout the United States in the 1%os and extending into the 70s. Young people began making history, challenging the status quo, the duaIity, hypocrisy, and inequities in American society; also oppos- ing U.S. involvement in a war that concerned people felt was an intervention and transgression in the internal affairs of another country.

The most remarkable aspect was that a sizeable percent of our own young Asian Americans became involved. From coast to coast, Asian American students jumped into this domestic fray wholeheartedly.

Young Asian America's response to the sociaVpolitical upheavals that rocked the country was like cracking the barriers and breaking previously accepted stereotypes of the quiet, obedient, inhibited, studious, mind-your-own-business, just-become-successful Asian, the kind of Asians that most white Americans adored, accepted, and upheld as "good Americans"; and also that many first- generation Asians (products of exploitation and racism) diligently nurtured to help, protect, and guide their offsprings to "a better life than theirs."

A series of extraordinary events and a new type of charismatic, anti-establishment leaders from the minority communities catapulted into the

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lives of a nation of young "sleeping tigers." There came the San Francisco strike, a nationwide movement against the Viet-

nam War and the draft, ethnic studies, Asian American Political Alliance, Asian Americans for Action, the Red Guard, I Wor k e n , the Van Troi Brigade, Wounded Knee, George Jackson, Black Panthers, Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Young Lords, Brown Berets, Hard Core, Yellow Brotherhood, Gidru, International Hotel, My Lai, Palestine, Aztlan Nation and a host of other "eye-openers."

Asian Americans also saw lined up on the international horizon such world- renowned Asian figures as Ho Chi Minh, Mao Tse-tung, Madame Binh, Kim I1 Sung, Arafat and Sukarno. (Yes, Arafat and Sukarno. Check the map to see what comprises Asia. The Middle East is Asian Minor. Also, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, are in Asia.)

Asian Americans also found some of their own time-tested role models right here in their own backyard-chinese American Grace Lee Boggs in Detroit; Japanese American Karl Yoneda in San Francisco and Kazu Iijima in New York; Korean Americans Harold Sunoo and Anthony Kahng in St. Louis and New York; East Indian and Bangladeshan Prafulla Mukerji and Eqbal Ahmed in New York and Chicago; and even resurfaced the inspiring life and spirit of Filipino American, Carlos Bulosan.

Young Asian Americans suddenly grew up, felt proud, stood tall; unafraid to speak out; began to take action, organize in their communities. They could detect an identity crisis; realize their lack of knowledge of their own Asian American histories, cultures, and languages. Their inability to relate and communicate sometimes with their own Asian brothers and sisters, and more so with Third World folks, was evidence that something was sorely amiss. They were disturbed by the American dream, pursuing Yhe American way of life'-wealth, prestige, comfort, and the feeling of superiority over others. But a new Asian American being honed as the Asian American movement was birthed and new goals, perspectives, values, priorities and even life-styles began to change for many. Their eyes and minds began to focus on the world of the oppressed, exploited and marginal.

Some challenged American policies; others derided the ivory towers of higher education. Some saw the elitism in media, film industry, the arts; saw moral erosion in everyday life; were disturbed by objectives in the field of science; scoffed at the money mania in the sports world. God and religion became super- fluous. A more meaningful culture was sought.

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And out of the chaos and criticism-a new breed of cultural artists and thinkers emerged-a people-oriented, dynamic, creative, innovative, politically- motivated as well as artistically-inclined-musicians, poets, singers, playwrights, filmmakers, actors/actresses, painters, cartoonists, comedians, writers and enter- tainers. Names like Nobuko Miyamoto, Chris Iijima, Charlie Chin, became prominent. And that was only the beginning. Today we have filmmakers like Loni Ding, Curtis Choy, Chris Choy, Renee Tajima, J. T. Takagi, Wayne Wang, Peter Wong, Robert and Karen Nakamura, Duane Kubo, the unforgettable Steve Tatsukawa, and film groups such as Visual Communications, Asian Cine Vision, National Asian American Telecommunication Association, and Third World Newsreel; playwrights-David Hwang, Phil Gotanda, Rick Shiomi, Velina Hous- ton, Momoko Iko, Wakako Yamauchi; Produceddirectors-Robert Uno, Lane Nishikawa, Tisa Chang; jazz groups-Mark Izu and the Front Line and Fred Houn's Afro-Asian Ensemble; song writers-Terry Watada of Canada, Robert Ngojo Kikuchi, Jan Sunoo; dance g r o u p d h e n of Chen and Dancers, Nobuko Miyamoto's the Great Leap, and Clair Iwatsu, soloist; and powerful political writers-Ninotcha Rosca, Michi Weglyn, and Caridad Guidote who passed away in the Philippines this past June. And these are only a Vrop in the bucket" of the reservoir of Asian talent.

Lawyers, doctors, teachers, journalists, ministers and professionals of various backgrounds with prior political orientation mushroomed. Many are inter- twining their professions with community work and purposeful objectives. Banding together to become a stronger force and voice of their people, forma- tions such as the Asian Law Caucus and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund have been formed. As for the field of health care, alternative healing methods are being used, such as acupuncture, shiatsu-massage, chiropractic, homeopathy, herbology, reiki, reflexology, and nutrition.

But what is happening on the college campuses today? Are there political actions besides divestment and anti-apartheid? Are Asian Americans still taking to the streets? Are Japanese Americans involved in anything beyond redress- reparations? DO Asian Americans suppport political prisoners in NO& America? Are Asians concerned about the Middle East, Central America, and Africa? What about the homeless, the unemployed, the refugees, the new immigrants, the AIDS victims? Aren't matters of health care, education, and housing pertinent? What about the rising cost of rent? How secure are Asian American Studies programs in colleges today? How many Asian American students take courses in Asian

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StUdieS? On domestic issues such as violence against . sians, Asian Americans have

responded fairly well. The brutal killing of Vincent Chin in Detroit awakened Asians to the grim reality that racism against Asians still persists. Although the support grew for Vincent Chin from coast to coast and intensified, the finale of the case revealed what Blacks have known for a long time-that justice in American courts is still sorely lacking. The "not guilty" from a Cincinnati jury was a revolting roll-back for American justice and a stunning blow to all Asians. But the Vincent Chin case was only one of several dozen incidences of violence visited on Asians and Asian Americans of every ethnic background. In New York City, one of the most effective responses was the organizing of Coalition Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV) under the able leadership of Dr. Mini Liu.

As to the future of Asian America, which is changing even in complexion to a more diversified lovely hue of colors, the road ahead is forked in many directions. As for the political arena for Asians, unity will be hard to come by as indicated by the present voting trends. However, some positive aspects have been the dedication and zeal shown by Asian Americans in the Rainbow Coalition; the growth of Korean political activists, especially Young Koreans United, only in existence a few years but already national; the number of Asian women's organizations that have sprouted on both coasts; and the election last year of Warren F m t a n i in the Los Angeles Board of Education post.

The 60s and 70s are not just historical periods that will become pa&. They were the spawning years where seeds of substance were sown. The harvest of those early efforts may be brought about by the sons and daughters and grandchildren. Just as the 60s generation was "fired up" by the events and leadership of that time span, so too, will the youthful hearts and minds of the 80s and 90s find new inspirations to motivate them forward in the continuous universal struggle for basic needs, human rights, justice, dignity, and possibly survival-in this age of nuclear proliferation.

Faith in our youth must be paramount in this troubled, unpredictable era. It is not quite time to pass the baton. But when we do, we should not just be standing "on the sideline" as observers. We must cheer them on. Better yet, we must run along with them as far as we can.

Yuri Kochiyama New Ymk City

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DRAWING BY TOME Awl, NEW YORK CITY

"We stood up for what we believed in."

As an Asian American woman growing up in a basically white, middle-class neighborhood but with Asian culture practiced at home, the 60s and 70s taught me that I should stand up for what I believe in. That to be passive will not get our people what we neeawhat we deserve.

Marching against the Vietnam War gave me a feeling of unity as a people. It was wrong, we believed it in our hearts, and we stood up for what we believed in. We said what we believed in. We no longer took the %ack-seat/passive position." We put down our books, took off from work (all those stereotype things that Asians do) and voiced OUT opinions. It was great!

As a part-time communiy worker educating the community on what social services were available and trying to get through to them that it was not shame- ful to utilize these services was educating to me-a learning experience. To bring out in the "open" that "yes" Asians have a mental health problem; and "yest' Asians are poor; to see the relief in some parents' eyes was tearful. All the years these parents had to hide their "shame," when in reality they were hiding from the real world.

We as Asian Americans grew emotionally as well as logically. I think we have become more sensitive and alert to political issues, and therefore, we take a more active role in our communities today.

Anonymous Los Angeles

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'We were not the first to stand up und be counted." I came into the Asian American movement through my years of involvement in union activities, and as a participant in the "identity" and "Serve the People" movements of the 60s and 70s, I have no regrets about anything. Anything, that is, except for the fact that there should have been a lot more of us!

Being active in the Japanese American community of Los Angeles (where I was born), I can look back with some degree of satisfaction at the impact we have had in helping to provide the assistance in services and housing that was desperately needed by our Issei

SEN KATAYAMA (1859-1 933)-0ne of the founders of the Communist k r i y of America, is buried at the Kremlin.

Reprinted from Gidro, 1973

generation. The Pioneer Project groups, Little Tokyo Towers, the Pioneer Center are just some examples of those that have felt the energy and commitment of the activist of the 60s and 70s.

In the 8Os, the struggle for redress by the National Coalition for Redress Reparations (NCRR) and other activities, such as the continuation of the pilgrimages to Manzanar, show how many are still involved in fighting for what they believe is right. Through my own unde&tanding of our own history, I have come to realize that we were not the first to stand up to be counted. Nisei resisters at Heart Mountain and Tule Lake, the exploits of the Nisei in the armed services, each illustrate Americans of Asian ancestry trying to deal with the wrongs of a system shot through with racism in their own different ways.

Without a doubt, we were not the first Asian American activists. We will certainly not be the last. This is certain because the "wellspring" of activism is after all injustice.

Jim H. Matsuoka California State University at Long Beach

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II "Something to encouruge us to continue. . . A few months ago I was in yet another meeting. I can only remember the question that a young woman, who had just started teaching, put to the group. We were in the midst of planning our activities for the coming year when she said, "1 don't know why we are doing this. It is so discouraging. Even with all those wonderful things you've done, it seems as if we haven't gotten anywhere. The political situation now is terrible." She went on to name South Africa, Central America, the "me" generation of the 80s. . . . Most of us "veterans" of the movment were silent, when a gray-haired woman in her seventies answered.

"I remember," she said, "when I was a child and I watched my mother run to the back of the house as someone was knocking at the front dooc She frantically opened the desk drawers, pulled out papers, tore them into little bits, and began eating them. We don't have to do that today. Think what it would be like now if there hadn't been any progressive movement. What if there hadn't been any civil rights marches? What if no one had protested the war in Vietnam?"

When I feel disillusioned thinking about all the things we wanted to do when we were young and idealistic and how little of that we've been able to accomplish, I think about the words of this senior citizen who has half a century in the movement and is st i l l continuing her efforts.

What have we been able to do? Small things-maybe not earth-shattering, but they did make a difference. A roommate from college tells me that her younger brothers attended UCSD after us, and that some things are just taken for granted. There is an Asian American Student Alliance there, that they can choose to join or not, but it is there. It wasn't always that way.

Everyday when I drive to work I pause at the stop sign at the corner of Col- lege and Yale. That stop sign wouldn't be there if we hadn't protested after the death of nine-year-old Jason Chow. The parents at Castelar School where I teach organize themselves now, circulating their own petitions when they see an issue that affects their children. They no longer need prompting from young activists.

Yes, we have made a difference in our own lives, the lives of those around us, and the nation. That is something to remember, and also something to encourage us to continue our efforts.

Phyllis Chiu Teacher, Castelar, Los Angeles

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How I Became an Activist and What It All

Means to Me In looking back at the last twenty years of political activism, I treasure the experience and relationships that I have had. I feel that being involved in making change has given my life meaning and has helped me to understand the world around me. And I can see that my development as an activist grew directly out of where and when I grew up.

I grew up in the Crenshaw district of southwest L.A. in the 1950 and 60s. When my family first tried to buy a house there, many people still didn't want to sell to "Japs."

Like most children of color at that time, I grew up feeling pretty alienated from the society at-large. There were none of us on Tv, and the "Leave It to Beaver" type life portrayed there was far different from the drugs, fighting and alienation I experienced. My Asian girlfriends and I would put scotch tape on our eyes to look less Asian, while our black sisters spent many a painful night pressing and burning the African out of their haic

But something was happening across the country at this time that began pull- ing my consciousness above and beyond my own personal and immediate con- cerns.

I remember seeing black people in the South on the evening news being chased by police dogs, beaten by police and other racist whites, pummelled by fire hoses-for the crime of demanding to be treated as human beings.

In 1965, the summer before I graduated from high school, the rebellion in Watts broke out. I remember National Guard jeeps parked in front of the Broad- way department store on Crenshaw and Santa Barbara (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.). The curfew zone was three blocks from our house. I remember hearing about an older man who worked at the post office, who was shot by the Guard coming home from his graveyard shift. He didn't hear them call to him because

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MALCOLM x 1925-1 965

he was hard of hearing. And I remember guys I knew tell about going down to south L.A., trashing stores and running from the police and the Guard.

And earlier that same year, I remember hearing about the murder of a man named Malcolm X, who taught black people to be proud of who they were. And I can clearly remember the first time in my life anyone called me an "Asian sister." It was a meticulously dressed young black man-head shaven clean, wearing a bow tie-selling Muham- mad Speaks in front of the Boy's Market on Crenshaw and Rodeo Road.

These events, which seemed ran- dom at the time, all began to come together to expand my under-

standing of who I was in relation to the society around me. And they reflected the rumblings that soon began shaking the very foundations of this country.

I began attending Cal State Long Beach in the fall of 1966. At that time there was no ethnic studies. There was no EOP program. But even here, students were beginning to join the motion that was building across the country on college campuses.

There were some students who were forming a group to protest the Vietnam War and racism on campus. I went to a few meetings, and some of them had been at Berkeley during the Free Speech demonstrations. They had a lot of experiences to share, but I didn't like being lectured to about racism by middle class white students-some of whom had never seen a person of color before coming to college.

And during that time, I was invited to an organizing meeting of the Black Stu- dent Union, and although I made some friends there, I knew I didn't really belong there either.

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Then, the strike at San Francisco State broke out in 1968, led by the Third World Liberation Front. Some members of the Asian American Political Alliance of the TWLF from San Francisco State came to L.A. to speak to Asian students. They talked about the need to unite with other Third World people; about the need to demand Ethnic Studies that would serve Third World communities. And they talked about how the Vietnam War was not just killing American soldiers,

GIDRA GRAPHIC, 1971

but it was an unjust and racist war; and about the inspiration of Asian people in Vietnam, fighting for self-determination and freedom.

We formed an Asian student organization at Long Beach and fought for Asian American Studies, for more minority recruitment, and built a united front with the other Third World groups on campus. There was much work to do at Long Beach, but I wanted to get more directly involved in the community.

The anti-Vietnam War movement was beginning to have an impact on U.S. society, and there was an important contingent of that movement developing in the Asian community. I got involved with some young people who wanted to start an Asian American bookstore, which eventually led to the opening of Amerasia Bookstore in Little Tokyo. But my main activity became working on Gidra, an Asian American newspaper put out by students and other youths from the community.

I began to see the link between the Vietnam War and problems within my own community. In the summer of 1970, over thirty young Asians died of drug overdoses in the L.A. area. Those of us involved at the time could clearly see the racism, that led to self-hatred among Asian youth, was being fanned up by the U.S. war against Vietnam. It became terrifyingly clear when I heard stories from young Asian American vets returning from Vietnam. They told of being made to

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stand in front of their platoons during basic training, the sargeant saying 'This is what the enemy looks like."

And through Ethnic Studies, I began to learn the true history of Third World people in America. Liberal historians tried to say that the World War II camps my family and 120,000 other Japanese Americans were imprisoned in were a "mis- take" by the U.S. government. But it was clearly one more step along the road, beginning with the theft of land and genocide of Native American Indians; the kidnapping of Africans, sold into slavery to build up wealth; the illegal annexa- tion of the Mexican people and their land; the contract labor system that brought Asians here for their cheap labor; and the brutal way all working people were treated, who were the real builders of the wealth and power in America.

I was coming to the conclusion, as did many of my generation, that in order to end racism and the many other injustices in this society, it would take a very deep and fundamental change. And this would only come about with the organization and mobilization of the many in America who were suffering in hundreds of different ways.

In the past twenty years, I've learned so much and been constantly enriched working with others in making change. From the fight for a community- controlled redevelopment of Little Tokyo, to supporting immigrant Asian and Latino workers to unionize; from struggling for redress and reparations for Japanese Americans to pressing for sanctions against racist South Africa. And most recently, working on the historic Jesse Jackson campaign, both in 1984 and 1988 (and gearing up for 1992!).

Today, I'm married and have a nine-year-olddaughter. With work and family, sometimes it's hard to find time for the many things that need to be done to move us closer to that change in society. And sometimes friends who are not involved will give me advice: "You should stop this running around and spend more time with your child. She'll be grown and gone before you know it" Some- times I feel torn, because I love her very, very much, and want to be a good

But after much soul-searching, I have come to the conclusion that I must do what I do. And at least in part, what I do is for, and inspired by, my daughter. Be- cause, after all, what more can a parent give their kid than a better world and a better society in which to grow up in.

Evelyn Yoshimura Los Angeles

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My Son Malcolm Ten years ago, as the party-building motions of the 'hew" left movement in this country had taken shape into a configuration of about three to four major national organizations all claiming themselves to be the vanguard party of the American working class, my son Malcolm was born. He was a red diaper baby, born to parents who had committed themselves to the cause of justice and world revolution. Malcolm's father was intent on naming his son either after Malcolm X or George Jackson-both great American heroes who had emerged in the heat of the black liberation struggle of the 60s.

Malcolm was but one day old, and we had not decided on a name. Should it be Malcolm or Jackson? My father walked into my hospital room, a Nisei who raised his two daughters in a white bedroom community, giving them all the ad- vantages that a Japanese American middle class family could offer. My husband conferred with him about our choice of names.

"Well, I know plenty of buddhahead guys named Jackson. . ." he said, not realizing that his opinion might be retaliated against. Any indecision died on the spot for my husband. There would be no misconceptions in who our son's namesake was.

Malcolm did not have a normal upbringing. He was nursed in smoke-filled meetings, lay sleeping in my arms while tempers burst over "how to" and/or "whether to" open up our politics on our jobs, and got rides in the stroller at demonstrations or picket lines. I was made to feel guilty for caring for my son, because there were more important things to do than raise children. When I left him in the care of "comrades,'' I had to hide my dismay when they told me he had eaten cigarette butts out of the trash.

Malcolm was our greatest joy in the midst of long years of knocking our heads against the walls trying to figure out how to make socialist revolution in this advanced capitalist imperialist superpower of America. And now, after having cut loose the "movement" some eight years back, our son serves as a good reminder that we have chosen to live our lives by certain principles--mainly that you have to keep fighting for the truth.

We spent eight committed years pledging our lives to the revolution. I spent

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another eight bitter years after that deprogramming myself off a lot of the hype (the kind that keeps you running around like a chicken-without-a-head twenty- four hours a day). When you're struggling to raise a family of two kids, finally accept the fact that your husband is not as liberated around the house as he made himself out to be, and as a parent, you feel like you're at square one because you threw out so many things that yow parents tried to teach you, because they're so %ourgie"-it was no longer worth my precious time sitting in meetings and "continuing the struggle.''

Now I find myself doing and saying things I'm sure I said I never would. I'm only just starting to get used to it.

Well, the party we worked with never figured out how to deal with the family question in a non-antagonistic mannei What3 more, they never figured out how to make revolution either. After too many years of =-accumulation ofllao forces, the birth of our second kid put the writing on the wall for me to "get out." As a mother of two wonderful children, it was beyond me to sacrifice their most precious years when they are just learning how to function as little people. The hypocrisy of so-called comrades to guilt-trip me on my loss of "revolutionary will" because I valued the upbringing of my children more than some shoe strike that they were never able to recruit any workers from. This began to turn my gut in- stincts against them. They would have me believe I'm pitting family versus movement. But then when they have their own kids, somehow, they can justify that timeflconditions" have changed. Not only did they lack heart, but they seemed to be lacking in any kind of integrity or conscience.

Was it a waste? This question has haunted me-even to this day I have not fully resolved it. And it haunts me exactly because I have long been a firm believer that you must not regret anything that you do. You can only sum it up to what was right and what was wrong, learn from it and move on. Still, I have felt regrets in that I gave the best years of my life, my "prime" (from an aging not- so-liberated-woman-after-all), to the cause.

Was it just a matter of being in the wrong group? I don't think so. No one has raised their heads as the shining leaders to a new day in this dying imperialist monster. The movement has had a particular class basis in the petty-bourgeoisie which it hasn't been able to break out of. Therefore, regardless of differences among the various forces in the left, the similarities are enough for me to lump them together. So-called leaders from the new left movement have exiled themselves to Paris out of self paranoic megalomania, turned openly decadent, or are

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trying to get their heads straight from the heavy blows of the state to squash our movement.

Whatever petty-bourgeois guilt I suffered from in the past that drew me into the movement for socialism, is gone now. I can rufionalize that I'm no longer involved in political activism because there is no "party" to lead and orchestrate the struggle into a devastating blow against the American government. I have spared myself from the political hypocrisy of many presentday activists who continue to deem themselves holier-than-thou because they have a vision and are enlightened and if you "vote" for them, you can help this vision come true (and I'm not tatking about Jesse Jackson).

My middle class upbringing is perhaps being bestowed upon my children despite all my "leftist training." These things don't haunt me. Disillusionment has born itself into practical and moral tasks that daily survival constantly call upon. If there is any revolutionary philosophy left in me after my deprogramming years, it is the question of freedom and necessity2 Only by understanding and undertaking what is necessary, then you will attain a relative freedom to reach higher levels of consciousness of the world around you.

I'm not a very good candidate for the women's movement anymore either. While taking on the password of equality (something that is very relative), the family question took an even larger toll, as the woman's question reached new all-time highs. Ofcourse, the women's movement has to a large extent been a necessary reaction to women's oppression. But anything can get a little out-of- kilter when you become singleminded on any one aspect of your particular identity. Be it a feminist, an "ethnicist," or a politician with a historic mission on yow shouldersall of these things are part of a larger whole in the real world. Now I realize that in today's society, being a mother still means that women are the key to the family question.

So, to try to come back to the "lessons"-the 60s and 70s taught me how to think, while the 80s is teaching me how to survive, and showing me who and what I really am. If it hadn't been for the 60s and 70s movement, I couldn't be saying these things I am now. Not only did the movement give me a son named Malcolm, but it gave me ideals that I will probably cherish the rest of my life. While the moral depravity of American society has only mirrored itself in the moral depravity of its leftist movements, new and old, I have come away with a heavy dose of cynicism towards people (especially activists--which is, in part, a backlash to the idealistic views I had of people before.) Somewhere in between

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the idealism and cynicism, there is a balance that is closest to a reflection of reality.

I am lucky to have my children to pull me through these twists and turns of events, necessitating us as parents to search for those righteous morals that make human beings basically good. We may not have a political party to guide us, but we have our past heroes who have fought with courage, moral authority, and truth against the rotten stench in American society.

My son Malcolm asks questions about the difference between Martin Luther King, Jc and Malcolm X. He knows he was named after the late great Malcolm X, and many people around him can guess that he was named after him. He wants to know why they celebrate King's birthday, but not Malcolm's. One day he will understand the true nature of the American government, and why Malcolm did not die in vain. He knows we love him, and he knows we loved Malcolm X, and this is the teaching that we must carry forth for our children, so that the movement of the 60s and 70s will not have been in vain.

Malcolm's Mom New York City

Notes

1. On 3 November 1979, five members of the Communist Workers Party were gunned down by the Ku Klux Man in Greensboro, North Carolina. All five were ac- tively involved in building up the unions in the local textile mills. Jim Waller, formerly a physician, had just been elected president of his union local, before he was mur- dered. While the left has had contrmsy over whether the CWP "asked for it" by using the slogan "Death to the Klan," evidence remains that the FBI was involved in supply- ing arms to the KKK before the 3 November slaying, and there was full cooperation from the Greensboro police to be mysteriously absent from a well-publidzed event.

2. "Hegel was the first to state correctly the relation between freedom and necessity. To him, freedom is the appreciation of necessity. 'Necessity is blind only in so far as it is not understood.' Freedom does not consist in the dream of independence from natural laws, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends." Frederick Engels (Anfi-Duhr-

3. Remember that the old CP, in line with Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066, cast out their Japanese cadre because they were a threat to "national security." Unfor- tunately in their fight against world fascism, the once glorious CP fell prey to their own mother country's vicious war crimes.

ing, 1904).

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AMI-WAR !?ALLY, 1 97 1 , LOS ANGELES. PHOTO BY M. WEMATSU

Some Comments.. . The historical significance of the 6Os/7Os includes the turbulent riots and activism which shook the United States and the rude awakening towards the movement of civil rights and affirmative action. For the Pacific Asians, the time brought the people the experience of 'lcoming together" of people of color and thus the minority communities came out much more enriched with their ethnic identities, reaffirmation of their traditions, cultures and historical roots.

While there were tragic and painful impacts of racism, poverty, cultural and educational deprivation, through various community involvement and struggles there were significant gains and achievements to right what were the wrongs in the American society.

If there were lessons to be learned, they include the activism and involvement

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SAN FRANCISCO CHINATOWN, 1971. PHOTO BY M. UYEMATSU

of Pacific Asians-Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, PZpinos, Samoans, and Guamanians, for the most part-who came together for the first time inspite of historical isolation and differences, symbolically and in real terms held their heads and hands together. Making their voices heard and echoing the dreams of the minorities, they were committed to changes in the political arena, in the human services arena, and in the academia of ethnic studies.

There is more to be done, to challenge and implement the gains of the 60s and 70s, because of the regressive and repressive actions of the SOs-countering the subtle racism, isolationism, and the "back- lashes" of the times. The struggle is never over-peoples and communities must come together and continue to pursue the mandates of the civil rights, combat anti-Asian

Pacific attitudes and behaviors, and to educate society to fully respect the rights and privileges of minorities.

Royal Morales Los Angeles

Autobiographical Note: Community activist and organizer in the 60s and 70% mainly with Pacific Asian communities and in the social work field. Today, still an activist in the Pacific Asian community, lecturing in Asian Studies-specifically the Pilipino American Experience, and working in the field of alcoholism services. Doing volunteer work with youth programs with SPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans) and organizing for Pacific Asian human services.

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"If should not have been such u shock to me to see funks come rumbling down Temple Sfreef in New Haven." The sixties was a period of tremendous social and political upheaval. When I entered college in 1965, it wasn't popular to be against U.S. involvement in Viet- nam. In fact, I recall many large anti-war demonstrations which were ignored by the mainstream media. The reality of the war forced me to come to grips early on with my own personal and political principles. I had to ask myself, was I really against this war, and if so, how far would I carry my resistance?

Vietnam-and the anti-war movement4hanged my life. I was one of the more fortunate ones-having received first a student deferment, then a tem- porary medical deferment (for poor eyesight!), and finally, a high lottery number. Sometimes I wonder what I would have done if my fate had been otherwise.

Vietnam opened my eyes to the beast within America. Suddenly, a hundred questions could not be answered without coming to one conclusion-America was and is an imperialist country. In those days, we learned as much about

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American imperialism from the conduct of the U.S. military in Southeast Asia as by the repeated chicanery of presidents and high government officials jusbfying U.S. involvement

If Vietnam made me aware of America’s dark side as a world power, the civil rights and Black Power movements (and the Asian American movement that I was to become active in) laid bare the contradictions in American society-between rich and poor, black and white, men and women-the haves and the have- nots. For me, the struggle of black Americans for justice, equality and power was inspiring and exemplary. Our Asian American movement owes much to the leadership and contributions of the Black Power movement

The Black Power movement was quickly viewed by the US. government as a threat to national security. When we took up the redress and reparations movement, it was easy to draw the comparisons. There were even plans to use abandoned Japanese American concentration camp sites as preventive detention centers for black activists. So it should not have been such a shock to me to see the tanks rumbling down Temple Street in New Haven one spring morning the day of the Black Panther rally. The tanks, National Guard troops, and helicopters

COMMUNITY SERVlCE INFORMATION DAY, Ll l lLE TOKYO LOS ANGELES, 1971. GDRA PHOTOGRAPHER

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all amounted to an incredible display of raw excessive military force. So much for any illusions about American democracy. On that one day, it became all too clear how fascism might come about in a country where the real power is not in the hands of the people.

Thus, one of the most important lessons learned over the years was how important the movement is, and how important it is to strengthen and protect those organizations which serve to build the movement. It is inspiring to see a new generation of activists, especially since the twenty years following the San Fran- cisco State Strike have seen a marked turn towards the right. Recently, I attended two events which were real cause to celebrate-the tenth anniversary of the East Coast Asian Student Union, attended by some six hundred student activists from all over the East Coast, and the tenth anniversary celebration of the grassroots Chinese Progressive Association, also attended by some six hundred supporters. These events give me much hope for the future of the movement.

Twenty years ago, many of us began to have a vision of a better America. An America where the wealth of our great country is in the hands of the majority of our peoples, an American where there is a real ”people’s democracy,” not a democracy for the rich versus tyranny for the poor. I still have that vision and hope that my children, too, will share that vision. I am convinced that there will be another upsurge in the people’s movement It is coming. This time, however, it will be a rainbow movement which will touch most every American. And it will come in no small part because of what we built in the sixties.

Rockwell (Rocky) Chin New York City

Autobiographical Note: Rockwell (“Rocky”) Chin became active in the Asian American movement in the late sixties. His involvement in Chinatown began while he was a graduate student in City Planning at Yale University. Today, Rocky is a staff attorney with the New York City Commission on Human Rights where he is coordinator of a National Origin and Immigrant Discrimination Project and also prosecutes employ- ment discrimination cases. He is a member of the Chinese Progressive Association, the local Community Board #3 (Chinatown and the Lower East Side) and was a coordinator of “Asian Americans for Jesse Jackson,” the Asian Constituency group for New Yorkers for Jackson in ‘88. Rocky has two children and lives near Chinatown on the Lower East Side.

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CONFUCIUS PLAZA DEMONSTRATION IN NEWYORK CHINATOWN, 1975. RIOTOBYM.LFIEMATSU

'I. . .fhe American Left has been able fo bring a progressive and moral agenda fo

the American mainstream. . . I1

When I was a student at UC Davis in 1968, the Vietnam War changed my life as it did the lives of millions of people. In a relatively short period of time, I went from 'Inof wanting to be killed in a war" to "questioning war as a method of resolving conflicfl' to "disagreement with America's foreign policy." The next thing that I knew, I had resisted the military draft in June, 1971.

The 60s was a period when we questioned basic values and ideas as never before. In retrospect, I feel that I got caught up in a war that grew out of the con- flicts among Third World nations awakening to independence, the emergence of socialism as a popular ideology, and the United States becoming the main protec- tor of capitalism and neocolonialism.

For me, an enduring lesson from the 60s and 70s is that "individuals do make a difference." I took a stand against the Vietnam War, and because many others

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For me, an enduring lesson from the 60s and 70s is that "individuals do make a difference." I took a stand against the Vietnam War, and because many others did, it helped to force the United States to withdraw from Vietnam. I also learned that you make more of a difference if you work with other people. That is based on having worked politically with individuals and groups of what is generally known as the radical left.

I think that the people of America little realize what a positive role the Left played in American history. Mainstream politicians almost never provide political leadership. They only follow trends. Almost all the progressive ideas in this country have been tested by the daring and fearlessness of the Left. In my mind the American Left has been able to bring a progressive and moral agenda to the American mainstream, whether it be protest against the Vietnam War or civil rights for oppressed minorities.

In 1969, I enrolled in an Asian Studies class at UC Davis. A' few years later, I found myself teaching college courses in Asian Studies on a part time basis. I still maintain that interest and currently teach an Asian Studies class on the high school level. As a Chinese-American, Asian studies has helped me to learn-personally as well as academically. For example, I used to think that racism was a problem of one's attitude. Then I came to realize that a society can more easily discriminate against a group economically and socially if it views people as in- ferior based on race or sex. consequently, racism is an ideology that helps to maintain a class structure in America where a small rich capitalist class dominates under a guise of democracy. I think that other people associated with Asian American Studies went through a similar process in their thinking.

Nowadays, I'm not as politically active as I was six years ago, and that allows me to reflect on how difficult it was for people and groups on the Left in the 60s and 70s to unite on political action. Most of this was probably unavoidable. Inex- perience was a problem, and there were legitimate political differences. I suppose the lesson that experienced activists can bring to political action today is that we should strive for unity whenever possible.

However, what I most remember about the last two decades are not the problems of the political Left, but rather what it has been able to accomplish. I think the changes in the last twenty-five years have been cause to give all of us hope for the future.

Buck Wong Los Angeles

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"YOUNG SPIRITS" DELIVER FOOD AND MBPR IN BUILDING AGBAYANI VILLAGE, 1974. PHOTOGRAPH REPRINTED FROM GDRQ

"We developed new values fhaf placed people before maferial gain."

My first experience in the movement came in 1966 when I went to Sacramento to protest Governor Reagan's proposal to charge tuition at the University of Califor- nia. We marched, we protested, and we were successful in blocking his attack. That first protest march sparked a light in me and after that I began to ask questions. The questions covered a wide range-everything from why I felt ashamed to be an Asian American to why there was an inequitable distribution of wealth in our society. I read a lot, I talked to a lot of people, and I continued to go to demonstrations hoping to find answers to my questions. I worked to build an Asian American Student Alliance and began dealing with the question of identity and racism, I worked in Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign because I still believed in the "system," and I went to rallies against the war. Robert Kennedy's assassination and the Democratic Convention in 1968 changed my faith in the system and I decided that I wanted to go beyond the confines of the electoral sys tem, I wanted to seek a radical change and that meant learning more about

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socialism. I wanted to experience what

socialism was all about and so, in 1970, I went on the Venceremos Brigade. That experience, more than any other before that time, changed my life. I saw the future and I became an ardent believer. Experiencing a society attempting to rid itself of every vestige of exploitation was exhilarating and exciting. Everything seemed possible and I remember coming back to the United States with a severe case of "culture shock" Neverthe- less, the Cuban experience under- scored my commitment to work toward struggling against the ills of American society. I am grateful for that experience because it al- lowed me to experience the future.

The movement helped me to understand how the individual re- lates to the society, how our actions speak louder than OUT words and most importantly, the sense of responsibility that we all share to make this a better world. The movement also gave me a sense of belonging to a group of people

WOTO BY M. WEMATSU

who share the same vision. I became a part of the movement because I was angry at the exploitative nature of the society. I wanted to be an integral part of the social revolution that was taking place in the society at that time.

The movement gave me a set of new values; we wanted to become the "New Man and New Woman'' that was being developed in countries such as Cuba and China. The movement gave us the sense that anything was possible and that we

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had a grand mission. We developed new life styles and more importantly, new values that placed people before material gains. We were concerned with the dignity of each and every human being; we were concerned with the destructive- ness of institutional racism; we wanted world peace; we wanted a world that was based on an equitable distribution of the wealth. In short, we wanted a new order.

Living through the 70s and 80s was a painful realization that attaining our goals would not be easy. In fact, cynicism often replaced our idealism and we began to defeat ourselves with sectarianism, narrow-mindedness and our youthful impatience. Today as we look around we see that the world has actually become more hostile, more dangerous and more selfish. As members of the left we have become immobilized as we watch the New Right increase its attacks on the gains made in the 1960s and 1970s. We watch as some of our former "comrades" attempt to become powerbrokers in a system that is dying and corrupt We struggle to resist becoming swept up in the f a d & tide that is overtaking our society at every level.

I learned in the movement that it is important for a revolutionary to be able to find one's bearings. The importance of that lesson is especially timely today when the left seems so fragmented. I also learned that one must live one's principles and through the years I have found that this is probably the most difficult task. It was easy for me to be critical and judgmental when I had few or no responsibilities. Now that I am a mother, a wife, a teacher, etc. the world looks different. Being committed to ideals and causes is still important but the ways that I act on that commitment are very different. You can call it growing older, becoming more realistic, whatever you like, but I think that the fact remains that we are different from the youthful zealots we were in the movement. I still believe that we need a revolution; all of the gains made in the past are being at- tacked and in fact, racism, white supremacy, a Me-first philosophy are in vogue today. Nevertheless, our task is still the same, to struggle against oppression wherever we see it and to strive to build a humanistic society where justice, peace and freedom prevail. I believe that it is time for all of us to reaffirm the commitment we once had and to struggle to find new ways to attain our goals.

Sandy Maeshiro Los Angeles

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COMMUNIN SERVICE INFORMATION DAY, LITTLE TOKYO LOS ANGELES, 1970. PHOTOGRAPH REPIUNTED FROM GIDRA

"The eurly 70s wus the spawning ground for muny muss orgunizcrtions/progrums now institutionalized in the communify today." It's unsettling to be in a position or rather of an age where I can "look back" on past experiences with any objectivity. What I can share is only an individual viewpoint and not what's really needed, a collective sum-up of the 60s and 70s.

I was fortunate to have been a part of the development of some mass organizations such as Parents Group (families of youth on drugs), the Asian Com- munity Drug Offensive (anti-overproduction of drugs, "reds"), the East Los An- geles Outreach Team (youth and community organizing), LTPRO (Little Tokyo People's Rights Organization-area of uniodworker support, i.e., Horikawa), NCRR (National Coalition for Redress and Reparations), and tenant work in Lit- tle Tokyo today.

In the early 70s, the JACS-AI Office was the spawning ground for many mass organizations/programs which are now institutionalized in the community today.

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It was also a training ground for young people then, like myself, who learned what "Serve the People" meant, how to organize and in the process learn about their roots. Trying to stay rooted in the community and in the "masses" helped to sustain me through the ups and downs of the past eighteen years. The period as well as our own youth did not allow much for patience or timidity. We wanted "revolution now." We worked collectively, lived collectively and studied political ideas collectively. At times it was difficult to maintain an independent bearing when we individually weren't that sure of ourselves. We were fortunate to be able to know and learn some lessons from the experiences of Issei/Nisei ac- tivisWCPers, who were a part of a history of fighters from whom we could learn from. That movement continues today and we've won some battles, such as the one for redress and reparations. I'm optimistic about the future and believe that there is no other choice but to continue to fight for change and a new society.

Kathy Nishimoto Masaoka, Teacher, Service for Asian American Youth/

Central High School, Los Angeles

ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATION, LOS ANGELES. GDW PHOTOGRAPHER

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Shitamachi Preface: The following note is not written for the overwhelming majority of the readers of this journal. Although it might still be of interest to most of you, as a minority view within our community and movement. The note is for those of you, that 2 to 10 percent, who at one point or another will become disillusioned, disap- pointed, disgusted and angry at the hypocrisy and bullshit that passes for making it in Amerika.

We do have our own points of view, our own values, ways of talking, our own culture, as a matter of fact, if one digs deep enough and broad enough, you may even get a kick out of being a buddhahead. And you won't have to put other races and nationalities down or kiss no one's butt to feel good. In fact youll eventually be so secure that other peoples, cultures and values won't threaten you, cause you will know that you have your own to share with them. To be sure, much has yet to be built, but the history is there.

By way of an explanation, this note is written as a cursory sum-up of the major lesson learned in the overall experience of the office of Asian Involvement of the Japanese American Community Services (JACS-AI). By a "responsible comrade" of the staff from its beginnings to a participant in the last sum-up that closed the office, and a major chapter in the historical development of our movement in L. A.

The "AT" office was developed by funds of the Japanese American Community Services CJACS), given to a core staff of people who wanted to develop in the Japanese Asian American Community, an experience that was an offshoot of the Black Panther Party "Serve the People" programs. At that time, community activists, ex-cons and dope fiends had begun to come together and grope to find a way to help themselves and others with similar problems. The lessons drawn from the Panther organization were that, When women and men with low and negative self-images, negative self-worth and generally low self-esteem, began working to help others less fortunate than themselves, a different perception of themselves could be seen reflected in the eyes of the folks helped. Which raised the self-esteem and revolutionary ardor of these 'servants of the people'.''

A way out of the downward spiral in theidour lives was grasped. In the beginning, members of the Asian American Hard Core helped groups like the Pioneer Project to work for and with OUT Issei and with Sansei activists. When

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the JACS-AI Office was opened, one of the original paid staff members, Ray Tasaki, was a member of Hard Core. Thus, the JACS-AI 'Serve the People" programs were started with Hard Core members being the main staff support. This was before the onslaught of educated youth from the colleges and univer- sities.

From these revolutionary nationalist and truly "Serve the Fkople" beginnings, that helped not only those helped, but just as importantly, those who were doing the helping. So that the first lesson drawn from these early beginnings was summed up as "personal liberation-peoples' revolution." Or as Chairman Mao summed up, "Fight self, fight revisionism." Broken down, we felt that this meant we had to overcome our own feelings of negativity, self-pity, egotism, etc., in order to "help the people help themselves." Or as one of our slogans read, ''We must relate, educate, mobilize and organize ourselves and our people."

From these solid beginnings, the "Serve the People" programs expanded to a point where we had five divisions of work youth and drug education-related programs; veterans; senior citizens; and the joint counseling center (legal services, prison work and job searcWcounseling), if my memory serves me right, and a volunteer staff that went into the hundreds, when one added them all up. However, a strange pattern began to exert itself. The folks being helped did not come back to help man the programs, especially youth. They did not volunteer to help others. In fact, when some were questioned on how they viewed the community workers, they (the youth) thought that we were social workers-a bring down of major proportions. Why?

When the staffing of the office was looked at, it became clear. We were no longer served by people trying to help themselves while helping others, but by educated youth who were "do-gooding" in their off-time. The original Hard Core had disbanded and a "new peoples' hard core" was struggling for survival under the warm and persistent care and leadership of Marlene Weathers.

It was clear, in order for a program such as the AI Office to maintain a truly "Serve the People" orientation, our slogan had to be rethought through. For revolutionaries, the slogan "personal liberation, peoples' revolution" and "relate, educate, mobilize and organize" could still give orientation and direction in a "Serve the People" context. However, for "do-gooders" the slogans could not. They did not have "problems" they thought, they did not have "low self-esteem" problems but instead ego ones. In fact, these were the '*future leaders,"-they were here to help "poor people" and therefore were not all that understanding on

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why we must "help the people help themselves." In fact, new dependencies and a simple taking attitude began to prevail. Which is what is found as a result of the social welfare system.

On summing this up, two aspects stuck out. The first was identity. Most of our people did not and still do not have a positive identity regarding our history as Asians from Asia and its long and continuous history to the hundred year plus, glorious history of struggle and survival in Amerika. "Assimilation, out-whiting whitey" to being "honorable whites" that many of our people aspire to or are experiencing, is a clear indication of the depth of the problem.

The second aspect couples to the first, and is a direct response to the self put- down of our people, the concept of community. Community-a self recognized geographical area, that one dedicates one's life to, to make a home, where genera- tions can evolve in our participation in the "caring and sharing of our America." Putting all of this together, we thought that the Yerve the People" slogan, in order to be more clear and meaningful to sensitive youth should read

Identity thru Serve the People in Community Building Aluta Continua

UPDATE: PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES OF J-TOWN AND WHAT WE ARE BUILDING TOWARDS-DREAMS FOR THE FUTURE

The dream that I have about Japanese America comes in several parts. The overall perspective is based on the concept of the "equality of nationalities" in our country. This means basically that we, as individuals of a free and equal nationality have the right to: 1) assimilate-attach ourselves to any other nationality, other than our own, if we choose to do so (hopefully it won't be based on shame or any negative feelings about your own nationality); 2) integrate-to live in a dispersed situation amongst any people and practice our own ways (food, culture, language, etc.) and share them with others around you, as you share what they have to offer; and 3) separate-live in compact communities where we are the overwhelming majority (not to put down others or to discriminate against others, but to live and practice our heritage in a concentrated way with anyone else who can dig it. There will be those who may want to as-

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PHOTOGRAPH REPRINTED FROM GIDM.

In the summer of 1972, the Van Troi Anti-Imperialist Youth Brigade and the Thai Binh Brigade brought the anti-war/anti-imperialist message to the

traditional festivities of the Nisei Week celebration in Los Angeles. Amencon and Japanese corporate involvement in Southeast Asia were tar- g e t t e h n d symbolically, the military flag of Japan was burned--shortly

after the brigades were denied participation in the parade. (See Gidro, September, 1972)

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similatdintegrate with us). The dreams of our future deal mainly with the integrationisVseparatist ele-

ments. This means those of us who wish to keep alive our buddhaheadness. In order for us to express ourselves, we will need a democratic representative

body. Who and what elements will be needed? A model that some of us studied was the old pre-Second World War "Japanese Association of L. A." as presented in the monograph of the same name, authored by "General" Jim Matsuoka and Mrs. (Moms) Matsuoka, under the commission of the L. A. Pioneer Project

The monograph showed the association to have a horizontal structure that had every community organization in the area, from labor groups, gardeners associations, JACL, and from professionals to kerzjinkais-in a congress-type group. The vertical structure was built by having individuals run for a certain number of offices-at-large.

My dream is similar-each area that has integrationist elements and organizations would build local community councils (for instance, the Westside or Boyle Heights). And of course, a council here in J-town. These all would then feed into an overall community council that woul4could represent buddhaheads here in L.A. The J-town community council would have as its base: a tenants organizations, workers organization and a small mom-and-pop business organization, along with the other organizations that are here.

The tenants organization would have active clusters in each hoteyresidential dwelling that would feed into an overall Little Tokyo Tenants Association. The workers organization would be similar, possibly broken down into trades, language groups, etc., feeding into an overall union-type organization representing workers here in J-town. The main thing is that these organizations are built and run by and for the workers and tenants-and not by anyone else, no matter who they claim to be.

These three organizations represent the largest number of people in terms of sheer numbers. They could become the basis of our self-governing, semi- autonomous ethnic district. It would be one amongst many such districts. Other examples are Chinatown, Watts and EastL.A. J-town would be an integral part of a complex, colorful, world-representative municipality-Los Angeles, l'the Pearl of Aztlan."

In terms of the San Pedro Firm Building, my dreams run to tenant-coopera- tive-ownership as the goal and the community-orienfed-movement method in achieving this goal. The basis of this dream are tenants who are aware of this

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possibility and who are willing to struggle and take risks to gain a semblance of control over that part of their lives dealing with shelter and home-life. In the final analysis, self-help is the only way very low income people (all of us making under and around $6.OO/hour) will be able to stay. Every other method devised by the "man" is a trick in the end-the money has to be paid back (and then some), and the original tenants will be forced to move.

Our struggle here in Little Tokyo is now advancing on twenty plus years of self-proclaimed revolutionary presence. In the last fifteen years, there have been three distinct groups or associations formed in Little Tokyo. After the third time around, I want to discuss why all these past attempts have failed. What I want to point out is that there are two kinds of organizing being pushed: 1) proletarian democratic methods; and 2) petty bourgeois paternalistic methods.

It is my conclusion that the different factions, which represent certain 'leaders and their methods of leadership," (i.e., style of leadership, immediate and longterm goals and how to achieve them) alienated the mass membership by carrying on 'line struggle" during the organizational meetings. By having 'line struggles" during the mass meetings, the people got discouraged and bewildered because of the seeming in-fighting that disrupted progress and divided our people unneces-

While I realize that the truth can only come forward in the struggle with falsehood-no matter how discouraging-there has got to be a better way to carry on this struggle, so that greater unity of action is achieved instead of be- wildering our ranks.

In order to get a good shot at the truth, it is best to get as many people to experience "one reality." Then, sum-up all the experiences from that "one reality" and raise the experiences to the level of theory. Then the theory gets taken back to the people who experienced that reality and we struggle together to clarify and explain the logic of the theory.

The proletarian democratic method is based on the concept that each and every person has the potential to become a truly compassionate, outspoken, giving, and non-selfish human being. In Buddhism, it is called enlightenment or the Buddha state. Proletarian democracy is based on workers and oppressed people going through a conscious and sometimes painful process of overcoming our own hang-ups and short-comings to become more aware, compassionate, loving and caring human beings. Going through this process gives us the ability to go against the tide and stand up against injustice and wrong-doing. This is

Sarily.

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"fulfilling our human potential.'' The petty bourgeoisie as a class, stands in the middle of the bourgeoisie

(capitalist class) and the working and oppressed classes. While they are often "wanna-be" bourgeoisie, the majority of them will remain petty bourgeoisie. The objective laws of capitalism will restrict this class from attaining their aspirations (during economic crises, its the petty bourgeoisie who gets eaten up or squeezed out by the big capitalists).

Petty bourgeois paternalism is characterized by an aloofness and distinct separation from "their clients." They can be noted for their "professional-client relationships," which means "your life is not cluttered up by the problems of your clients." It is also characterized by the inability to really challenge the system or make significant changes, since "no faith" is placed in the "clients" being able to help themselves or control their own lives.

Therefore, these professionals become the "helpers" who do all the thinking, speaking, doing-and in the end-the one who will get or take all the credit for helping those "poor people." They leave the people holding the bag, not knowing what is going on or how to resolve anyflung without their "help." If this "helper" should lose interest, not have the spare time, or just quit, we are back to square one-not having learned how to pursue the fight with our own strength and integrity.

Just a case in point on this "attitude" question is one of my great letdowns in recent history. I had raised this question of "attitude" with the joint committee of the LTSC (Little Tokyo Service Center Housing Committee) and LTTA (Little Tokyo Tenants Association). It was raised regarding the obvious "shine on" (ig- noring our existence) of our tenants association during the formation of their housing committee. It was a question of just coming by and introducing themselves to an already existing organization (which happens to be dealing with the same issue in the same community).

This attitude came out again clearly on the question of helping out one of our (L'ITA) members who was homeless at the time. When one of our female members (who is partially paralyzed and without funds) was forced to move amongst friends and anyone who could take her in-no one did anything. The committee supposedly came together to help develop and sponsor very low income housing for "poor" people. Well, we had a live one and the committee acted like she didn't exist. There was some reference to sending her to the Asian Women's shelter by LTSC people. All I can say to that bullshit is, if you all haven't gone there and

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lived there yourselves, you ought not be telling other people to go because you don't know the conditions.

In summary then, this is how the two roads look. The democratic method is messy because everyone is important and their opinions, right or wrong, will have to be worked through. But through this process, trust, self-esteem and self- confidence are built and a group process is reinforced. If decisions are made democratically by the tenants, then why can't tenants be spokespersons or repre- sentatives for themselves? How does having someone who doesn't live there (and isn't even from the same class) become a spokesperson for us?

The other method, the "one-person show," is definitely not messy. It's probably a lot quicker in getting "results" but leaves the "client" little better off, in terms of human potential (i.e., learning how to do it for themselves vs. being de- pendent on 'helpers.'')

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Who will win in these two outlooks towards organizing a tenants organization has yet to be decided. It will not be decided until a truly mass tenant organization is formed. But besides the outcome, what is the main point? For me, it is the question of intent. "Which side are you on?" For all of you who read this and are not tenants or workers here in J-Town-ask yourself4an each and every one of you truly want to "help us help ourselves, work with us, help the community, fight for housing for poor, oppressed and working people, etc., etc., etc.," and still keep values of the oppressor? Can you keep these values that are racist, exploitative and arrogant and still be on our side? LeVs not forget that most of the petty bourgeois "professional careers" are jobs set up by and for the ruling class, and carries all their racist, sexist and upper class put-down ideology and world view with it.

"Professionalism" keeps the professional from truly integrating their lives with the actual people they serve. The sense of community, brotherhoodsisterhood and a sense of equality is neither fostered nor even seen as a goal. Instead, the professionals separate their professional life from their personal life-otherwise the professional's family life gets too messy. Rich or comfortable people don't like to be reminded that their life is much more fattening, enriched and stylish than the majority, especially if they make their living off the ' 'pod' Guilt has to be kept at controllable levels.

As far as "professiondclient secrecy," there is a privacy concept operating that

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tries to keep the middle-class' embarassing ghosts hidden in the closet While it is claimed to be a "courtesy of not talking about their cases," it has been used to keep important information from tenants that will help us organize our struggle. While I agree that names and contacts should not be given without an open discussion with the person involved, or without their 0. K.-the privacy concept should not be used to hide statistics or trends that might help the people understand what is going on.

SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

For me, it means that every one of us must ask the question, "which side am I on?" and state it publicly. Are you for the democratic style of work and goals or are you for paternalistic and bureaucratic goals. If you are for a paternalistic way- fine, as long as it is up front. There are always ways to work together.

However, if you are for a democratic road, then it means some thought provoking soul-searching from each and every one of us. Sharing our thoughts--overcoming our negativity, building trust, admitting mistakes and changing our ways of doing things-will be hard, but the process will help change our world view. This road is not easy because we must face up to our own shortcomings, ego-tripping, ambitions that are cherished, but selfish, etc., and admit this to ourselves and others-which we all know ain't easy.

But in order to build a lasting organization that truly serves the interests of tenants overall, I believe it is the only way we can go. And if you really look at it, this democratic method will make all of us stronger, healthier and more human.

Relate, educate, mobilize and organize to help the people help themselves!

Wind in the tower, Smoke in the cellar, Afnka bends at both ends Amerika cries to be free and Asia chokes its a p p r m s . Rmlutiona y hopes on the rise! Isn't it great to be alive?

Kokoro Kara Mo Nishida Los Angeles

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ALUT&!. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN

"The forces of revolution were on the rise."

At first I had planned a summary of the Asian American movement and the New Communist Movement from the late 60s to the mid-70s. Luckily I quickly realized I am hardly the one for such a complex undertaking.

First Awakening:

My first awakening came through an opportunity to enter UCLA through a special admissions program, High Potential Program; a program I would come to find, fight for, win and adminster (at the lower levels) by mipority students, community members and sympathetic staff and faculty at UCLA.

It was just one of the many gaindconcessions won through the militant struggles of oppressed minorities of the late ~ O S , particularly the struggles of Blacks, Chicanos, Asians, Native Americans and women. When I say won through militant struggle I am not being rhetorical. These times were a time of the Black Panthers armed for self-defense calling for revolution. Sit-ins, take-overs, rebel-

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lions in the streets and on the campuses were the order of the day. People were standing up to hundreds of years of oppression, racism, exploitation and saying, "No More''-revolution was the call. It was a dizzying time for revolutionary- minded people. Things were happening so quickly and not just here in L.A., but throughout the United States, actually throughout the world. The forces of revolution were on the rise.

It was in this context I applied for the Asian American High Potential Program at UCLA. At the time I applied I saw a chance to go to school, get free money and get away from dead end jobs. I had dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade. Up to this point I had been unable to integrate into the mainstream of society for many reasons, some personal, some as a result of racism and a victim of capitalism.

It was at meetings of applicants that I was exposed to "radical" Asians. Asian brothers and sisters in army fatigues talking about "the whiteman," ''the system," "racism," and "Oppression." It was a shock, but it made sense. It was also exciting. I felt for the first time poverty, unemployment, inadequate education, housing, etc., all things I had grown up with, could be understood from a general point of view as the failures of our social system, not of the individual, including myself. For the first time in my life I looked at my own self-hatred as a result of racism. Racism of white people, racism of society, institutionalized racism in schools, government, etc,. all facts of life that I had grown up with but never understood in their political context.

I don't blame racism for every problem in my life, but up until this time I was not even conscious of the devastating and pervasive influence it had on all aspects of my life. With this consciousness came a whole new perspective on life. Rather than turn my anger, frustration and rebellion inward in the form of drugs, gangs, anti-social, anti-everything, I could focus my energy on changing the system responsible for the social ills of the time. I could fight for a better society rather than fight against society. Poverty, unemployment, war, all the ills of modern capitalism were no longer acceptable as individual problems.

I Want to Be Part of the Solution

The idealism of the movement overwhelmed me. Social injustice, genuine equality, concern for the collective above the individual; these were the first lessons I learned.

I learned these in those very first meetings of Hi Pot applicants. There were

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some 9-75 people notified that they were potential candidates for the program. The progam was explained to us and everyone was asked to support and work to keep the program alive, to defend the program against attacks by the UCLA administration. Everyone was asked to help, whether or not you were chosen.

My first reaction was one of disbelief. If you weren’t going to get in, why would you care if the program kept going or not. I certainly wasn’t going to spend my summer in meetings. But there was something genuine about their plea. Many of them were not in the program or benefitting directly from it. And yet they were there.

What I saw was people promoting ideals and concepts like collective action, social revolution, unity, etc., and at the same time confronting and challenging individualism, selfishness, cynicism. I thought, OK, I’ll going along for a little bit and see what happens. The more I heard the more I agreed. The more I saw: actual struggle with the UCLA administration; people organizing, sacrificing, the more I believed. Soon I realized this was not just talk and it was for me, not just as a bystander. I wanted to be involved all the way. I wanted to be part of the forces of change, of revolution.

The years that followed were fundamental, critical to my rapid developing social and political consciousness. It was such an exciting time. I was surrounded by new ideas, new ways of looking at things and new methods of dealing with life. My entire outlook, orientation, and values were changing. They were being shaped and molded by the most invigorating, the most lively and the most revolutionary times of my life. The ideals and the idealism of the movement were euphoric, but more than euphoric they were a living reality, a material force. I embraced them fully and passionately. They became part of my life, my guiding force.

I was involved in numerous battles and struggles, learning, growing from each. Many were small and insignificant in and of themselves, but the profound and deep lessons they provided and the reconfirmation of revolution and social justice towered as big as mountains.

These were the lessons that I have learned from the movement. Twenty years later the times have changed and the conditions are very different but I still believe in the ideals and goals of revolution. I still believe in the inevitability of socialism, and I still believe in Marxism-Leninism.

Kenwood Jung Los Angeles

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SAN FRANCISCO CHINATOWN, 1971. PHOTO BY M. WWTSU

"The main focus. . .was to change substandard conditions in Chinatown." Twenty years ago, I was among a group of people who founded the Red Guard Party in San Francisco Chinatown. The SF Red Guard was a revolutionary organization inspired by the Black Panther Party. Our membership consisted primarily of Asian American youth. The main focus of our activities was to change the substandard conditions in Chinatown, which we knew were linked to the overall economic and political system in the United States where the callous pursuit of profits means poverty and misery for the majority of people and for people of color, in particular.

The Red Guards were active in a number of struggles which were important to the Chinese community, We participated in the fight to halt the destruction of our community through "redevelopment," including the fight to save' the Inter- national Hotel and a plan to destroy the Chinese playground and replace it with a parking garage. We also initiated a successful petition drive to prevent the shutting down of the TB testing and treatment center and pressed the federal government to hire more Chinese speaking staff. The Red Guards set up a number of film programs, a draft-help center and a legal defense service. The Red

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Guards also led the mass movements to rebuild US- China friendship, and to end the war in Vietnam.

In the 60s and early 70s, the Red Guards were a small part of a general revolutionary movement. Eventually, we joined with other third world groups who were also struggling to help organize a movement for revolution and socialism. Our experience led us to see our goal as socialism, i.e., the majority of the people own and control the economy and the government in a truly democratic way. We have also seen that the struggle for socialism must be built based on conditions that exist here in

P U B L I C R E C O R D , 1 9 8 9

ILLUSTRATION BY TOME ARAI, NEWYORK CIM.

FkHT FOR DECENT HOUSING!

the United States. For example, the struggles of African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos for democracy are key. This is really clear in the historic campaign of Reverend Jesse Jackson, which has galvanized a mass movement of Blacks, Latinos, Asians, poor Whites and other progressives, the most critical social forces in today's struggle to beat back the Reagan right-wing. Revolutionary activists should participate and help build this struggle. We also have a special responsibility to organize at the grassroots for the empowerment of the masses. A new generation of fighters is now coming forward, and already we can see the beginnings of a new upsurge of mass struggle. It will be more difficult than anything before, but I am confident we will win.

As for myself, I am now living in New York with my wife and son and working as a cook. I am active in my union as well as in the community.

Alex Hing New York City

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"There wus u genuine movement in every sense of the word." The 60s and 70s period constituted one of the most exciting, stimulating and learning experiences in my life. It was a time of turmoil-a cultural revolution which overturned many heretofore unexplored concepts of my generation regarding sexism, racism, and classism-and left an irrevocable imprint on this country and throughout the world. It was primarily a young people's revolution, but of course affected us all. Its strength was the deep intensity of feeling about and involvement with issues relating to ending the war in Vietnam, its politics, causes, etc., which motivated action involving massive organizing so that there was a genuine movement in every sense of the word.

Together with the many truly positive aspects of the movement were the negatives, largely perhaps due to the inexperience and youth of its participants- such as the immature intolerance of anyone over thirty; the short-sighted sectarianism, dogmatism and hollow rhetoric of self-proclaimed revolutionary

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groups (unfortunately, much of which is still existent today), so that despite their contribution towards higher political awareness at the time, tragically turned off a major segment of their generation from politics altogether; the lack of genuine democracy in these groups with the accent on centralism in their use of "democratic centralism"; and the male chauvinist leadership which propelled the development of the feminist movement (a happy consequence). The exhilarating promise of the women's liberation movement has nowhere achieved its full potential yet, and a rejuvenation of some of the early excitement and ideals would seem to be in order. With the rise of ethnic movements (Black, Latino, Asian, etc.)-and perhaps it was a necessary component at the time, in terms of racism, identity, etc.-there was a strong hostility and suspicion of all white people and toward ethnics who related to them, of which remnants of this prejudice still remains. On the other hand, the importance of a closer relation- ship among people and groups of color was established and recognized to this day.

Overall, the positives outweighed the negatives-the legacy of commitment to genuine social change and justice continues to influence progressive-leaning people today, and the lesson that only by organizing and educating in united effort can such changes be effected.

Kazu Iijima Nao York City

"What after all is revolution?"

A long lost cousin visited us here from China these past two weeks. It was strange to embrace such close blood ties distanced by forty years of "revolutions."

What after all is revolution? A spin of the wheel for another perspective? Another way of living? Another explanation?

I'd like to see more humanizing efforts (in personaVsocia1 changes) that measure up to the best technical achievements in science &d spirituality, in com- merce and in crafts. One thing is certain-deeply "humanizing" efforts are always in demand.

B. Y. C. Winterhaven, Florida

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GRAPHIC REPRlMED FROM A LOCAL LEAFLET

Five Most Important

Lessons Within the last twenty years, I have been a community activist, teacher, lecturer, journalist, wife and mother. In two decades I have witnessed the shift from the anti-establishment era of the 60s to the conservative era of the 80/90s. I’ve learned many lessons along the way, but the five most important ones are the following:

1. View your working, political and personal relationships longterm. For- tunately times change and people change. Disagreements which may seem ir- reconcilable at the moment may not be as important later on. You must be able to work with a wide range of people under many different circumstances. Admit mistakes and praise each others’ accomplishments.

2. Hone your skills in a few special areas. Educating and organizing involves a multitude of skills. As a young adult, I started writing leaflets, womens’ health pamphlets and newsletters. Little did I realize those experiences would later be usefully rechanneled into journalism.

3. Be resilient. Because people’s sentiments, needs and interests change, what might work in one situation may not work in another. Be creative and open- minded in developing your projects.

4. Don’t burn yourself out thinking revolution is just around the corner. Maintain a balance between your community activism, physicaVmenta1 health and family life.

5. Nways keep a sense of humor. If you need more explanation on this one, you’ve already passed the danger zone.

Brenda Paik Sunoo Copy Editor (English Section), Korea Times

Los Angeles

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"Our generation is part II of a continuum of sfruggle. . .

I became active when I was a second-year student at Wellesley College in 1968. The civil rights movement and the rising consciousness of Asian Americans about the unjust war in Vietnam gave birth to broad student protests which spread

across the country. I participated in the student protests and went on to do grassroots organizing in Boston and later San Fran- cisco Chinatown.

Today, twenty years later, with two children of my own, I continue to be deeply involved in the Asian community and in the movement for social and political justice.

The most important lesson I have learned is that our generation is part of a continuum of struggle that is reaching out to future genera- tions of Asian Americans. One of the most harmful

ILLUSTRATlON BY TOMIE ARAI, NEW YORK CITY

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myths being promoted today is that the 60s were an idealistic aberration with no past and no future.

When we became active, we fought to educate ourselves about Asian American history at a time when no Asian American Studies courses existed. We read and learned of the rebellions on the first coolie ships that brought Chinese contract labor to the United States; we read of the strikes by Japanese and Filipino farmworkers in California and of the early struggles to be able to attend public schools, testify in court and own land. We began to see a clearer context to our own situations and lives. This, combined with actual experience in the communities, provided a long-term vision for our movement.

As we began to form grassroots organizations in the Asian American communities, we learned directly from old-timers who were organizers and revolutionaries in the 1930s and 1940s. They taught us the importance of the working people who are the backbone of our community, and shared their experiences of how to organize, do propaganda and sustain a political movement. My organization, the Chinese Progressive Association, is a direct inheritor of the years of experience from the Chinese Workers Mutual Aid Association and Chinese Hand Laundry Association of the 30s.

The future lives in our ability to educate a new generation of youth. The lessons of the 60s need to be summed up and passed on-among them the importance of history, the willingness to work together, the need to be part of our communities.

The 60s have meaning in the context of where we came from and where we need to go as Asian American peoples. The fight for fundamental change will continue because we have not yet achieved our basic equal rights. Our commitment to making change comes from a knowledge of our past, an understanding of the present and a vision of where we want to go in the future.

Wilma Chan Sun Francisco

Autobiographical Note: Wilma Chan is a contributing editor to Eastwind Magazine and a founding member of the Chinese Progressive Association, a grassroots community organization founded in 1972. She taught the first Asian American Studies Course at the Kennedy Institute, Harvard University and has been active in the Asian American communities for twenty years.

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REPRINTED FROM AMPO, A N OVERSEAS ASIAN PUBLICATION

"Spare us fhat romanficized halo of heroism." Professor Chan, my teacher in my first Asian American class in the fall of 1969, in- troduced me to the world of Frank Chin, Lawson Inada, and many other American writers of Asian descent. I remember he also discussed in class his reading of the stories of Lu Xun (Lu Hsun), a famous short story writer of the early twentieth century China.

Lu Xun wrote many memorable stories about the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of modern China. Ah Q, his infamous protagonist, joined the "revolution" without knowing what the revolution was all about. Eventually, A h Q the revolutionary was executed, a martyr of the "revolution."

One cannot romanticize Ah Q's ignorance. It is stupid and pitiful, if one looks at him from a distance.

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There were many Ah Q-likes during the San Francisco State Strike, myself among them. Of course, I was not foolish like Ah Q to become a martyr. After all, I was not an illiterate and ignorant fool like Ah Q. I watched the happening from a distance, and joined the assembly in front of the Common to listen to Joan Baez’s songs. My blood pressure surged watching Hayakawa on the rooftop of the Administration Building demanding the students to be dispersed immediately or else. Subsequently, I hid to a safe comer, watching the police officers, with batons in their hands, charging into a student crowd. Many Ah Qs were arrested. I was no Ah Q.

After all, the reason that I was in college was a selfish one. When the Selective Service gave me the 1-A status right after high school, you could not just go to work in the Post Office and feel safe. I was anything but a John Wayne hero. I just did not want to die-not if I did not have an opportunity to cruise in my own ‘57 Chevy; not after my high school teacher, a Hawaiian, was called into active duty right after in the summer of 1966, and was killed in action eighteen days after arriving in Vietnam.

Yes, I have my self interest in mind. It was not to become a m m , but to save my life by hiding behind the Z S college deferment. The student strike at San Francisco echoed my fear of the establishment which might waste my life. The student strike at San Francisco did not, however, elevate my political consciousness to become a revolutionary. I would not die for the establishment; nor would I die for the revolution.

Many students, like me, were ignorant, behaving like the unenlightened Ah Qs. We were also like Lu Xun‘s madman in “A Madman’s Diary,” insecure of ourselves, worrying that someone was going to get us. The revolution gave Ah Q an excuse to fight the establishment; the student strike gave us the opportunity to get back at the authority, the establishment

Spare us that romanticized halo of heroism. Not many of us were heroes of any well-designed proletariat struggle.

As Lu Xun says: Save the children. Let us just do that, for the time being.

Confession of a Chinatown Coward No Name Man

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REPRIMED FROM NEW DAWN, C. 1970

"It does no good to celebrate empowerment if only one small segment has advanced. . ."

Everybody today likes to talk about the rich lessons of the Asian American movement. Everybody talks about the gains that were made-like affirmative action, Asian American Studies, community programs, political empowerment, and what not. But maybe we should look at things more critically. Who really gained- and were there losses besides gains?

It has been said that the class that most benefitted from the civil rights movements of the 50s was the small black middle class. The black professionals, especially, have moved forward, while the masses of black people remain at the same level-r, actually, worse off than before.

I think that something similar happened from the Asian American movement in the 60s. Look at who has advanced in the world and who has not. Is it the sisters on the block of Chinatown and Manilatown-or is it the Asian American

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yuppies? Did we fight for community programs so that middle-class pimps could

corner federal funds for the sake of "their people"? Did we demonstrate against the war in Vietnam and U.S. involvement in Asia

so that Asian American businessmen could gain equal opportunity in corporate exploitation of the Pacific Rim countries?

Did we fight for Asian American Studies just so that people like Lucie Cheng and Stanley Sue could advance their academic careers?

Did we as Asian sisters fight for our rights so that middle-class Asian Americans could gain access to the same weird psychological hang-ups as white women?

Did we fight for "power to the people" so that Mike Woo and Warren Furutani could rise to political office? At least the Blacks have progressives like Ron Dellums and Jesse-so why do we Asian Americans have to settle for neo- conservatives posing as liberals?

For myself, I think the Asian American movement was overall positive. Yet to use the old cliche, there is "unfinished business." And that means sorting out the gains from the losses, the advances from setbacks. It does no good to celebrate "empowerment" if only one small segment has advanced, while the masses have fallen farther behind.

Anonymous Los Angeles

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'I. . .the humanism & optimism ofthe 60s still live on."

I'm saddened to see the sixties getting such a "bum rap" in the eighties media, but gladdened to see a new generation of today's students and young people anxious to learn "what it was really like" from those of us who were there. The 60s movement had a profound, creative political impact on the Asian American communities.

As a middle class, suburban Chinese kid growing up in an East Coast white community, I was tracked for cultural and social isolation, assimilation, and the model minority trap. Then the 60s hit me and millions of others-with its student strikes, anti-Vietnam War protests, women's rights, civil rights. I learned for the first time about the World War I1 concentrations camps. I learned that Chinese who supported mainland China in the 50s were harassed and even deported in some cases. I was personally insulted and harassed in a Boston restaurant by white GIs who had been in Vietnam and came back thinking that all Asian women were prostitutes.

I learned to analyze and criticize a political and social system that intended for Asians to be invisible, docile and victimized in America. The 60s was a polemic against the Asian "model minority" myth. The young Asian American movement dedicated itself to forging a new identity and political agenda for our communities, and this sentiment has borne great programs and positive changes for Asian Americans today.

It's hard to believe that twenty years have passed so quickly. Now I have my own family, kids, and I've actually worked at the same job for almost five years! I work for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union in New York City, fighting for immigrant rights, labor education and services for Chinese women garment workers. Life-styles, fashion, and lingo have changed tremendously since 1968-as my kids remind me every day. But the political dedication and commitment, the humanism and optimism of the 60s still live on!

May Ying Chen Nao York City

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NEW YORK CITY CHINATOWN, 1974. PHOTO BY M. WEMATSU

"So, like a dirty file sliding off the edge of a Chinatown rooftop. . .I' In the beginning, the church betrayed me.

Chinatown, San Francisco: the Presbyterian Mission was the last remnant of the Great White Hope in Asia, transplanted to Chinese America. The mission lured us with English classes, basketball courts where land was scarce, surrogate mothers and fathers when your own were busy pressing shirts or waiting on tables. This was 1950s Chinatown: McCarthyism and Christianity had stricken

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our minds and bled our hearts dry. The wooden church corridors echo vainly the names of nineteenth century

Protestant missionaries to China-like Spear and Condit-and don't forget Donaldina Cameron, who "rescued" the local slavegirls. The mission was a feudal pyramid, run by a burly German minister who placed his hands on the private parts of naive adolescents in the name of "philia," or brotherly love-his retinue of Chinatown Christians blinding themselves to this corruption of their children.

So, like a dirty tile sliding off the edge of a Chinatown rooftop, I left the church and the era. I spit out the fouled taste of the coupling of Chinatown and the mission church which had produced only barrenness in my youthful soul.

Instead, I sought out sensation and sexuality standing under neon signs, whirling in the smokiness of discos, in Tenderloin flesh traps from San Francisco, to Seattle, to New York In alcohol, in abandonment and loose embraces, I mocked whatever was sacred. No Confucian icon, no messianic ornament could escape my irony.

1968. Almost lost, my weariness sought the shelter of its own body. Then, a hazy sound, a chant rising in my ears: shouts of "On strike, shut it down. On strike, shut it down." The San Francisco State strikers, huddled in their green fa- tigue jackets against the fog-daring the police, mocking Hayakawa. Elbows struck back and knees took stride: we were Indian, Chicano and Latino, Asian and Black.

But it was not just for ethnic studies at State. We saw the struggle as part of an international liberation movement against colonialism-akin to those movements in China, Vietnam, Africa, in Central and South America. I threw in my lot when I realized finally that there was no chance of personal liberation-without political liberation.

... From that time on, until now, the path has not been easy. I have com-

promised-to capitalism, to politicians, to forked tongues in Asian American Studies-to myself.

But, even here, there is a hazy sound, a chant rising in my ears, which has not yet abandoned me. . .or you.

L. w. New York City

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“White Racism is alive and strong. . .I’ I strongly believe that ‘White Racism” is alive and strong in our society. Twenty years ago, many of us went on the front line to enable many young people to enjoy the fruits of what we fought for.

Students today must know their history-who they are-what are their roles in today’s world which is a global village.

This effort must affect the role of higher education-hiring and firing of ad- ministrative faculty-courses to be offered-mployment opportunities and our rights to be in the mainstream-economically and politically!

Alan Wong San Francisco

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Notes on the Tusk of Recovering Asian Americun Myfhology

Looking back on what has developed subsequent to the San Francisco State Strike, I would say that despite impressive strides in literary and community work, Asian Americans, for the most part, have not learned too many important "lessons." To borrow from the titles of two essays I published in Amerasia Journal (1971,1974) during that brief era of high consciousness immediately following the Strike, Yellows today continue to live in a "ghetto of the mind,'' euphemizing "a living death" as "the legacy of a superior culture."

There is still a preoccupation with hanging on to some vague notion of "heritage" all the while sucking up silly in the "mainstream," ''model minority" style. The order of the day is to cling tenaciously to everyday artifacts like ethnic eats and Miss Chinatown chunky hamhock on display shows, and score big as properly colonized, obedient, pseudo-white high tech hep %to6 servants of corporate white America. In concert with white mass media, YAPPIE mags like Rice and, more insidiously, A s h , set the pace and the tone for this wholesale selling of Yellow soul.

The only thing new, as a direct result of the SFSU strike, is popular coinage of the term, "Asian American." To many if not most recent newcomer Asians, "Asian American, 'I unfortunately, is synonymous with the loathsome brand of "assimi- lated (i.e., whitenized), uncultured" native-born clods who don't speak a lick of Asian tongue and who refuse to grab for the check when dining out with ethnic colleagues or kin.

To many a native-born or properly "acculturated" (i.e., whitenized) born else- where but raised for the most part in America Yellow, "Asian American" means to be "bi-" something or other, as in "bi-cultural," meaning half alien plus half pseudo-white. The assumption is that there is not, and has never been, anything daringly original, inventive, or unprecedented in the experiences of American of Asian descent, save for perpetual foreignness and copy white behavior. Despite ground-breaking scholarly work by the likes of Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Marlon Horn, Lorraine Dong, Connie Young Yu, et al, the theme of that classic essay by Frank Chin and Jeffery Chan, "Racist Love (1972)"'-which should be required reading in all Asian American Studies classes-has pretty much fallen on deaf ears.

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Lest Yellows continue to live and have their being in this fog of false consciousness, the task that lies before us continues to be the proper recovery of Asian American mythology-that is, history, culture, and sensibility. It is the rare individual whose outlook and actions are not guided by some sense of collective precedent. History ("what we always have been"), in turn, serves as the anchor for identity ("what we are in the here and now") and destiny ("what we are meant to be"). Stressing ideal origins and ideal selfhood, myth, as it were, provides for one's sense of the past, the present, and the future. Psychotherapists, among others, have come to learn that cultural myth, whether disseminated through idiosyncratic family "scriptstt or various institutionalized media (cinema, television, school books, pop literature, advertising, etc.), provides that kind of "guidance."

The dominant mythos of Yellow America has amounted to very little apart from the as- sumptions of the "either/or" syndrome, as delineated by Chin and Chan: Asian TONGUC YASAR, TURKEY

Americans are taught to believe that they are descended from a longstanding breed of passive, docile, servile, pathologically industrious Confucian wimps. This is presumably the entire spread and fabric of the Yellow experience, both in Asia as well as America. The results continue to be devastating. Reinforced by white supremacy and institutionalized racism, this mystification continues to produce in Asian Americans internal alienation, desperate conformism, and massive self-contempt.

I would submit that in addition to bringing a critical perspective to bear on documented historical experience, the proper recovery--or, perhaps more ac-

curately, the proper reconstruction-of Asian American mythology resides in getting at the fundamental ttrootsl' of "puzzling" everyday Yellow behavior. I am talking about such readily observable items like J-Town and Chinatown movie

THE COLONIALIST GAME-OLD AND NEO

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FIRST ASIAN AMERICAN DELEGATION TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 1972. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN

houses continually flashing martial arts flicks with revenge themes; temples dedicated to the worship of the God of War; foods with names that more than casual- ly hint of heroic-warrior sensibility, ritual, and history (e.g., y a m jm p u i , "oil- fried devil"), and so on.

For the historical record, I will add, in closing, that in the early 1980s the editor and others connected with Amerasia Journal steadfastly refused to publish serious work which I submitted in pursuit of this theme. As a consequence, I turned to other more sympathetic publishers. Readers are encouraged to check out the par- tial list of references listed below. Know that I am open to collegial feedback, criticism and dialogue.

Ben Tong Sun Francisco

REFERENCES

Tong, Benjamin. "Warriors and Victims: Chinese American Sensibility and Learn- ing Styles." In Lee Morris, et al (eds.), Extracting Learning Styles from SociaUCultural Diversity: Sfudies of Five American Minorities. Norman, Oklahoma: Southwest Teacher Corps Network, University of Oklahoma, 1978.

-. "On the Confusion of Psychopathology with Culture: Latrogenesis in the Treatment of Chinese Americans." In Robert F. Morgan (ed.), The Lafrogenics Handbook: A Critical look at Research and Practice in the Helping Professions. Toronto, Ontario: P1 Publishing Ltd., 1983.

. "Chinatown Popular Culture: Notes toward a Critical Psychological Anthropology." In Genny Lim, et al., (eds.), The Chinese American Experience: Papers from the Second Natinal Conference on Chinese American Studies (1980). San Francisco, California: Chinese Historical Society of America and Chinese Culture Founda- tion, 1984.

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The Unsung Heroes of the Yellow Brotherhood

I am writing this article in retrospect to the lessons learned from the 60s and 70s. Everyone I ever heard discussing the Asian Movement mention certain individuals who were always in the forefront. Everytime I read an article, it always deals with a select few, so I've decided ifs time the people I was affiliated with, who worked at the grassroots level, receive their just due.

I was one of seven individuals that decided it was time to do something about our community problems. Five of us went to a meeting on the University of Southern California campus that dealt with the incarceration of the Japanese American people in the relocation camps. The meeting was already in progress as we walked in. To my surprise and astonishment, there was a Caucasian lecturing all these Asians about the camps. We sat and listened, and when it came time to break up into groups and answer questions, we had to speak up! Because it's just like Malcolm X stated about the poor peoples' march: here you've got a strong black cup of coffee, the government knew they were in trouble, so they had to add a little cream and weaken it. The government talked to black states- men A. C. Powell, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others. They spoke "Non-Violence," and the rally died; they made an impact, but not with the strength the march was designed to do.

It was the same with this meeting. We raised the issue about the white spokesman and to our surprise, the whole audience turned on us. I myself got into a shouting match with two people. I became so infuriated, I wanted to fight. For these were the same people who, while growing up, would not fight to keep their pocket change, but had nerve to speak revolution, about arming themselves and fighting for change. I thought to myself: "not next to me," because while Asian gangs dominated the Westside, Eastside and Silverlake 0-flats) districts, these same people would run at the slightest inclination of gang bangs.

We left the meeting saying to ourselves: the Asian Movement is fine for college students, but what about the high school and younger Asians? They were still dealing dope, fighting and killing each other. We felt the movement would

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die once the present college students evaporated into society (which is what h a p pened, except for a select few). We felt education was the key to change, for if you couldn't get the kids past high school, we stood no chance for reform or change. To this day, I remember Mike Yamaki saying: rather than beat your head on the legislature's door, educate your people and get them inside to open the door for the masses for reform. I know a lot of people dislike Mike, but even through his success, he still took time to reach back and help me, for which I am eternally grateful.

The earlier years of the Y. B. were turbulent. There were many set-backs, dis- appointments, deaths and years of frustrating lessons. We managed to organize the remaining Asian gangs to create the Y. B. We were able to achieve this through our own reputations in the streets which they could relate to. We or- ganized study programs, while they checked others' attendance in school. Mostly, we tried to instill awareness and helping each other stay clean of gang banging and dope. Trying to teach the younger kids: this is what the white establishment wants us to do-fight each other and never realize our ultimate potential. In other words, eliminate the competition by keeping them ignorant. One of the problems that surfaced by organizing the Asians, which we didn't have the foresight to see, was Blacks and Asians fighting each other. For blacks were trying to find their identity as well. This led to a confrontation with black and Asian students at Dorsey High. Neither side gave ground. The unsung leaders showed up in strength from both black organizations and the Y B., they managed to talk to both sides to show them the stupidity in fighting each other. All turned out well.

Another major problem was having enough people available t:, help with family problems between parents and their kids; if you've ever had to deal with kids high off dope at 2, 3,4 or 5 A.M., I'm sure you can sympathize. I'd like people to understand the sacrifice of their own families, these unsung heroes spend at cost to themselves (monetary), to take the time to keep these kids oc- cupied and to counsel them at their moments of crisis.

Though the Y B. was one of the most successful Asian organizations, many of our members abandoned the group to pursue more lucrative goals. The unsung heroes stayed behind to carry on the grassroots development with often no thanks. As the years went by, most of the kids went on to become successful in both their careers and personal lives, many becoming much more successful than their mentors. The lesson at hand being the self-gratification of seeing the kids

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grow and watching the family ties unite. My only disappointment being the kids not acknowledging their mentors.

Through all the confusion of the 60s and 7Os, behind all the names most prevalent, were some very important people who I'd like to mention. Arthur Ishii, Ats Sasaki, David Yanagi, Lawrence Lee, Wayne Gotanda and Jimmy Nakawatase. These people were the strength and backbone of the Y. B. organization, for when everyone started going away to school or ascending to greater aspirations and occupations, these individuals hung tough with the organization, never acquiring any personal contacts or gains. To these individuals I'd like to thank for their years of support and undying friendship. "May your ultimate dreams be realized."

In closing, for her dedication to helping people, I'd like to say what one woman I know and respect says:

Garnbare! (Miyu) Gary Asamura Monterey Park

Compiler's Note: Gary Asamura is himself one of the unsung heroes of the Yellow Brotherhood. We are grateful to him for writing this piece and speaking up for some of the real grassroots organizers.

YELLOW BROTHERHOOD PANCAKE BREAKFAST, 1970. pnOT0 BY M. UYEMATSU

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Public Record, 1989: What Did We Learn from the 60s and 70s?

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