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Personal Reflections on the Asian National Movements
by Philip Vera Cruz, Lillian Nakano, Happy Lim, Lori Leong, May Chen, Alan Nishio and Wes Senzaki
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What motivates people to dedicate their lives to organizing Asian people? Seven activists with interesting and varied backgrounds in the student movement, community organizing, labor work and the arts share some of their thoughts on this topic in the following essays. They tell us a little about their lives, why they 'became involved, and. share some lessons from their experiences.
Leading off the essays is Philip Vera Cruz. Now living in retirement in Bakersfield, California, Philip Vera Cruz has been organizing Pilipino farm workers in Central California since the late 1940's. He later served as Vice-President of the United Farm Workers Union.
Lillian Nakano, a prominent activist in the National Coalition for Redress/ Reparations and a member of the Little Tokyo People's Rights Organization in Los Angeles, offers her perspective on the Japanese American movement. She describes the long trek from life after the camps to her current political involvement.
Happy Lim has been organizing in the Chinese community since the 1930's. Lim, who is 72 years old, is still working and actively supports the progressive move ment in San Francisco Chinatown. A frequent contributor to UNITY newspaper, Lim is a well-known poet and essayist.
Lori Leong is a member of the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) and has been organizing in New York Chinatown since 1969. She is an active member of the Progressive Chinatown People's Association, a community organization, and is participating in the campaign against the gentrification of Chinatown.
May Chen has been active in the Asian American movement and the Chinese community for many years. She has been a teacher and community organizer. She currently works for the Chinese Committee of Local 6 (the Hotel, Restaurant, Club Employees and Bartenders Union) in New York City. She describes some of the lessons she learned while participating in the struggle to build a child care center in Los Angeles Chinatown.
Alan Nishio is the President of the Little Tokyo People's Rights Organization in Los Angeles. A longtime activist in the Asian and Japanese American movements, Alan's experiences have spanned student activism, working for ethnic studies and Third World student admissions, and community organizing.
Wes Senzaki, one of the founding members of the Japantown Art and Media (JAM) workshop in San Francisco, describes his development as an artist and examines what it means to be a political artist.
We hope these essays convey the optimism, dedication and determination that are an intrinsic part of the Asian and Pacific national movements..
Also
vol. 1 no.1 - Aloha 'Ãina: The Struggle for Land and Power in Hawai'i
vol 1 no. 2 - Chol Soo Lee
vol 2 no. 2 - Focus: Asian Pacific Student Movement
vol 6 no. 1 - Through Strength and Struggle: The P&L Garment Workers
