RESOURCES
"We are a people who have been oppressed. And we are a people who contribute to oppression. That is our power and privilege. And responsibility to fight. This is our moment of reckoning. We are a country built on 400 years of stolen land, by stolen people, with stolen labor, and stolen lives. And the dam of our hearts broke open — when George Floyd called out to his mama — right in front of our eyes. And now we see rage and pain burning in the streets every night. No WAR on BLACK BODIES! No more Covid-Dead in ICE.
But we must stay open. For it is in our history of heart-breaks, we will find the ties that bind."
- Kim Miyoshi, Japanese Americans for Justice, June 9, 2020
Below is a list of websites and books and articles that have informed and inspired me as I have walked the journey of racial identity development as a person of mixed race Japanese descent. This is not a complete list, but I hope will provide some good entry points to the dialogue and more importantly, to action. Will you join me in doing this work?
BOOKS, ARTICLES, WEBSITES:
Healing Resistance, by Kazu Haga - An exploration of Kingian nonviolence as a path to healing societal injustices.
from Root, M. (1996). A Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People. In The Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders as the New Frontier (pp. 3–14). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
ART & POETRY:
And this beautiful project on Hapa identity that moved me, personally, but which should be researched with a critical eye before purchasing the book. Food for thought for my mixed race, Asian/White friends.
It Began With a Page, a gorgeously illustrated children's book about Gyo Fujikawa's life and career.
The Humanae Institute photography project, challenging the idea of race.
DIRECT ACTION:
Tsuru for Solidarity - a nonviolent, direct action project of Japanese American social justice advocates working to end detention sites and support front-line immigrant and refugee communities that are being targeted by racist, inhumane immigration policies.
Follow:
#BlackLivesMatter
#AsianAmericansforBlackLives
#JapaneseAmericansforBlackLives
#stopasianhate
