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While in Los Angeles this past week, I connected with old friends Warren and Lisa Furutani. I first remember hearing Warren speak passionately at the 1981 Commission on Wartime Relocation & Internment of Civilians Hearings in L.A. Some seven years later, my father introduced me to Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig (his good friend from high school in L.A.) who introduced me to her daughter Lisa and son-in-law Warren.
We became friends and I volunteered for Warren's campaign running for the LAUSD School Board. He won! He later ran for the California State Assembly and won. Retired now and taking care of grandchildren, Warren has a new book out entitled "ac-tiv-ist. noun: a person who works to bring about political or social change." I can't put it down. I asked Warren to tell us a little about himself.
Hawaii Roots
On my father's side of the family I have the Higashi's and Furutani's. Both grandparents were born in Hawaii. Grandma Higashi on a sugar cane plantation in Haleiwa and Grandpa on the Big Island (Hilo side). After an arranged marriage both migrated to Terminal Island in the port of San Pedro/Los Angeles.
They had one child, my dad (Charles Hiroshi "Chuck"). He met my mom, born in Sheldon, CA, in camp (Rohwer/Jerome, ARK). They made it back to San Pedro where my older brother and I were born ('46 n '47, respectively). I have two younger brothers, four total.
I grew up in Gardena, CA.
Interest in activism
It was a part of self discovery initiated by the times (turbulent 60s - civil rights, ethnic "power" movements,Vietnam War, liberation struggles against colonialism in the Third World, assassination of Prez, Dr.King, Malcolm X, other civil rights leaders, etc.). It made me question much about American society and where I as a JA and AA fit in.
As far as fitting in, I rejected what was stereotypically expected of Asian Americans and began to forge my own path. Then I found out what I thought was my own unique path was in fact related to being an Asian in America and many other AA identified with what I had to say. It then became a movement.
My activism was predicated on solving the issues that arose related to systemic racism and economic oppression. It was rooted in improving my life and others like me (people of color, women, working class white people, etc.) and has taken many forms as I've operated in many different environments, arenas and situations in life.
Insights
Relative to insights I've come to understand that although most folks focus on the tip of the iceberg (10% above the surface), it's the body, the 90% below the water line that needs to be addressed (systemic issues). I've also come to embrace the old adage that, "you can give a person a fish and they can eat that day, you can teach a person how to fish and they can eat the rest of their life".
Empowering people to be self-reliant, self-sufficient rather than dependent or co-dependent on someone or something else (like government) is a slippery slope to a passive sense of entitlement. But if people can't help themselves then that's when the government and society need to step in with a social safety net.
Education to me is the key and has been the constant policy thread that has weaved its way throughout all of my activism.
Future
Although I have been a lifelong advocate for diversity and acknowledging and embracing our differences, I have come to think we need to take a timeout and reverse-engineer our thinking. Rather than focus on how we are different (still important), let's re-examine what we have in common, what can we come together on?
From that point of view we will come to the common sense understanding that we are wholly more alike than different. Use that common ground understanding as the foundation and use the different materials (human capital) we represent to build our house/institutions but on a strong common foundation.
At the end of my book I list 10 ideas to consider. They are not revelations or extraordinary but worth discussing and where applicable applying to society and life.
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