July 2012 - Japanese American Citizens League
Transcription
July 2012 - Japanese American Citizens League
THE GRAINS OF RICE Cincinnati Chapter Japanese American Citizens League July 2012 Shirayamadani at the Cincinnati Art Museum (row 1)Dr. Kinji Tanaka, Dr. Elizabeth Fowler (Assistant Prof. at Syracuse University), Ms. Anita Ellis (Deputy Director-curatorial affairs at CAM), Setsuko LeCroix, Jacqui Vidourek, Paul Tanaka (row 2) Helen Rindsberg, Gordon Yoshikawa, Dr. Gary Eith (Dean of Business Division at Lakeland Community College), Frances Tojo, Carolyn Baricklow (Assistant to the Executive Director, JASGC), Reiko Tanaka (row 3) Adam Hartke (Agenda 360), Asami Ono (Japan Outreach Coordinator, JASGC), Hiroko Nishiyama, Kono Naegele, Mariko Hayase. Members of JACL and JASGC gathered on July 19 at Spring Grove Cemetery for a memorial service who passed away July 19, 1948. Mr. Shirayamadani was born in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, around 1861. He joined the staff of Rookwood Pottery in 1887 as the first foreign-born decorator. He created many wonderful art products, one of which received the gold medal at the Paris Exposition in 1900. It was sold for $350,750.00 at an auction at Cincinnati Art Galleries, LLC in 2004. He worked at Rookwood until his death in 1948 except for a period of time when he returned to Japan – probably to teach from around 1912 to 1921. Ms. Anita Ellis took the group on a tour of the many ceramic painted vases. Dr. Elizabeth Fowler shared her expertise which helped us to appreciate Mr. Shirayamadani’s art. PRESIDENT’S COLUMN By Betsy Sato What is usually a slow season for our local JACL chapter has been pretty busy since March. Over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, our chapter hosted the Midwest District Conference at the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel. It was two days of business meetings with some fun activities tossed in. I want to thank Frances Tojo, Gordon Yoshikawa, Hiroko Nishiyama, and Kazuya Sato for their help in organizing the logistics. Jacqui Vidourek and I served as delegates to the meeting. Hearing back from the participants, one of the highlights was our tour of the Freedom Center. Cincinnati took the international spotlight in early July with the arrival of thousands of mostly young people from all over the world for the World Choir Games. Some of our JACL members worked as volunteers with the Choir games—as guides, interpreters and doing what needed to be done. JACL partnered with the JASGC to participate in the Global Village on Fountain Square. JACL’s booth was there on the first day, in the 100 degree heat. Thank you event organizers for the misters that helped us keep cool (or at least avoid heatstroke). Our display featured Tanabata. We asked people to write their wish on a piece of paper and tie it to bamboo branches. We also wrote names in Japanese. A very unscientific poll of the wishes revealed a large number for world peace and harmony…very appropriate for choir games. I was more prosaic and wished for rain. JACL members also collaborated with the Gifu Sister group as they played hosts to the Mukunoki Choir—a group of about 20 girls from age 6 to 13. They sang for the re-opening ceremony of Washington Park. At about the same time as the World Choir Games, the JACL National Convention was happening in Seattle. Our delegate was Chad Yoshikawa, a Cincinnati Chapter member who lives near Seattle. Please see his report elsewhere in the newsletter. From all reports, the Convention was a success and we have an enthusiastic and capable group of national officers to provide leadership into the future. Having enthusiastic and capable leaders is the key to the strength of any organization. It is about time to select leaders for the Cincinnati Chapter. I will be stepping down as president at the end of my term in January. We need some new leaders to come forward, preferably in a younger demographic. Us old folks have been doing a good job, I think (feel free to disagree), but if our chapter is to really thrive we need some new blood who can develop programs and events to appeal to the new generations. It was heartening at last year’s LA convention to see almost half of the delegates without discernible grey hair. I don’t know if Chad did a hair check this year. The point is, I hope some of you in the younger generations will step up to a leadership position in our local JACL. There is a lot of potential to grow the organization and lead it into a strong voice for the AAPI community in Cincinnati and the nation. PERSONALS Condolences Jo Okura passed away on March 13, 2012, at the age of 76. Surviving are daughter Shelly, brother Al Berst and sister Janet Berst. She was a long-time member and supporter of Cincinnati JACL. Carol Sterrett, daughter of the late Kaye and Marnelle Watanabe, passed away on March 7, 2012. Surviving are son Scott, sister Donna and brother David Watanabe. Mitzi Kato, 90, passed away on June 7, 2012, at her home in Land O’Lakes, Florida. She enjoyed sixty years of marriage to Ichiro Kato whom she met in the Granada Internment Camp in Colorado during World War II. In 2006 Mitzi and Ichiro moved to Florida. She is survived by son, Dennis Kato and his wife Janet, her daughter, Diane Kuzma, along with four granddaughters, Jennifer, Erica, Donna, Kelly and grandson, Gregory. DONATIONS Cincinnati Chapter gratefully acknowledges the following donations: Kono Naegele, Cincinnati OH Yoriko Suhr, Cincinnati OH In memory of Jane Murata Prudential Financial, Cincinnati OH Masaji and Tae Toki, Cincinnati OH In memory of Carol Sterrett Masaji and Tae Toki, Cincinnati OH Okura Family Scholarship in memory of Jo Okura Fred and Nicolle Rauch, Cincinnati OH The Leiberg Family, Columbia MD Patti & Leon Leiberg, Washington DC James and Peggy Tojo, Cincinnati OH Stephanie K. Bowman, Cincinnati OH Gordon Yoshikawa, Cincinnati OH Donna L. Labemeier, Cincinnati OH Frances Tojo, Cincinnati OH Mary & Leo Gabbard, W Harrison OH Elizabeth H. Kirk, Portage WI Betty R. Newman, Milford OH John & Frances Berst, Lemont IL The Bigham & Dates Family, Cincinnati Alma P. Bobb, Hershey PA Hiroshi & Hiroko Nishiyama, Cincinnati Donna L. Labermeier, Cincinnat i OH Peggy McDaniel, Cincinnati OH Friends of PNC, Cincinnati OH Doug & Ann Sand, Cincinnati OH Raymond Miciek, Dacula GA DeeDee Smith, Dacula GA Marty Miciek, Dacula GA Lisa Hess, Dacula GA Carol Knight, Dacula, GA Jodie & Tim Binning, Cincinnati OH Barbara & John Neumann, Cincinnati Jill Nishiyama, Dayton OH David & Sherry Gomanous. Kenilworth Ann Conway, Cincinnati OH Theresa Okura. Chicago IL Donald & Marilyn Okura, Dublin OH Masaji & Tae Toki, Cincinnati OH Mary L. Long, Cincinnati OH Shiro & Fumiko Tanaka, Cincinnati James Takeuchi Scholarship in memory of Mitzi Kato Dennis & Janet Kato, San Antonio TX Masao Kato, Oakland CA Frances Tojo, Cincinnati OH Tomi Omori, Cincinnati OH Gordon Yoshikawa, Cincinnati OH WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS Paula Hensley and Family 575 Roundbottom Rd. Milford, OH 45150 David Tojo and Family 3091 Saratoga Lane Glenview IL 60026 Frank Satogata 5288 Birchknoll Ct. Cincinnati OH 45230 JACL National Convention 2012 Chad Yoshikawa Svetlana, Chad, Maksim I served as the Cincinnati delegate for the JACL National Convention in Bellevue, Washington from July 5th to July 8th, 2012. The convention was held at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue -- a small but thriving city east of Seattle filled with skyscrapers and home to high-tech companies such as Microsoft’s Bing and the Expedia travel site. The experience was eye opening. Coming in to the convention, I had no idea how things worked, who would attend, and what would be decided. It was my first convention - I was a ‘convention newbie’. Mr. Smith goes to Bellevue, Washington “You’re the Cincinnati Delegate, but you live in Washington?” was a question that I got asked more than a few times. Yes, my wife Svetlana, son Maksim, and I currently reside in Kirkland, Washington, only a few minutes from the convention center. I’m still on the Cincinnati JACL Board, though, having lived there from 2003-2008 during my tenure at graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. Previously, my only government experience was a ‘mock government’ program during high school and so at the beginning of the conference, I was confused to as whether I was a “proxy” or a “delegate”. By the time the convention ended I knew what these terms meant. I didn’t go in alone -- a newly-minted friend of mine from Google, Jeff Oldham, had scheduled a lunch with me the week before in Kirkland on the Google campus since he knew we would both be attending. Jeff represented the San Jose JACL Chapter and had a horse in the race for JACL President - Jeff Yoshioka. San Jose is a wellfunded JACL organization and had a half-dozen or more representatives attending. There were “Jeff Yoshioka” labeled granola bars, Hawaiian-styled leis, etc. making Jeff Yoshioka’s presence a strong one at the convention. The Cincinnati JACL Board was recommending that I vote for candidate David Lin, however. For the first time, I understood the role of a “delegate” at a “convention” -- having heard about “delegates” and “conventions” over and over again by political pundits and other talking heads on the national news channels with regards to the U.S. Presidential race. Could I vote with with my heart (for Yoshioka) or was I required to vote with the Board’s wishes? Yoshioka seemed to have more charisma of the two candidates, but I understood that David Lin had many years of dedicated JACL service at the regional and national level. Since President was the only contested race, I was conflicted. Registration My convention started off by picking up a name badge on Thursday, July 5th, at the Hyatt Regency. I wandered over to the desk labeled “Y” for Yoshikawa -- the “Y’s” were more popular at the JACL convention than most academic conferences I’ve attended, which drew a smile to my face. I was given two ribbons to attach to my badge -- one a blue “Delegate” ribbon and the other a bright red ribbon labeled “Thousand Club - Life”. There were some, but not many of these red ribbons floating around the convention halls. I felt a bit of pride wearing this ribbon, remembering that Frances Tojo had gifted me with this lifetime membership to JACL a few years earlier. Thanks Aunt Frances. After registration in the afternoon, I was a bit lost. There were several National Committee meetings going on in parallel sessions. Which one should I attend? Should I attend at all? I found one that looked interesting -- the “Program for Action” committee -- and went up to the 3rd floor of the hotel to attend. On the way there, though, I saw a familiar face -- my Googler friend Jeff Oldham -sitting in on the “Resolutions” committee and decided to drop in there, instead. Resolutions Committee Meeting The Resolutions Committee was considering a few “emergency resolutions” -- resolutions that had not been submitted by the resolution deadline, but could be considered for a floor vote by the delegates. Most, if not all, seemed like ‘no brainers’ to me -for example, resolutions to recognize the importance of Federal and Hawaii state healthcare benefits to Micronesians. Micronesia comprises several islands, part of which make up the Marshall Islands, which many of us remember as being the site of U.S. atomic tests back in the 1940s. I had a somewhat personal connection to Micronesia, having lived with a group of Micronesians back in my time at U.C. Berkeley. One of most interesting facts that I learned during that time is that the Micronesian “Kin Group” was different than the Western “Nuclear Family”; Micronesian cousins were more akin to our brothers and sisters. I sat down at the Resolutions Committee table and started asking questions. Long ago, after going through a few academic conferences during my first stint at grad school, I decided to drop my usual filter and speak whenever possible. After all, this was my first JACL convention and who knows if it would be my last. I thought I’d better take advantage of the opportunity to interact. “Why shouldn’t we adopt all of the resolutions? What harm would there be?” was one of my first questions. One particular resolution recommended creating a Lawrence Carr Award. The resolution was an emergency since the funding for the award only materialized a few days before the convention -- well after the due date. I quickly fired up my laptop to find out who Lawrence Carr was. (If you, like me, don’t know who Lawrence Carr was, do a quick internet search. In my book, he defines bravery and it probably cost him his political career.) This seemed like another “no brainer” -the award was well-funded and there was no material cost to the JACL. I probably broke protocol more than a few times. The committee was gracious, but I (slowly) realized that I wasn’t a Committee member and should be more of a passive observer. Thank goodness I realized this just in time to not raise my hand during the Committee vote! All of the emergency resolutions passed -- not that they were voted on, but all were recommended as worthy for a floor vote later the next day. Now I knew what was going on -- the Committees were deciding what made it to the floor and what didn’t. Suddenly, the phrase about U.S. bills being “stuck in Committee” had a much more visceral feel to me. The JACL certainly has less politicking than other national, or even regional governments, and seems to do what is right and in the best interest of the organization as whole. I can imagine, however, how lobbyists and political donations can influence members of our United States Congress to hold bills ‘in committee’ and prevent a floor vote. Committee positions are valuable, indeed. At the end of the meeting, I was invited to the “Youth Buffet Dinner” by someone who was too young to realize how old I am. I politely declined and drove home to get ready for the 8AM Council meeting the next day. National Council Meetings Here is where the fun began. I arrived a bit later than 8AM, due to a conflicting morning work meeting over video conference. During my work conference call, I was pinged by Stephanie Nitahara over Gmail Chat. I had a bit of a rough night with Maksim waking up more than a few times during the night, but any illusions I had about being able to sleep in and saunter in around noon vanished as I realized that this was the part of the convention that was important. I quickly drove back to Bellevue, picked up my green voting card from Elaine Akagi, and sat down at the Midwest District Council (MDC) table. During this first session, there were no votes but checking the schedule I realized that there were going to be several votes in the next session that day. This first session involved mostly a budget reading and the announcement that there was a very generous $1.2 million estate donation by a JACL member who recently passed. After lunch, and a very entertaining oratorical contest by JACL youth members, we had our first vote. There were a few votes during the session, but the most memorable was one that would establish new membership categories, something that was determined could raise more funds for the JACL. This resolution was controversial because it defined the membership dues in the JACL Constitution itself -- the entire table of membership dues would become a part of the Constitution and only changeable by a two-thirds majority vote every two years. The resolution seemed like a good idea, but the implementation seemed flawed. Many in the audience agreed. What followed was an incredibly interesting hour of debate followed by about 10 minutes of ‘this is just too long’. There were amendments to modify the table, strike the table, and whether the graphical table constituted “five words” or not. (Five words of change is the limit of an amendment). There were quite a few objections that we weren’t following procedure, mostly brought forth by the same elder statesman whom I don’t remember and wouldn’t name even if I did. There were multiple votes to extend the debate, the first few I voted for and the rest I voted against. The projections for revenue increase to JACL, to me, seemed to outweigh any objections to the exact wording of the resolution. “If we didn’t get it exactly right, that should be o.k” I thought and it reminded me of the Google mantra to ‘launch and iterate”. Nothing is perfect, especially legal matters. Finally, we had an up or down vote. A two-thirds majority was needed to modify the JACL Constitution. The final vote: 56 yays and 29 nays. ONE VOTE SHORT OF PASSAGE!!! It reminded me that every vote counts. Awards Ceremony The awards ceremony was highlighted by a special award given to Seattle news anchor, Lori Matsukawa. Mrs. Matsukawa was given the “National Convention Community Achievement Award”. She was definitely the A-lister at the event, judging by the amount of flash photography when she accepted her award. The award presenter’s description of Mrs. Matsukawa’s JACL involvement was moving and encouraged me to do more for the JACL community. Conclusion I had a fantastic time at the 2012 Convention and it was a pleasure seeing the energy of the JACL youth first hand. I can trust that we have a good base to continue our fight as a civil rights organization. I urge anyone reading to re-up their membership and, if possible, increase their involvement in the JACL. We do great work and it’s important to make your voice heard. It is through your membership that we are able to lobby Washington and make a real difference in this world where civil rights are being taking for granted. Even though the Redress was recognized many years ago, there is a continuing need to right the wrong of the Japanese Internment and ensure that everyone is treated equally and without prejudice. By the way, I decided to vote with the guidance of the Cincinnati JACL. Our pick, David Lin, won with about three-fourths of the vote! CY The Cincinnati Chapter of the JACL Cordially invites you and your family and friends to the ANNUAL POTLUCK DINNER Date: Sunday, August 19, 2012 4:00 pm 5:00 pm 6:00 pm Social Hour Potluck Dinner Raijin Taiko (formerly Cincinnati-Dayton Taiko) Sakura Ladies Chorus Bon Odori Location: Hyde Park Bethlehem Methodist Church Madison Road and Hyde Park Avenue Sakura Ladies Chorus Fund Raising June 2012 Thanks to the generosity of Toyota Motors NA winners of the 2012 JACL Reds Raffle were able to enjoy the Toyota Suite at Great American Ball Park to watch the Cincinnati Reds play the Milwaukee Brewers. Winners were: Carol Pitzer, John McDaniel, Hiroko Nishiyama, Ken LeCroix, and Kazuya Sato. Asian Culture Festival at The Museum Center At Shirayamadani gravesite: (row 1) Mariko Hayase, Hiroko Nishiyama, Kono Naegele, Frances Tojo, Jacqui Vidourek, Betsy Sato (row 2) Gordon Yoshikawa, Kazuya Sato, Dr. Elizabeth Fowler, Carolyn Barricklow, Reiko Tanaka, Dr. Kinji Tanaka, Paul Tanaka (photo taken by Peter Tanaka) Yo (Yoichi) Sato passed away on May 8, 2012 in Dayton, OH. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Yaeko; sons Richard (San Francisco) and Toshio (Dayton). Yo worked for McCall’s for 27 years and Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority for 11 years. He was a charter member of the Dayton JACL. He was ever present at the joint Dayton-Cincinnati installation dinners. He will be missed. Kitaro Shirayamadani 1861 – 1948 At Cincinnati Art Museum (see front page for names) JASGC Sakura Matsuri Dinner THE GRAINS OF RICE Cincinnati Chapter Japanese American Citizens League 7761 Gwenwyn Drive Cincinnati, OH 45236 www.cincinnatijacl.org 2012 CALENDAR August 19 Potluck Dinner Hyde Park Bethlehem Methodist Church Madison Road and Hyde Park Avenue 4:00 Social Hour 5:00 Dinner 6:00 Entertainment Bon Odori September 27 National JACL Gala J. W. Marriott Hotel Washington DC
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