My evening with a Japanese American Black Panther

On the subject graduate work in the humanities, there are two types of people: the believers and the skeptics. When I studied English and later comparative literature, I saw my share of concerned and perplexed looks. "But what will you DO with that? Teach?", as if teaching is an illegitimate goal. I thought I would go to law school, but have since then been living through detour after detour on this road trip of life. 

Last night I saw a talk on Richard Aoki, the samurai among panthers, by Dr. Diane Fujino. She recently published a biography about this Japanese-American activists and was presenting her work to her home campus of UC Santa Barbara. To say the least, it was inspiring seeing someone talk about one man who symbolized so much. A Japanese-American in the Black Panther Party. Is it really that hard to rationalize? He was a child of the internment camps, he lived in a black neighborhood in Oakland, he lived his life as the "other". I think we call get caught up in the hype of the Black Panthers, and even perhaps Black Studies, as being an exclusive group. But we forget why they're there in the first place-- they exist because they are real; they deserve to be heard, studied, and learned from. 

Anyone who dedicates themselves to the humanities isn't in it for the money (at least they shouldn't be 'cos they'll be disappointed), they're in it for what is owed to the past and what we hope for the future. They have to be in it for the long-game. No sprints. Not even a marathon. There is no end. History has been written once, through one perspective and it's time for it to by told by others. Richard Aoki was a prominent figure of the Third World Liberation Front who fought for Ethnic Studies to be added to university curriculum. He, and many others saw the status quo as... in my words: too white. Today, while there are many ethnic studies programs, there is no question that minority (well, soon to be majority) culture is still underrepresented. One of the panelists last night commented that Richard Aoki wouldn't say they failed, he'd say they just didn't finish the job.

At the beginning of the talk, Dr. Fujino was introduced by black studies professor, Dr. George Lipsitz who said that his profession is one of hope-- you write something and put it out there and hope someone is looking for it. I've been looking for this for a long time...