Chizu Iiyama
Chizu Kitano Iiyama (1921-2020) was an activist, social worker and educator who participated in social movements such as the Japanese American Redress Movement, integration in Chicago and the treatment of Arab Americans after 9/11.
Category Archives: Activism
Continue reading
Arline Moore
Hood River, Oregon businesswoman who actively supported residents of Japanese descent after World War II and chronicled nationally scrutinized local events by writing publicly.
Chiyoko Sakamoto
Chiyoko Sakamoto Takahashi (1912-94) earned the distinction of being the first Asian American woman admitted to the California State Bar as well as the first and only Nisei woman to practice law in California into the early post-World War II period.
Ina Sugihara
A leading Nisei activist in the 1940s, Ina Sugihara (1919–2004) was a frequent contributor to the press, both Japanese American and outside, and built coalitions for civil rights across racial lines.
Janice Mirikitani
Award-winning poet, dancer, activist and educator Janice Mirikitani (1942–2021) was internationally known and respected for her life-long commitment to addressing the horrors of war and for advocating against institutional racism and the enslavement of women and the poor.
Lily Okamoto
A Hawai’i-born, politically active Sansei who was the first woman in the Islands to be both a certified public accountant and licensed attorney.
Mari Okazaki
Mari Okazaki (1916-2005) was a psychiatric social worker who participated in the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS) as a researcher and continued her career in social care in the postwar years.
Mari Sabusawa Michener
Mari Sabusawa Michener (1920–94) was a Japanese American activist and philanthropist.
Mothers of Topaz
In response to the restoration of Selective Service for Nisei, some Issei mothers in Topaz organized to write a petition protesting the continued discrimination against their sons’ citizenship rights.
Mary Smeltzer
Peace activist, teacher at Manzanar, and manager of resettlement-era hostels in Chicago and New York.