Steven: I’m really excited about the podcast because it highlights how this movement has not just been going for the last few years but for many generations. There have been organizations, people, activists who have been working hard on this cause for a long time.
Tammy: I’m so glad that you mentioned that! When we see these events happen, it can feel like no progress is being made and no one is doing this work, but the reality is that there have been generations of activists chipping away at this for decades. Just to name a few: Yuri Kochiyama was a Japanese American civil rights activist who was influenced by her family’s experience in Japanese internment camps. She was a close colleague of Malcolm X and spent her lifetime advocating for our community, advocating for solidarity, and building toward this movement.
We also have Kathy Masaoka who’s another activist local to L.A. who has been doing incredible work in the community for generations. She’s been a key inspiration for the work that we do at Hate Is A Virus as well. All of this work builds upon each other and it’s so important for us to look into history at these incredible leaders who have been building this movement.