by Kathy Masaoka

When I first got involved in the 70’s I did heard few people willing to talk about the camps much less speak out for reparations. But some individuals did dare to raise the issue of monetary compensation and gradually some people and organizations began to take it seriously. But there was still not a movement. It would take the commission hearings in 1981, unleashing the voices of the people who spoke of their losses and pain during WWII, to jumpstart the redress movement. Once the silence had been broken and the Sansei heard their parents and grandparents speak, the campaign had a force and energy that carried it forward. NCRR believed that it would take the people speaking out and a grassroots movement to win redress. But what did this mean?

Building a grassroots movement meant having to build a fighting spirit in ourselves as a people. It meant overcoming the shame and belief that we had done something wrong. It meant placing the wrong squarely on our own government and it meant believing that we not only had the right but also the power to demand an apology and reparations. It also meant believing that we could win.

This took a process of organizing and educating within our own community as we took on the United States government. It meant building coalitions with other community groups like the JACL, NCJAR, and the coram nobis group and linking with the struggles and issues of other communities. There were those who disagreed and there were those who did not believe that we could ever win. Even we, at times, doubted ourselves during the almost decade long campaign. But we continued and that is what a grassroots movement is about – continuing to lobby in Washington D.C., continuing to write letters, sending mailgrams and building support in other communities in spite of the ups and downs.

A grassroots movement is also about taking bold steps like organizing a community delegation of over 120 (or 140) people to lobby for redress in 1987 in spite of the skepticism and criticism of others. And when the government did not appropriate the funds for redress, the community filled the JACCC Plaza to protest and, yes, to march. So when the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was signed and when the redress checks finally came to the first Issei, we could say that we as a community had fought for and had won redress. Not a small accomplishment for a community like ours and something that cannot be taken away from us. We made history and righted a wrong.

While we look back twenty years and celebrate this victory we are reminded that the grassroots activism that helped us win is needed even more today as our civil liberties are being eroded and the Muslim, Arab American and South Asian communities continue to face suspicion and hostility. Whether we started out as activists we soon felt the power of our community through the redress campaign. We are happy to see that grassroots activism is alive in the college students and young people involved in issues in Little Tokyo and on their campuses. Let’s celebrate that power and put our fighting spirit into action.