5/2/17 Journal 7: Richard Aoiki

Lina Osofsky

913603947

5/2/17

Richard Aoiki

Richard Aoiki grew up in a concentration camp when he was little. Later he moved to Oakland California. In Oakland he had the opportunity to be immersed in African American Culture. Later in life he became a spokesperson for the AAPA at UC Berkeley. He became one of the most well known activist for asian rights on campus. He was also very well known by other ethnic groups (black and chicano) groups on campus.

He participated in one of the longest strikes to happen on campus. It took place for around 3 months. During this strike he got arrested. Basically he was just really crazy passionate about defending his people and was not afraid to hide it to anyone (even the police). To show the intensity of his participation: his own mother would not support his intense strike movements in fear.

Before the asian american movement, which was actually very recently (before 1968), the asian americans participated in other movements. AAPA became the first asian american group not based on ethnicity. It was an alliance to build an Asian american political organization that were anti-racists. They believed that asians needed to be militant -- take on real issues and not be nice about it. They also tried to be asian american, help each other in struggles and notice common struggles.