June-August, 2020
“Feed the Revolution: Donations to Support BLM-LA meals for organizing meetings” (Summer 2020)
Why are we doing this?
Nikkei Progressives is responding to a direct call for meal support from BLM-LA organizers. We are a group of Japanese American community organizers who always have food at our meetings and we know the importance of gathering over a meal. We see this as a way to specifically support the asks and needs of Black organizers, to whom we owe so much of our own strategies and liberation.
We are sourcing our meals for from Azay, a family owned Little Tokyo business and friend. We will post all receipts and proof of donations on this page for transparency.
June 7, 2020
Nikkei Progressives participated in Tsuru Rising by Tsuru for Solidarity this weekend, a national virtual movement to #CloseTheCamps. In this moment of uprising, Tsuru for Solidarity is taking the time to confront anti-Blackness in our communities and talk about the ways in which Japanese Americans must work actively in solidarity with Black movements. We know when we say #FreeThemAll we must mean everyone from immigrant detention, jails, prisons, and police custody. We honor that the call to “free them all” started with a cry from Black political prisoners in the U.S. and we owe so much of the foundational liberation work for us all to Black leaders, organizers, and everyday people. On June 7th, Nikkei Progressives convened virtually with leaders from Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice and Haitian Bridge Alliance, to uplift the voices and calls to action from and in support of Black immigrants and migrants. In this time, we asked those participating from home to take action and support these movements that are committed to Black liberation and life.
Watch the conversation at https://tsuruforsolidarity.org/tsururising2/