tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.comments2019-11-22T08:14:20.072-08:00Eclipse Rising - Zainichi Koreans in the United StatesEclipse Risinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-12022279585910165872016-11-26T20:05:25.113-08:002016-11-26T20:05:25.113-08:00I was very lucky to have met Mr. Tegu Kim in 2010....I was very lucky to have met Mr. Tegu Kim in 2010. He graciously let us stay in the Hansen's Disease facility when we visited him, shared his story with our group of Zainichi Korean activists on a solidarity tour around Japan, and gave us a tour of the facilities, including the space where they incarcerated residents who challenged the oppressive living conditions forced onto those with Hansen's disease. He had a very kind and strong spirit and we learned so much from him. I will remember him and make sure to pass on his story. Thanks for this post, rest in power, Tegu-san!<br />-Kei FischerEclipse Risinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-85362068020676080812016-11-21T23:15:29.692-08:002016-11-21T23:15:29.692-08:00Mr. Tegu Kim, Zainichi Hero and Warrior against al...Mr. Tegu Kim, Zainichi Hero and Warrior against all forms of racism and discrimination, took his last breath in this life, on November 21, 2016. He was 90 years old. He crossed the sea from Kyongsan Namdo to Japan during Japan's colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula, to be with his father who had escaped there several years prior, as colonial authorities were cracking down on young organizers against Japanese colonial rule. He grew up in Japan, and spent most of his life, as it turns out, in this "leper's colony" facility, Nagashima Aisei En. He never accepted his lot in life as the banished. He stood up and led a class-action lawsuit against the Japanese government for forcible seclusion of people with (and often, without) Hansen's Disease for the sake of "public health" for decades. The case resulted in historic victory for patients' rights. He never lost a sense of his roots. In his autobiography, published when he was 80 years old, Tegu says: <br /><br />"identity" is a term made familiar since years back now. I still can't figure out what the exact match for this English word is in Japanese. But how I understand this word, to me, is to appreciate who I am, by way of appreciating who all the people are that made who I am today. The ideology that deems ancestors sacred, that will never die.<br /><br />Self-identifying Zainichi cannot be agents for reclaiming Zainichi identity if the connection with the roots is severed. Tegu's refrain here is a reminder of this important message -- and his life of courage and struggle, a role model of a fighter spirits for us all. Thank you, and Rest in Hope, Tegu Kimmiholahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03661700103253863949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-24890328288353147672016-08-01T16:01:18.473-07:002016-08-01T16:01:18.473-07:00Thank you for this.
Queer Korean-American from Se...Thank you for this.<br /><br />Queer Korean-American from SeattleSuyoungnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-53382808255338936362016-06-26T07:57:40.392-07:002016-06-26T07:57:40.392-07:00Thank you for this! Beautifully written. I learn...Thank you for this! Beautifully written. I learned quite a bit. I didn't know about the finger printing requirement. And I especially love how you mapped out your routes to strategic and transnational alliances with other systematically oppressed people of Color globally. m carternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-56588570581659934522015-02-05T08:08:44.598-08:002015-02-05T08:08:44.598-08:00Thank you for the posting, mihola. As a descendant...Thank you for the posting, mihola. As a descendant of both Zanichi Korean and Ainu heritage, and as an indigenous studies scholar, I found some parts of your post problematic. But I hope this would be a positive stirring for more dialogues for us to have in future. Yurika from ERnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-56893454406869906062009-02-08T22:35:00.000-08:002009-02-08T22:35:00.000-08:00Hmm... weird. I checked the website that originall...Hmm... weird. I checked the website that originally stated she was raised in Japan, and now it has changed to Youjeen being born and raised in Korea. I also checked out sites like http://www.kome-world.com/uk/database-artist.php?id=5<BR/>That resource gives a pretty detailed account of Youjeen's career and it looks like we got false information and now it's been corrected. She is from Korea - not zainichi Korean. Still pretty cool singer, though! :) <BR/>Thanks Desarraigado!Eclipse Risinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-52210952233702004342009-02-08T21:16:00.000-08:002009-02-08T21:16:00.000-08:00Her wikipedia entry says that she was born and rai...Her wikipedia entry says that she was born and raised in Korea. This may be incorrect on whoever wrote the entry on wikipedia, so you may want to cite and correct it.Brett Fujiokahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16637583890034028224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-14969316713574333492009-01-29T10:05:00.000-08:002009-01-29T10:05:00.000-08:00I am not sure how this affects a debate in Japan, ...I am not sure how this affects a debate in Japan, but I am worried that this may dampen the zainichi's local suffrage claim in Japan. Why should the state of Japan give to a group of people who already have a right to participate democratically in another state? I hope I am wrong about this, but I just cannot see how this positively affects on the community of Zainichi.<BR/>However, I am glad, in a sense, that Zainichi can *finally* have a suffrage somewhere on this earth through this legal revision in ROK, but for those who have lived in Japan over 3 or 4 generations who have lesser ties to their homeland, what is more urgently necessary is for them to have a say over the politics in the community where they live (in this case, that's in Japan). -anonymousAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com