By RON IKEJIRI
2028 represents the 40th anniversary of the historic signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 by President Ronald Reagan.
It would be appropriate for the JACL and all of the community organizations, groups and individuals to gather together to honor President Reagan at the Reagan Presidential Library and Institute in Simi Valley and perhaps invite President George W. Bush as the keynote speaker.
2029 represents the 100th anniversary of the JACL. Let’s celebrate this historic event at the newly dedicated Obama Presidential Library in Chicago and perhaps invite President Obama as the keynote speaker.
Let’s calendar the date and begin preparations.
Broad-Stroke Objectives
Starting now, the JACL should focus its influence towards achieving three broad-stroke objectives:
• An American of Japanese ancestry as a Supreme Court justice
• The next ambassador to the United Nations be an American of Japanese ancestry
• The next ambassador to Japan from the United States be an American of Japanese ancestry
In the mid-1980s, I was engaged by the National Italian American Foundation to assist and organize a national New York City conference of local, regional, and national organizations. The objective: “To come together with the goal of having the next Supreme Court justice of the United States be an Italian.”
Why was I hired? The reason given to me was that since I was not Italian American I did not have any bias or preconceived prejudices or deep-rooted understanding of traditional and centuries-old infighting of Italian American groups. Because of that lack of understanding, I could help all of the disparate groups focus on the objective.
In 1986, Antonin Scalia was nominated by President Reagan and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a vote of 98-0. In 2005, Samuel Alioto became the second Italian American to become a Supreme Court justice. Two out of nine justices were Italian American.
Our goal would be to put into place the academic, political appointments to federal benches, particularly to the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, of qualified Japanese Americans.
During my lifetime, it was always my hope that my high school classmate Glen Fukushima would have been in a position to be appointed as the U.S. ambassador to Japan. The right education: Deep Springs, Stanford, Harvard. The right professional credentials: U.S. trade representative, CEO and president of major corporations, including Airbus Japan. A solid foundation. However, the ever-shifting political winds hacw always been the challenging hurdle. Getting close, we must continue to develop and encourage the future Glen Fukushimas of our community to pursue a career in diplomacy.
Strategic Goals
In 1964, Mas Okui was my social studies teacher at Gardena High School. I was 16 years old. One of the most lasting lessons that I learned from Okui Sensei was that “unless you have a goal, it doesn’t matter where you are because you never intended to be there anyway!” (Okui Sensei was interned at Manzanar and has developed a following as a skilled fly-fishing instructor.)
So let’s plan to be WHERE WE WANT TO BE.
EXIT STRATEGY for each goal and objective.
SUNSET DATE for each goal and objective, and a date certain to assess whether those goals and objectives remain attainable or need to be revised for the ever-changing and demanding events in our national and international community.
Overcoming Financial Challenges
So that there will be no misunderstanding, according to the JACL national secretary and treasurer, Jonathan Okamoto, the JACL has endowment and related assets of over $15.63 million. The JACL is solvent, and we will make it to 100 years in 2029.
In the last two months, the newly appointed executive director, Lilly Simmering, has brought her professional skills and focused on budget issues and has engaged the services of a fractional chief financial officer and staff to assist Okamoto in preparing updated financial reports.
During the past four years, as a community we need to acknowledge and thank the National Board and the JACL leadership of Larry Oda, the national president, to have the courage to carry on in the face of challenging financial and personnel demands and the rampant onslaught of traditional, normal and customary Nikkei “monku.” Thank you.
Going Back to Basics
I’ve been told by a National Board member that within the last 20 or so years, the JACL has lost 13,000 members. That translates into a loss of $855,000 in membership dollars.
Going forward, rekindling the membership is the number one priority. The question becomes: What does the JACL offer to anyone that would consider being a member?
While everyone wants a particular program, the message was noticeably clear from Secretary/Treasurer Okamoto:
Find the revenue for the program, not just for one year but for the life of the program; then we can make strategic plans for the program.
Bottom line, Income will drive programs. When programs proceed without measurable standards, you have cost overruns and deficits, which has been the challenge currently and in past years.
Center for Advocacy and Governance
Getting our voices heard and a seat at the table again!
Among the goals that I would propose is the formation of a National JACL center that is focused on advocacy and governance.
In turn, this will allow members to input their own regional concerns and views on prominent issues and events.
Going forward on a parallel track to promote the Center for Advocacy and Governance would be the creation of the JACL Digital Platform.
This will be the primary platform that will be the umbrella and bridge from which and by which the JACL will be able to communicate its defining purpose and our contributions to all things America and American.
From the JACL Digital Platform every chapter will be able to contribute legacy, current and prospective views in real time and reach across a broad range of members and the worldwide digital community. Collaborating with Densho would be ideal to further archive our Japanese American experience, along with The Rafu Shimpo and other Nikkei publications.
I foresee every chapter having a designated content creator. The chapter content creator can start with interviews and the creation of local points of interest and points of view on past, current and future events.
These centers would not only celebrate the legacy of Americans of Japanese ancestry and their contributions to our American way of life, but also encourage generations to follow to seek and make their lives well lived, contributing to the advancement of our communities.
From the veterans groups, particularly those that have served in Vietnam and the Gulf Wars and currently in service, the creation of a center called Stars and Stripes, that recognizes those that that have served, such as Gen. Eric Shinseki, Adm. Harry Harris, and are serving in our military and encourage following generations to become future military leaders.
The Stars and Stripes Center can institutionalize nationally the Japanese American Veterans Association and multiple Nisei VFW posts throughout the United States and have their legacies assured.
One of the proposed initiatives would be to have each and every JACL chapter create a local nonprofit group, as an example called Friends of Nisei Post 1961. The traditional VFW and American Legion post members are declining and the JACL as a national organization has a responsibility and a duty to assure their continued support for their sacrifices and protecting our American democratic way of life by encouraging local communities to create support groups for our veterans.
While the scope may appear to be overwhelming, if you listen to our youth you too will believe that “WE GOT THIS!“
AND WE WILL, STARTING AT THE NATIONAL JACL CONVENTION!
All rights reserved by Ron Ikejiri, May 2026/July 2026. Opinions expressed in Vox Populi are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.