What is and how are we…”enough”? The Young Professionals Caucus (YPC) brings you a live session of the Speaking Nikkei Podcast (SNP) focused on telling our stories to help enact a vision for a better world. Come listen to the SNP hosts, Dylan Mori and Zara Espinoza, along with our guest speakers Floyd Mori and Sheera Tamura as they discuss how generations of Asian American people in our community are interconnected and interdependent on each other through our shared yet different life experiences that are key to shaping a collective voice that speaks truth to power. We hope to see you at the upcoming 2023 JACL National Convention, hosted at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, California!

It's been a while! Big changes, big announcements, and our upcoming live session as we prepare for the 2022 JACL National Convention.

On this jam-packed episode of Speaking Nikkei, we get a chance to chat with Zara Espinoza (pronouns: they/them, she/her, ze/zir). We talk about Zara's experiences growing up as an multiethnic international adoptee in a multiracial/multicultural family (including Zara's Mexican American heritage) in the Midwest, hip-hop culture and Zara's breakdancing career, getting the opportunity to live and work for the government education system in Japan, some perspective and practice of Zara's equity and justice work as a queer non-binary femme person of color working in corporate tech and non-profit industries, and Zara's thoughts how we can support one another while adapting to change by truly being in community together. We're excited to begin to learn more about Zara's unique life experiences, including getting below the surface into the mixed multitudes of intersectionality that are a part of Zara's Wonder Woman origin story." Zara's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larazarae/ (include a note you listen to Speaking Nikkei!) Zara's IG: https://www.instagram.com/exhilaratezara/ Out In Tech: www.outintech.com

This month Ryan Yoshikawa (SELANOCO Chapter) sits down with Matthew Weisbly, former Daniel Inouye Fellow and current National Education and Communications Coordinator with JACL National Staff. We talk about Matt’s introduction to JACL while growing up in Arizona, as well as his work on the National Staff. You can learn more about JACL National and how to become apart of the National Staff here: https://jacl.org/jobs-at-jacl

"On this episode of Speaking Nikkei, we're talking about all things art with our guest, Sophiya Ichida Sweet! We talk about rock n' roll summer camp, learning how to paint, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, traveling to Japan (and returning during COVID), and being a children's book author." If you want to read Sophiya's work, you can find her work here: https://www.amazon.com/Sophiya-Sweet/e/B07XHTM6DG/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

This episode of Speaking Nikkei features Dr. Mika Kennedy, a professor at Kalamazoo College in western Michigan. We talk about identity can be felt individually as well as communally, how existential crises lead to great decisions, Soviet literature, how JA incarceration was shaped by ideas of Western expansion, how to navigate academia, her chapter's excellent history exhibit Exiled to Motown, and teaching during a pandemic. Also Dylan's dog makes an appearance.

This month on Speaking Nikkei, we have guest Vinicius Taguchi, the president of the Twin Cities Chapter in Minnesota. With the Derek Chauvin trial completed, Minneapolis has been a hub for social justice and police reform, with the role of Japanese Americans becoming even more prominent in recent months. We also discuss the situation at the Sakura Gardens senior living home in Boyle Heights, California. The facility is currently owned and operated by a for-profit group that is looking to remove its Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) and evict some of its residents over the summer. Advocacy and attention from JACL Chapters have put even more pressure on the California assembly members and the city officials to ensure our seniors are protected and kept safe, especially during a global pandemic. If you would like to know more about the situation at the Sakura Gardens facility, follow the Save Our Seniors Network: https://saveourseniors.network/

On this episode of Speaking Nikkei, we speak to Sylvie Shiosaki (she/her) out of the Seattle JACL chapter! Hear her stories about growing up on an island in the Pacific Northwest, working in higher education, chaperoning a group of Japanese American youths on a trip to Japan, our thoughts on social media, and more!

Welcome to the Speaking Nikkei Podcast! For our flagship episode, Ryan Yoshikawa (SELANOCO Chapter, Pacific South West District) talks with Jamie Morishima (SELANOCO Chapter, Pacific South West District) about how she got involved in the JACL. She was born and raised in Mission Viejo, California. She grew up playing SEYO league basketball in Orange County with the VFW youth group. She graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 2019. Currently, she works in Los Angeles as a labor organizer. Jamie is excited to be a part of the JACL Young Professionals Caucus.