Interviews

1. Where did the Name Gidra Originate

2. Struggle and Activism

3. Gidra's Editorial Process

4. Gidra - Community Newspaper

5. Gidra Collaborations

6. Common Cause

7. Gidra's Contributors

8. Gidra's Content

9. Content Conflict

10. Camp Experiences

11. Cincip

12. Staff and Struggles

Murase,Mike

Community activist

Cincip

Cincip is picnic spelled backwards and I think even that is just to say, we’re not just a regular old picnic. You know there are like kenjinkai picnics and other people had you know all American picnics. We were sort of saying this is going to be our own kind of picnic.

A lot Gidra people were involved of it, but I don’t think it was a Gidra event. I think you might get that impression because some people sort of see the countercultural side of the movement associated with Gidra, which, you know there’s an aspect to that and cincip, it kind of seem to be that countercultural you know like sort of, you know, all about peace and love, all of that.

So, but...I think it was, you know a good way for everybody in the movement to get together and just have a good time and we’re all just young people who want to have fun. We don’t, you know, it’s not all about the struggle, having a good time, bonding with each other, and making friends is a part of the struggle.

Date: September 29, 2011

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kris Kuromitsu, John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Mike Murase--attorney, activist, administrator, writer and photographer--has been involved in human services, social change, education, government and politics for over 40 years. As an undergraduate at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), he was a co-founder of the Asian American Studies Center and later taught ethnic studies at UCLA, University of Southern California and California State University at Long Beach.

Mike’s roots in the Asian American communities are deep. He was a part of the core group who founded Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), a social service and community economic development agency serving Little Tokyo and greater Japanese American community throughout Los Angeles. Mike served as the board president for first 5 years. He also advocated for members of Japanese Welfare Rights Organization, Little Tokyo People’s Rights Organization and National Coalition for Redress & Reparations (NCRR), and authored Little Tokyo: One Hundred Year History.

In 2006, Mike returned to LTSC to join its management team and currently is Director of Service Programs. (August 2012)