amy & Yuichi katoh

My parents, who despite our privilege taught me to reject authority, to joyfully break any rule I disagreed with, and to care deeply about the world around me.  Most of all, they showed by their own example that we are all human, no matter color, language or culture.  From my father, I got my firm pride in being Japanese... sort of.  And from my dreamer mother, my hopeless idealism. 

axel acakpo satchivi

Axel Acakpo-Satchivi, my Togolese/Beninois friend from college, who opened a window onto his experience living in America as a black person, and inspired me with his fervent passion to right the colonial history of the African continent.  He was the only person I really felt connected to those years I lived in America, and he lit the fire in me to try to make a difference in the world.

dawn zain

Dawn Zain, who became my own second mother.  MamaD was a veteran of the Liberation Movement who had been called back from decades of exile by Mandela to raise money for the elections.  To me, she is an example of a life led in the pursuit of justice and freedom.  Through her, I had ground floor access to all her old comrades -  many of the most renowned freedom fighters I had studied about in books and who were now taking leadership roles in the new South Africa. 

She has a PhD, met Che Guevara, and was a card carrying member of the South African Communist Party. In exile, she married a renowned Malaysian diplomat, and their daughter Mila was my partner all the years I lived in South Africa.