hardboiled says goodbye to RICHARD AOKI
Dear hardboiled,
On March 15, 2009, we lost one of our greatest warriors. Richard Aoki (1938-2009) dedicated his life to our community as a field marshal in the Black Panther Party, founding member of the Asian American Political Alliance, leader in the twLF, coordinator of the first Asian American Studies Program at UC Berkeley, counselor, teacher, fighter, warrior, inspiration, hero, and true servant of the people. Because of Mr. Aoki and others like him, we have an awareness of APA identity and APA struggle on this campus--an awareness that came from the passion and activism of students. However, as students today we still have an obligation to fight for what is needed, as Mr. Aoki reminds us of when he says:
“Can students alone take over state power? I think so, but it rarely happens. But they can raise a lot of hell. University students are the bellwether of society. They are the future.”
And so I ask you this: Have you been raising a lot of hell?
I don't know about you, but I've sure seen a lot of things to raise hell about recently— Rampant budget cuts, without student input, that affect our languages, our cultures, our area studies. Fees that have increased 97% in the last seven years. 97%. That’s sure as hell not okay with me. A recall election because of an alleged hate crime. Come on, hate crimes? How degenerate has this campus become? Not to mention biased and narrow Daily Cal coverage of said recall election. And still, a campus that is actually not that diverse, contrary to what the lamppost banners of smiling faces wish to portray.
Forty years after Mr. Aoki donned his black beret, the fight remains the same. As students and as people of color and allies, we’re still fighting for the same thing--self-determination and a meaningful and relevant education. We’re fighting to keep the university and the administration in check, because this is our university and sometimes we forget that while change is necessary we must always fight for the change we want.
Mr. Aoki and all of the fighters who came before us have taught us this.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not asking you to raise hell in any violent way. I’m simply asking you to read this ed note, and then the rest of hardboiled, and then do whatever else you need to do to educate yourself. And then look around, and question what’s going on and decide for yourself if you’re happy with the state of your campus and your community. And if you're not, then do something about it--join an organization (join hardboiled!), attend an event, voice your opinion, even just vote in the ASUC elections! I'm know I'm going to do all of the above, and more, because I’ve been looking around, and I’m sure as hell not satisfied with what I see. Perhaps it is time to raise some hell.
Perhaps it's time to raise hell because we deserve the student services, extracurriculars, clubs, organizations, sports, and resources we want. We deserve to determine what courses we want offered, and what departments we want funded. We deserve the right to know where our money is going, and we sure as hell deserve more than a simple 15 units a semester for our $25,000 a year. We all deserve the right to shape this university into something that belongs to all of us, where we cannot only learn about economics or biology or political science, but where we can learn to be leaders, constantly examining and exploring our identities and our future. We deserve whatever the hell we want, because it’s our money. It’s our money, our education, our university. We’re the bellwether of society, the future. And together, we can raise a lot of hell. Watch us.
In solidarity,
Annie Kim Noguchi