“No-No Boy” is a fictional novel written by John Okada that was published in 1957. The book is about a Japanese immigrant, named Ichiro Yamada who is from Seattle. During World War II, Ichiro refused to swear his loyalty to the United States with the loyalty questionnaire and was sent to jail for two years. As he was released, he struggled with returning back to his old life along with considering himself to be a Japanese American. From him refusing to answer the loyalty questionnaire, it earned him the name of “no-no boy”, basically the name for Japanese Americans who come off as disloyal to the United States. The novel wasn’t well received or even appreciated in the United States. While researching the novel, I ended up reviewing Karen Tei Yamashita’s analysis of the novel. She discusses how when the novel was first released, it wasn’t appreciated as much, especially by Japanese Americans because “what was said, hurt” according to Yamashita. Yamashita also discusses how most of the time, the country was unfair to Japanese Americans, during these loyalty questionnaires, they were asked to fight in the war, yet they weren’t given citizenship and denied freedom, it comes off as them being taken advantage of. The United States was never a place that was necessarily fond of immigration even though it is known as the “melting pot”, in 2018, the Supreme Court finally overturned Korematsu v. United States, where wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans was justified, so that just goes to show the country still isnt very open to immigrants. From reading the novel, it showed me that America has a constant habit of shunning racial minorities and using laws to justify it, even today it is still a recurring thing, showing we have a long way to go, “No-No Boy” happens to be an example of a group that is marginalized for Americas benefit.
howl
“who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet tail borsht & tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom,
who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg,”
who cooked rotten animals king heart feet tail borscht- this shows how desperate they were and how any and every piece of edible food that they found they ate because they never knew when they would have their chance for another meal. they couldn’t afford to waste anything at all
and tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom- they wished they had access to healthier, fresher foods. nothing fancy at all, just something with nutritional value rather than a tortilla served with rotted meat
who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg- i think plunged themselves shows how quickly and unhesitatingly they were by using the word plunged, and looking for an egg shows how simple their request would have been, or more so how thankful they would have been for something that small and seemingly insignificant that would seem to someone who doesn’t experience food insecurity
no-no boy
John Okada published the book No-No Boy in 1957. The story of Ichiro Okada, a Seattle native of Japanese descent, is told in the film No-No Boy. Okada was imprisoned during World War II for not opposing the emperor of Japan and for refusing to register for duty with the American troops. In this novel Ichiro is torn between being forced to choose between his home country identity and his Americanness. He does not want to go to war against his home country yet America is drafting him to. He refuses to. The closest way I can relate to this is minor colorism experiences, if that’s what you’d call this. I’m Puerto Rican, but I’m white-passing. My grandmother’s ancestors were German and Spanish Jews, so I’m much paler than the rest of my family. I’ve also experienced people trying to discredit my being Puerto Rican because of my skin color. I’d have people try to tell me I’m wrong when I say I’m Puerto Rican. I’ve never needed to choose between any, though, and I could only imagine how heart-wrecking and confusing that could have been for him or for anyone who has experienced what Ichiro has.
Upton Sinclair, an American researcher and muckraker, published The Jungle in 1906. Sinclair aimed to bring attention to the oppressive conditions of life and work that immigrants were forced to endure at the time. He spent many weeks laboring at the Chicago meatpacking facilities that are heavily depicted in The Jungle before he wrote it.
The harrowing working conditions in the meat-packing industry were brought to life in this novel through the depiction of infected, spoiled, and sullied meat, which stunned the general population and prompted new government sanitation regulations.
Before the turn of the twentieth century, a significant development had arisen in the US. The reformers, also known as progressives, were responding to issues brought on by the rapid expansion of both cities and factories. At first, progressives focused on eliminating government corruption and improving the lives of those who lived in slums. They then began to criticize large corporations for their unethical business practices at the turn of the century, including Standard Oil, U.S. Steel, and the Armour meat-packing company. The reformists uncovered how these organizations disposed of contest, set exorbitant costs, and regarded laborers as wages-laves.
However, the progressives disagreed on the best strategy for controlling these large corporations. A few reformists needed to separate the enormous enterprises with hostility to restraining infrastructure regulations. Others believed that regulation by the federal or state governments would be more effective. A developing minority contended for communism. All of these proposals were rejected by the owners of the large industries: They demanded that they be allowed to operate their businesses independently.
When the progressive reformers were gaining strength, Theodore Roosevelt was president. After William McKinley’s assassination in 1901, he took office and served as president until 1909. Roosevelt was in favor of large-scale businesses.
Progressive journalists and other writers who exposed corporate injustices did not always get Roosevelt’s approval. President Roosevelt thought that progressive journalist David Phillips had gone too far when he wrote a series of articles criticizing senators from both parties for serving the interests of big business rather than the people.
An Alumni’s Story to Success
Sam Pollard being interviewed by Esther Allen in image above:
Honestly, although I am not interested in specifically a career in film or documentary making there is something that I took away from hearing Sam Pollard’s interview: motivation. It is so cool to know that he is a Baruch Alumni that has established a successful life and career for himself in the film industry, even being given respect by someone as highly regarded as Spike Lee. What initially gained my interest about the conversation is how they mentioned how they initially came to Baruch as a marketing major and how it was their advisor who opened the idea of film making to them. To think that a word of advice can change your entire life. I resonated with this deeply as although I make my own decisions, they are also influenced by an amalgamation of interactions along the way. For example, I have never regretted choosing to study English Literature, yet, it was through constant speaking of the subject with professors and fellow peers that really solidified how happy I truly feel on this path. Sam is proof that you can be a normal New York kid with a dream and succeed bigger than you expect. His talk made me realize that usually the main thing that is holding you back is fear, fear of taking a chance at a dream and failing, yet can you fail if you never try? You can’t, some things are worth risking being in pain over, especially when it’s your passion.
Politics…? Or Maybe a Metaphor
Crumbs from the table of Joy Playbill with Keen Company insert, Entry ticket is ontop, the set of the play can be seen in the background in image above:
I genuinely enjoyed watching the performance. I feel like it began a bit slow but began to pick up with the introduction of the aunt. I was shocked at how much communism held a big role in the plot of the characters yet I chose to see it as a metaphor for different perspectives of life as I don’t care for politics. The element of father divine was comedic yet a bit sad as it was realistic at how religion can truly influence ideologies. Despite it sounding absurd to outsiders that the father believes that the man he calls father divine has a direct connection to God and as a result has the answers to all your struggles, he truly does believe that the man will eventually answer. His belief leads to a form of obsession as he interrupts conversation to jot down questions for Father Divine. It was honestly satisfying to watch the scene where his questions get thrown everywhere as he is barely present in his daughters lives and tends to sound a bit selfish throughout. When it comes to the metaphor of differing perspectives, I believe making the aunt this “radical” for being a communist is powerful when viewed through this lens as the daughter yearns to have the freedom she thinks her aunt has. There was something haunting at the end, as it ended with a sense of need and persistence to survive and thrive as the main character repeated herself until the lights went out. Overall, it was a great experience to see a story that could have been the reality for others back then, it reminds me that no matter how far away historical events may feel, the stories live on as long as we continue to tell them.
“Crumbs from the Table of Joy” is Layered
Crumbs from the Table of Joy followed Ernestine and the Crump family’s move from the south to a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn as they dealt with the loss of their mother. Ernestine’s father blindly places his faith in a false prophet, marries a German woman, and initially lets the city and his grief consume him. His character can be compared to Jurgis (and other characters we’ve read)—he had this expectation he would make more money when, in reality, life is/remained an obstacle.
The beginning of the play felt like set-up until the Crump sisters’ aunt arrived. She moved in with them and passionately expressed her undying support for the movement in Harlem. She provides us with commentary on what it means to be Black especially after Ernie’s father’s marriage, but she also struggles with an alcohol addiction.
The play is layered and connects to our course on a deeper level—not only did it tackle the issues writers we’ve read so far have (e.g., Du Bois), but Ernestine enrolls in City College and becomes an advocate. She was a student like us at the time. We were in the audience learning of another CUNY student who fought for social change as we study what that looked like at the time. It also weaves our CUNY archive readings into the conclusion of the play, while it details the very real and disheartening conclusion to the rest of the cast’s stories.
This is the Playbill, ticket, and Keen Company insert we were given [see image on the right].
The Power of Art at the Museum of the City of New York
painting of the 1911 Triangle factory fire on display at the museum of the city of New York in the image above:
Visiting the Museum of the City of New York was impactful because it reminded me how the power of art can create such strong reactions for me. Having actual historic items for display on its own is intense but what really transforms how you process the information that you are seeing is knowing the stories behind the art or object. To see real shackles can send shivers down anyone’s spine but there is a different sense of pain when it is said that a free woman kept her shackles so that the world can see how they were treated like animals. For me, what made the biggest impression on me is learning about the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire where a painting displays a semblance of the horrors of that day. Our tour guide taught us that workers would be locked inside the building in order to prevent them from taking breaks. Not only was this shocking, but it was also infuriating. It is a reminder of the common trend in history of workers slaving their lives away for corporations that will replace them the second they get sick. This reminded me a lot of Antanas’ death that could have been avoided if working conditions and hours were improved, yet he worked for hours in the cold in a room with chemicals so strong his boots melt. Overall, it was a fun experience and I am glad I was able to have this experience.
“The Jungle” Casting Characters
For Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”, the author describes Jurgis to be very masculine and strong as he is the head of the household and the central provider of the family. He is a strong personality and is always motivated to work. He is physically strong and can take care of the family and their needs by himself. Ona on the other hand is fully feminine and has very submissive characteristics in contrast to Jurgis. For Jurgis’s character I think Henry Cavill is the perfect option for Jurgis as he has played similar characters. He literally played Superman and Jurgis was the superman of their family. Henry Cavill is well built and masculine and European and he has played in similar periodic movies, I think Henry Cavill will be able to portray Jurgis perfectly. For Ona’s character, I believe Keira Knightley is a perfect option. Keira Knightley is known for her role in Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice and Ana Karenina. Keira Knightley has played similar feminine characters and been in the same type of period films just like Henry Cavill. And since both are British, I think they will portray the European character perfectly. These two are perfect for playing the characters.
Reflecting and Connecting to John Okada’s No-No Boy
John Okada’s No-No Boy was a novel that unfortunately wasn’t fully appreciated at the time of its release. However today we see it for the powerful piece of American literature it is giving insight to a time in American history that Im sure many would like to gloss over. Today we have all sorts of works dedicated to showing love to this novel and its author, including a YouTube video I found titled John Okada:The Life and Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No Boy.
I gained a lot of insight into the life John Okada from watching this seeing how he developed as a writer along with his experiences in his own personal life. Hearing how he would escape arrest from the FBI after being separated from his family thus inspiring the main heart of No-No Boy. We also get some great photographs captured from the time further showing the cruel conditions, with one of Okada and other men being taken away by government officials as their wives and families reach out for them from behind iron bars saying goodbye really standing out to me. It gets you angry to see images such as these, however it’s also good that we have access to such images so we don’t forget and can really grasp the controversy in the situation. Reading the novel in class along with watching other videos and breakdowns of it do somewhat sadden me. It’s great that it gets all the love its due, however I can’t help but think about John Okada who unfortunately died pretty early in his life at the age of only 47, never fully realizing the lasting impact and love for his work in his lifetime.
