I live on the other side of the world, literally, from where I was raised in Texas. For the last 12 years, though, I have called Okinawa, Japan my home, and I love it here!
It is a beautiful place in a beautiful country, rich with culture all around. However, there is no perfect place in the world, and our communities have their own problems too.
Okinawa is a place that was devastated during the final days of World War 2, when the Japanese military dug themselves into the mountains and caves of Okinawa and fought until the end, many of whom committed ritual suicide rather than surrender.
Unfortunately, and tragically, over a quarter of a million civilians on Okinawa also lost their lives as the US military peppered the island with artillery shells trying to uproot the Japanese Imperial Navy.
Since then the road has been anything but cordial. Well, without heartache. Every so often in our modern Okinawa, an American commits a heinous crime of hate and/or passion against a Japanese citizen and it completely devastates all of the steps the Okinawans and Americans took towards each other in the years leading up to a crime. This, coupled with the protest by Okinawans and mainland Japanese to return to lands that US bases occupy back to Okinawa, are a dark cloud always looming on the horizon, that can blow in at anytime.
Right now, for many Okinawas in the Okinawa community, the hate runs deep. I think being an African American who grew up in Texas, sometimes living in townships that were openly hostile towards African Americans, has someone what prepared me for the hate, but it does not dismiss the fact that our little island is going through some massive changes. Things will never be the same again, and maybe they should not be.
In the coming weeks, all of us will come to know who we really are, the value of human life, but I hope the power of true love for our fellow man.
Benjamin Moriniere "Sensei"
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