Japanese American National Museum Board of Governors
Norman Mineta… Read his wikipedia entry. He’s had an amazing career, including an airport named after him. He’s the first Asian American mayor in the US (San Jose). The San Jose International is actually in his name. And he was the only Democrat in George Bush’s regime. That’s out of control. Tonite I met him, Senator Daniel Inouye who I actually met before, and many others. Why? They’re part of the Board of Governors. At first, I thought they’d be like Arnold Schwartzeneggar, but they’re more like Asian Americans on a mission. But tonite, it was a special dinner to talk about the museum, it’s possible future, the next GR Biennale that’s in 2009, and how they fit in. The talk was maybe 30 minutes, and I went through a few slides.
The Senator from Hawaii rolls without any secret service. Am I supposed to say that? Daniel Inouye has been a Senator since 1959. He must love his job. I can’t see him ever losing another Senate election. I’ll bet his punk rock son, Kenny could run in his father’s place and win right off the bat. Daniel Inouye is like Ironman. Also in the house was George Takei, my main man. He’s a cool guy, and is a part of the GR team, especially when it’s museum or popular culture related. When 2009 rolls through, he’s definitely going to be a part of this entire party.
Read about Inouye
I heard some say that I did a fine job tonite. I tried to give a background of what GR is about, what we like to do, how we do things, and then I tried to show the museum and our exhibition, what it meant to people, and how diverse of an audience it attracted. In the end, we’ll need their understanding and support to make a Biennale or other shows, work. I also told them that all of this wouldn’t be worth doing if we didn’t have their support. Why would I ever want to faction out a place that desperately needs to be cohesive? That said, I think we’re all on the same page and on the same team. The last photo is all of us eating the leftovers. If I’m ever a “governor,” I guess I’ll eat with them. For now, I’m happy to hang out with these mofos.