1 00:00:10,410 --> 00:00:11,945 -Hi, everyone. 2 00:00:11,945 --> 00:00:14,948 Yeah, we're really excited to be here. 3 00:00:16,249 --> 00:00:18,118 You know, I'm not sure where to begin. 4 00:00:21,021 --> 00:00:24,190 And I wanted to just give a little setup 5 00:00:24,190 --> 00:00:26,159 about what we're going to do tonight. 6 00:00:26,159 --> 00:00:29,162 And as you heard, we're going to do a Q&A at the end. 7 00:00:29,396 --> 00:00:33,033 So this is about Lori's memoir. 8 00:00:33,266 --> 00:00:36,136 And we're going to learn a lot about her 9 00:00:36,136 --> 00:00:37,637 and her career in journalism. 10 00:00:37,637 --> 00:00:38,505 But also, 11 00:00:38,505 --> 00:00:41,508 you know, it's a lot more than just journalism. 12 00:00:42,942 --> 00:00:46,012 You know, I've been a good friend of Lori's. 13 00:00:46,446 --> 00:00:47,680 She's a broadcast legend. 14 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,482 You all know that. 15 00:00:49,482 --> 00:00:51,518 Her new book, “Being There: A Memoir 16 00:00:51,518 --> 00:00:53,653 of an Asian American Journalist,” 17 00:00:53,653 --> 00:00:54,721 is hot off the press. 18 00:00:54,721 --> 00:00:57,190 It actually just came out today, right? 19 00:00:57,190 --> 00:01:00,126 So you are the first to get it. -Yes. 20 00:01:01,928 --> 00:01:04,030 -Tonight, we'll try to cover a lot of ground. 21 00:01:04,030 --> 00:01:06,299 We'll talk to Lori about her extraordinary 22 00:01:06,299 --> 00:01:09,402 journalism career and, of course, about this book, 23 00:01:09,402 --> 00:01:13,773 which is also about identity, courage, community 24 00:01:14,274 --> 00:01:17,444 and being there when the door hasn't always been open. 25 00:01:19,179 --> 00:01:22,182 Most of you know, Lori, as a trusted journalist 26 00:01:22,215 --> 00:01:25,218 who spent decades, 36 years at KING 5. 27 00:01:26,286 --> 00:01:28,721 Wow. That's amazing, right? 28 00:01:28,721 --> 00:01:33,293 Being a steady, reassuring presence during, you know, 29 00:01:33,326 --> 00:01:36,763 moments of crisis, change and historic events. 30 00:01:37,497 --> 00:01:40,166 You know, you you had our trust. -Right. 31 00:01:40,166 --> 00:01:41,167 -Yeah. 32 00:01:41,167 --> 00:01:42,669 And I've also had the 33 00:01:42,669 --> 00:01:45,839 privilege of knowing her beyond the anchor desk 34 00:01:46,106 --> 00:01:49,109 and as a former colleague and now a close friend. 35 00:01:49,275 --> 00:01:53,213 And I first knew of Lori when we were both in college 36 00:01:53,513 --> 00:01:54,848 at Stanford. 37 00:01:54,848 --> 00:01:57,750 Her reputation preceded her 38 00:01:57,750 --> 00:02:00,753 Miss Teenage America from Hawaiʻi. 39 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:01,387 You know, 40 00:02:02,489 --> 00:02:03,490 I remember being in awe, all right. 41 00:02:04,791 --> 00:02:07,794 And yes, all my guy friends wanted to date her. 42 00:02:09,095 --> 00:02:12,098 -Where were they? 43 00:02:12,332 --> 00:02:15,335 -They were intimidated by you. 44 00:02:15,668 --> 00:02:18,671 Years later, our paths crossed again at KING-TV. 45 00:02:19,139 --> 00:02:20,306 Over time, Lori became 46 00:02:20,306 --> 00:02:23,910 not just a role model and a trailblazer for me 47 00:02:24,511 --> 00:02:26,146 as an Asian American journalist, 48 00:02:26,146 --> 00:02:29,449 but a generous mentor to so many 49 00:02:29,449 --> 00:02:32,452 young journalists of color. 50 00:02:32,852 --> 00:02:35,855 Along the way, we've shared laughter together. 51 00:02:36,256 --> 00:02:37,857 Gals' trips. 52 00:02:37,857 --> 00:02:40,360 Yeah, yeahs! -Yeah, yeahs! 53 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,531 -And really lovely conversations about family, 54 00:02:44,831 --> 00:02:47,834 culture and advocacy. 55 00:02:49,002 --> 00:02:52,005 And yet, even knowing Lori as I do, I, 56 00:02:52,005 --> 00:02:55,008 I realized that after reading the memoir, 57 00:02:55,742 --> 00:02:58,511 there's a lot I don't know about Lori. 58 00:02:58,511 --> 00:03:01,481 And so we'll reveal that tonight. 59 00:03:01,514 --> 00:03:04,551 I think longtime viewers will see the full humanity, 60 00:03:05,151 --> 00:03:08,154 humanity behind a very familiar public face. 61 00:03:08,821 --> 00:03:10,089 So tonight, I'll invite Lori 62 00:03:10,089 --> 00:03:12,926 to read a few short passages from the memoir. 63 00:03:12,926 --> 00:03:14,260 We don't want to give everything away, 64 00:03:14,260 --> 00:03:15,929 so just a few. Okay. 65 00:03:15,929 --> 00:03:17,630 And we'll reflect together. 66 00:03:17,630 --> 00:03:19,332 And at the end, we'll open things up 67 00:03:19,332 --> 00:03:20,800 for questions from the audience. 68 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:22,635 Okay, From all of you. So don't be shy. 69 00:03:23,703 --> 00:03:25,738 So, Lori, thank you for being here. 70 00:03:25,738 --> 00:03:27,707 -And thank you, Mimi, for doing this. 71 00:03:27,707 --> 00:03:29,442 I know it's kind of awkward 72 00:03:29,442 --> 00:03:30,710 because this is something we do. 73 00:03:30,710 --> 00:03:33,313 We yack a lot as friends 74 00:03:33,313 --> 00:03:35,548 and yet this is like a totally different setting. 75 00:03:35,548 --> 00:03:38,251 -It is. -Smething that we're both not quite used to. 76 00:03:38,251 --> 00:03:40,687 But you're going to love it. 77 00:03:40,687 --> 00:03:42,889 -We will. -She's an expert. 78 00:03:42,889 --> 00:03:45,091 She knows what she is doing. -This is all about Lori. 79 00:03:45,091 --> 00:03:47,860 And even though she'll say it's not about her, 80 00:03:47,860 --> 00:03:48,761 this is about her. 81 00:03:48,761 --> 00:03:50,663 And she she should be honored. 82 00:03:50,663 --> 00:03:52,031 -Yes, definitely. 83 00:03:52,031 --> 00:03:54,934 (applause) 84 00:03:55,802 --> 00:03:56,469 Okay. 85 00:03:56,469 --> 00:04:00,106 So before we go back to the beginning of your story, 86 00:04:00,139 --> 00:04:02,609 Lori, I want to start here. 87 00:04:02,609 --> 00:04:05,745 You spent decades telling other people's stories, 88 00:04:06,246 --> 00:04:09,249 often setting your own aside. 89 00:04:09,449 --> 00:04:12,385 And you titled this memoir “Being There, 90 00:04:12,385 --> 00:04:15,388 a Memoir of Asian American Journalist.” 91 00:04:15,521 --> 00:04:19,225 What made you decide to write this now? And, 92 00:04:20,593 --> 00:04:21,394 you know, why was it 93 00:04:21,394 --> 00:04:24,397 important for you to get this out there? 94 00:04:24,430 --> 00:04:28,301 -I decided to write the memoir because it's 95 00:04:28,901 --> 00:04:31,904 although it's a memoir, it's not about me. 96 00:04:32,405 --> 00:04:34,540 It's about us. 97 00:04:34,540 --> 00:04:37,977 We have been as a generation through a lot. 98 00:04:38,177 --> 00:04:39,679 We have been through 99 00:04:39,679 --> 00:04:42,715 the civil rights movement, the voting rights movement, 100 00:04:42,715 --> 00:04:44,917 the women's movement, the antiwar movement, 101 00:04:44,917 --> 00:04:46,819 you name it. We've been through it. 102 00:04:46,819 --> 00:04:50,390 We've been through all sorts of campaigns. 103 00:04:50,390 --> 00:04:51,791 Black Power, 104 00:04:51,791 --> 00:04:54,327 Asian American power, Hispanic power, 105 00:04:54,327 --> 00:04:56,262 you know, Native American power. 106 00:04:56,262 --> 00:04:59,232 We have been a generation 107 00:04:59,232 --> 00:05:02,201 moving through a very important time. 108 00:05:02,502 --> 00:05:07,307 And we deserve to tell this story as best as we can. 109 00:05:07,807 --> 00:05:10,343 So I can only tell this story 110 00:05:10,343 --> 00:05:14,280 through my eyes, through what I saw, felt and thought. 111 00:05:14,681 --> 00:05:17,684 But it really is our story. 112 00:05:17,684 --> 00:05:19,218 And the reason I chose to do it 113 00:05:19,218 --> 00:05:21,821 now is because I felt the 114 00:05:21,821 --> 00:05:24,290 we have a young generation coming up 115 00:05:24,290 --> 00:05:26,926 that does not know this story. 116 00:05:26,926 --> 00:05:27,794 So I thought, 117 00:05:27,794 --> 00:05:31,097 okay, I'm going to just lay it out there and 118 00:05:31,798 --> 00:05:33,633 and hope that they learn from it, 119 00:05:33,633 --> 00:05:35,668 learn from our mistakes, and get inspired 120 00:05:35,668 --> 00:05:39,372 by our achievements as a as a group, as a generation. 121 00:05:40,406 --> 00:05:43,409 More specifically, I felt 122 00:05:44,043 --> 00:05:47,380 they that I felt I had a lot to say 123 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,282 about the fact 124 00:05:49,282 --> 00:05:53,052 that when I started in this business, when we started in 125 00:05:53,052 --> 00:05:55,154 this business, when most of us started 126 00:05:55,154 --> 00:05:57,323 as young journalists, maybe 127 00:05:57,323 --> 00:05:59,792 there weren't that many women, 128 00:05:59,792 --> 00:06:02,562 first of all, in the field, there weren't that many 129 00:06:02,562 --> 00:06:06,532 women of color in the field, and there certainly weren't 130 00:06:06,532 --> 00:06:10,670 many women of color leaders in the field either. 131 00:06:11,437 --> 00:06:14,107 We weren't news directors, by and large. 132 00:06:14,107 --> 00:06:15,475 We weren't producers, 133 00:06:15,475 --> 00:06:17,143 executive producers. We weren't 134 00:06:17,143 --> 00:06:20,113 making the decisions and calling the shots. 135 00:06:20,380 --> 00:06:23,015 So this was an important thing 136 00:06:23,015 --> 00:06:26,018 that I wanted the younger generation to learn that 137 00:06:26,252 --> 00:06:27,854 in the beginning it wasn't there. 138 00:06:27,854 --> 00:06:28,488 So we had to 139 00:06:28,488 --> 00:06:32,191 create our own opportunities and this is what we did. 140 00:06:32,625 --> 00:06:35,328 Lay out a little a little path, 141 00:06:35,328 --> 00:06:36,829 a little journey path 142 00:06:36,829 --> 00:06:38,931 so that they could read about it and follow. 143 00:06:38,931 --> 00:06:41,267 So that was that was the motivation. 144 00:06:41,267 --> 00:06:46,439 It's it's not about me, but it's about us ultimately. 145 00:06:47,206 --> 00:06:49,542 -You know, you told me that the original title 146 00:06:49,542 --> 00:06:52,745 of the memoir was “Astonished.” 147 00:06:53,813 --> 00:06:55,314 -Right. 148 00:06:55,314 --> 00:06:58,050 -And then so I want to know why that title and then 149 00:06:58,050 --> 00:07:01,053 how did it change from “Astonished” 150 00:07:01,087 --> 00:07:03,823 to “Being There?” 151 00:07:03,823 --> 00:07:05,525 -I started with “Astonished” 152 00:07:05,525 --> 00:07:08,528 because that's how I felt when I look back in my life. 153 00:07:08,795 --> 00:07:12,899 Who would have thought a young girl in Hawaiʻi? 154 00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:15,168 Parents are public school teachers, 155 00:07:15,168 --> 00:07:17,103 so we weren't a very wealthy family 156 00:07:17,103 --> 00:07:20,273 or influential or out of the ordinary. 157 00:07:21,374 --> 00:07:24,377 Who would have thought that she would, one, 158 00:07:25,244 --> 00:07:27,046 become Miss Teenage America? 159 00:07:27,046 --> 00:07:31,784 That was very bizarre. Two, go to Stanford University. 160 00:07:31,984 --> 00:07:35,354 I didn't even know where it was when I applied. 161 00:07:36,255 --> 00:07:41,694 And then three enter a field that was so 162 00:07:42,728 --> 00:07:46,632 rarely considered by Asian Americans in general. 163 00:07:46,632 --> 00:07:47,133 Right. 164 00:07:47,133 --> 00:07:48,434 Asian American families 165 00:07:48,434 --> 00:07:51,437 wanted their kids to become doctors, lawyers 166 00:07:51,504 --> 00:07:52,505 or engineers. 167 00:07:52,505 --> 00:07:55,775 And if you were a woman, maybe a nurse or a teacher, 168 00:07:56,409 --> 00:07:57,944 that was about it. 169 00:07:57,944 --> 00:08:01,948 And so to become a journalist was so out of their 170 00:08:02,215 --> 00:08:05,885 imaginations that a lot of Asian American kids 171 00:08:05,885 --> 00:08:09,522 who wanted to be journalists were discouraged, laughed 172 00:08:09,522 --> 00:08:13,759 at, you know, and basically told, no, don't do it. 173 00:08:14,260 --> 00:08:17,897 So who would have thought that all the things 174 00:08:17,897 --> 00:08:19,532 that happened in my life 175 00:08:19,532 --> 00:08:23,102 would lead up to this moment tonight? 176 00:08:24,470 --> 00:08:27,406 I'm astonished at everything that happened. 177 00:08:27,406 --> 00:08:30,042 So that was my first thought. 178 00:08:30,042 --> 00:08:31,811 One of the editors who read the book 179 00:08:31,811 --> 00:08:33,179 and the title said “no.” 180 00:08:33,179 --> 00:08:34,814 (laughter) 181 00:08:35,848 --> 00:08:37,783 So. So 182 00:08:37,783 --> 00:08:40,453 I picked “Being There” because that was another 183 00:08:40,453 --> 00:08:43,890 close selection when just a few years ago, 184 00:08:43,890 --> 00:08:45,892 I was walking around doing a little tour 185 00:08:45,892 --> 00:08:48,895 with a young Cambodian American woman. 186 00:08:49,195 --> 00:08:53,566 And she I was telling her what I knew about Seattle CID 187 00:08:53,933 --> 00:08:56,769 and she said, 188 00:08:56,769 --> 00:08:59,105 you know, she was kind of giggly and shy. 189 00:08:59,105 --> 00:08:59,839 And she said, 190 00:08:59,839 --> 00:09:03,175 “You know, every time you come on TV, my dad yells, 191 00:09:03,509 --> 00:09:07,446 ‘Everybody, Lori's on TV, come into, come and watch!’” 192 00:09:07,980 --> 00:09:11,284 And I thought I was I was just astonished 193 00:09:11,951 --> 00:09:13,052 that they would do that. 194 00:09:13,052 --> 00:09:14,754 I said, “Why does he do that?” 195 00:09:14,754 --> 00:09:15,788 She goes, 196 00:09:15,788 --> 00:09:19,191 “We're just so excited to see an Asian woman on TV.” 197 00:09:19,959 --> 00:09:22,061 And so that's when it hit me. 198 00:09:22,061 --> 00:09:22,662 Oh oh my gosh. 199 00:09:22,662 --> 00:09:26,699 Just “Being There” made this family and made 200 00:09:26,699 --> 00:09:30,236 this young woman feel happy and excited and hopeful. 201 00:09:30,269 --> 00:09:33,239 So that's where being there came from. 202 00:09:33,239 --> 00:09:34,073 -All right. 203 00:09:34,073 --> 00:09:37,076 We're going to hear more about you being there in 204 00:09:37,476 --> 00:09:40,479 various places and moments. 205 00:09:40,513 --> 00:09:43,716 But before we go any further, we want to take you all 206 00:09:43,716 --> 00:09:47,186 back to the moment that changed your life. 207 00:09:47,887 --> 00:09:50,189 In 1973, 208 00:09:50,189 --> 00:09:53,459 when Lori won the Miss Teenage America Pageant. 209 00:09:53,859 --> 00:09:57,463 Well, KING 5 Evening happened to take a look back 210 00:09:57,463 --> 00:09:58,598 at that moment. 211 00:09:58,598 --> 00:10:01,267 And we're going to play a little news piece 212 00:10:02,501 --> 00:10:03,703 that's just 213 00:10:03,703 --> 00:10:06,405 a little news piece that was done with Lori 214 00:10:06,405 --> 00:10:09,041 when she was at KING. 215 00:10:09,041 --> 00:10:10,643 -Good evening. An Olympian man. 216 00:10:10,643 --> 00:10:14,513 -35 years ago, an unexpected experience launched 217 00:10:14,513 --> 00:10:17,917 the broadcasting career of news anchor Lori Matsukawa. 218 00:10:18,384 --> 00:10:20,186 -Police in Ferndale tonight are talking to... 219 00:10:20,186 --> 00:10:23,189 -Ask her about the life changing event today. 220 00:10:23,322 --> 00:10:26,325 And she just might do a little dance 221 00:10:26,359 --> 00:10:28,361 from days gone by. 222 00:10:28,361 --> 00:10:31,697 -Woo! -Flashback to 1974, 223 00:10:31,731 --> 00:10:34,867 senior year at Aiea High in Hawaiʻi, 224 00:10:35,234 --> 00:10:38,437 17-year-old Lori plans to study music 225 00:10:38,671 --> 00:10:40,806 and become a piano teacher. 226 00:10:40,806 --> 00:10:43,242 -I was looking around for money for college 227 00:10:43,242 --> 00:10:44,410 and a friend of mine said, “Hey, 228 00:10:44,410 --> 00:10:46,512 if you enter this Miss Teenage America pageant, 229 00:10:46,512 --> 00:10:48,848 you could win a college scholarship. 230 00:10:48,848 --> 00:10:49,682 Plus, 231 00:10:49,682 --> 00:10:51,350 they don't have a bathing suit competition, 232 00:10:51,350 --> 00:10:52,985 so you might even have a chance.” 233 00:10:52,985 --> 00:10:55,021 -Lori wins the local pageant 234 00:10:55,021 --> 00:10:57,790 and heads to Fort Worth, Texas. 235 00:10:57,790 --> 00:11:01,694 -The Miss Teenage America Pageant. To join 43 236 00:11:01,694 --> 00:11:05,031 other girls representing cities nationwide. 237 00:11:05,765 --> 00:11:07,900 -Lori Matsukawa, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. 238 00:11:07,900 --> 00:11:11,170 -Also competing for the $10,000 scholarship 239 00:11:11,437 --> 00:11:14,440 is a student from Rainier Beach High School. 240 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:16,676 -Karen Rains, Seattle, Washington. 241 00:11:16,676 --> 00:11:19,612 -Karen and Lori remain friends today, 242 00:11:19,612 --> 00:11:22,481 reunited by Miss Teenage America. 243 00:11:22,481 --> 00:11:24,316 -That was one of the fun things about the pageant, 244 00:11:24,316 --> 00:11:26,852 was learning a dance routine like you're, 245 00:11:26,852 --> 00:11:29,088 you know, on Broadway, you know, and they said, 246 00:11:29,088 --> 00:11:31,824 all right, everybody do this and do that. -Yes. 247 00:11:31,824 --> 00:11:32,758 -Ring those bells. 248 00:11:32,758 --> 00:11:34,126 (singing) 249 00:11:34,126 --> 00:11:36,862 ♪ Ring those bells. You’ve got to ring them bells ♪ 250 00:11:36,862 --> 00:11:38,564 ♪ We've got to ring them ♪ -That's right. 251 00:11:38,564 --> 00:11:39,532 We have to do this. 252 00:11:39,532 --> 00:11:41,534 I mean, we had bells on our wrist. 253 00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:45,471 ♪♪ 254 00:11:45,471 --> 00:11:47,139 -The images from the live 255 00:11:47,139 --> 00:11:50,409 telecast may be grainy, but not the memories. 256 00:11:50,676 --> 00:11:52,978 -So let's start with the first presentation. 257 00:11:52,978 --> 00:11:55,614 -Lori vividly remembers the talent portion 258 00:11:55,614 --> 00:11:56,882 of the pageant. 259 00:11:56,882 --> 00:11:58,617 ♪♪ 260 00:11:58,751 --> 00:12:01,987 Instead of playing the piano like other contestants, 261 00:12:02,321 --> 00:12:04,957 she dares to do something different. 262 00:12:04,957 --> 00:12:07,693 The Māori poi ball dance. -And long 263 00:12:07,693 --> 00:12:10,963 ago, Māoris were known to be very fierce warriors. 264 00:12:11,097 --> 00:12:12,965 So that's eventually what I selected 265 00:12:12,965 --> 00:12:13,799 as my talent 266 00:12:13,799 --> 00:12:16,869 was the Māori poi ball dance, because I figured, who's 267 00:12:16,869 --> 00:12:18,504 going to do that? Nobody. 268 00:12:18,504 --> 00:12:20,606 And I was right. 269 00:12:20,606 --> 00:12:26,212 ♪♪ 270 00:12:27,780 --> 00:12:29,281 So here's the thing. 271 00:12:29,281 --> 00:12:31,584 All week long we're practicing for the pageant. 272 00:12:31,584 --> 00:12:33,853 I do the poi balls. No problem. 273 00:12:33,853 --> 00:12:35,955 The night of the pageant in front of millions 274 00:12:35,955 --> 00:12:38,791 of viewers, the balls collide and stop. 275 00:12:38,791 --> 00:12:40,593 And I'm like, “Uh oh!” 276 00:12:40,926 --> 00:12:42,361 -Despite the bobble, 277 00:12:42,361 --> 00:12:45,364 Lori advances to the final round of the pageant. 278 00:12:45,631 --> 00:12:48,067 (screaming and cheering) 279 00:12:48,067 --> 00:12:50,703 Now nobody expects her to get this far. 280 00:12:50,703 --> 00:12:53,205 Not Lori or her parents. 281 00:12:53,205 --> 00:12:54,974 -My parents at the time thought, 282 00:12:54,974 --> 00:12:56,742 what are the chances that she's going to win? 283 00:12:56,742 --> 00:12:57,910 So they decided, 284 00:12:57,910 --> 00:13:00,913 we're not going to go because it's too far. 285 00:13:01,180 --> 00:13:03,883 So when they would do cutaways of the, 286 00:13:03,883 --> 00:13:06,185 you know, the candidate and the parents. 287 00:13:06,185 --> 00:13:08,921 It was hilarious because they show me 288 00:13:08,921 --> 00:13:10,422 and they pan to my chaperone. 289 00:13:10,422 --> 00:13:11,190 And she's this 290 00:13:11,190 --> 00:13:14,193 Caucasian woman with the blond, you know, beehive. 291 00:13:14,827 --> 00:13:16,562 Get up here, please. 292 00:13:16,562 --> 00:13:19,632 Even when the judges narrowed the four finalists 293 00:13:19,632 --> 00:13:20,900 down to two, 294 00:13:20,900 --> 00:13:23,269 Lori still can't imagine winning. 295 00:13:23,269 --> 00:13:26,071 -No, no. It never crossed my mind. 296 00:13:26,071 --> 00:13:27,072 You know, at 297 00:13:27,072 --> 00:13:28,507 when they were just the two of us, 298 00:13:28,507 --> 00:13:29,842 I remember standing there think, 299 00:13:29,842 --> 00:13:31,010 okay, now, when they announced 300 00:13:31,010 --> 00:13:32,411 my name as first runner up, 301 00:13:32,411 --> 00:13:35,080 I'm going to jump over and give her a big hug. 302 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,917 -Our first alternate is... 303 00:13:37,917 --> 00:13:40,085 Miss Janet Dains from Levi, Utah. 304 00:13:41,053 --> 00:13:42,054 Ladies and gentlemen... 305 00:13:42,054 --> 00:13:43,489 -So that's why when they announced 306 00:13:43,489 --> 00:13:45,524 her name as first runner up, I went. 307 00:13:45,524 --> 00:13:48,294 My mouth drops open, my eyes bug out 308 00:13:48,294 --> 00:13:51,297 because I didn't expect it. 309 00:13:51,697 --> 00:13:53,699 -Lori Matsukawa! 310 00:13:53,699 --> 00:13:54,700 (cheering and applause) 311 00:13:56,135 --> 00:13:57,703 -The mouth never closed. 312 00:13:57,703 --> 00:14:00,539 And here's when we went to the Kentucky Derby. 313 00:14:00,539 --> 00:14:03,542 I rode in these big parades and got to meet 314 00:14:03,542 --> 00:14:04,877 Col. Sanders 315 00:14:04,877 --> 00:14:08,347 and got to meet Micky Dolenz of the Monkees. 316 00:14:08,747 --> 00:14:11,884 This is the only picture I have of me and Sonny Bono. 317 00:14:13,052 --> 00:14:16,055 Wow. It's the first time I've seen that picture. 318 00:14:16,989 --> 00:14:19,191 But after being Miss Teenage America, 319 00:14:19,191 --> 00:14:21,360 I mean, you travel to every city. 320 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:22,361 You're interviewed by 321 00:14:22,361 --> 00:14:25,564 newspaper reporters, radio, television reporters. 322 00:14:25,598 --> 00:14:28,834 I began to think, hey, this is a job I could do. 323 00:14:29,201 --> 00:14:31,237 -Definitely a job she could do. 324 00:14:31,237 --> 00:14:33,439 After using her scholarship money 325 00:14:33,439 --> 00:14:36,275 to get a degree from Stanford University, 326 00:14:36,275 --> 00:14:39,311 Lori worked her way up to the anchor chair. 327 00:14:39,511 --> 00:14:42,581 Sitting pretty today, all because of a pageant 328 00:14:42,748 --> 00:14:43,749 and a poi 329 00:14:43,749 --> 00:14:46,452 ball dance she'll never forget. 330 00:14:46,452 --> 00:14:47,353 -And so you just kind of hope 331 00:14:47,353 --> 00:14:52,825 that it stays going until you end up. Yes. 332 00:14:52,825 --> 00:14:57,930 (laughter and clapping) 333 00:14:57,930 --> 00:14:59,265 And some people in this room 334 00:14:59,265 --> 00:15:02,735 have actually seen that poi ball dance in person. 335 00:15:02,768 --> 00:15:05,771 It's something you'll never forget, right? 336 00:15:06,472 --> 00:15:09,241 -Okay, So, Lori, that was amazing. 337 00:15:09,241 --> 00:15:11,043 You look beautiful. 338 00:15:11,043 --> 00:15:12,011 I was. Yeah. 339 00:15:12,011 --> 00:15:15,114 Your mouth was wide open the whole time. -Agog. 340 00:15:15,948 --> 00:15:17,383 -So you were 17 years old? 341 00:15:17,383 --> 00:15:20,386 -Yes. -Newly crowned Miss Teenage America. 342 00:15:20,653 --> 00:15:22,121 And you were in disbelief. 343 00:15:22,121 --> 00:15:25,324 And you write in your memoir, “How can this be? 344 00:15:25,691 --> 00:15:28,894 I was the ugly duckling, the kid with glasses 345 00:15:28,894 --> 00:15:32,364 and braces and knocked knees and no boyfriend. 346 00:15:32,698 --> 00:15:34,633 How is this happening?” 347 00:15:34,633 --> 00:15:38,237 And then even then, you asked the the pageant president 348 00:15:38,804 --> 00:15:39,838 you asked him, you said, 349 00:15:39,838 --> 00:15:43,208 “Will I have any problem because I'm Japanese? 350 00:15:43,742 --> 00:15:47,112 I mean, I don't look like the usual Miss Teenage America.” 351 00:15:48,147 --> 00:15:51,150 So I want to know where like, where did that awareness 352 00:15:51,150 --> 00:15:52,952 come from? You're 17. 353 00:15:52,952 --> 00:15:54,186 So early on. 354 00:15:54,186 --> 00:15:54,853 You know what? 355 00:15:54,853 --> 00:15:57,456 What did it teach you about visibility and belonging? 356 00:15:57,456 --> 00:15:59,358 This is way before journalism. 357 00:16:00,559 --> 00:16:03,996 -I thought about that question because all of the 358 00:16:04,196 --> 00:16:05,531 Miss Teenage America winners before 359 00:16:05,531 --> 00:16:08,534 me, all 12 of them, I was number 13. 360 00:16:09,301 --> 00:16:12,304 All 12 of them were Caucasian women. 361 00:16:12,404 --> 00:16:14,173 And most of the candidates 362 00:16:14,173 --> 00:16:15,374 I don't know if you had a chance, 363 00:16:15,374 --> 00:16:17,142 you were Caucasian women, 364 00:16:17,142 --> 00:16:19,678 but there were African Americans there. 365 00:16:19,678 --> 00:16:20,579 There was a Latina 366 00:16:20,579 --> 00:16:22,114 there. There were several 367 00:16:22,114 --> 00:16:24,583 Asian American candidates as well. 368 00:16:24,583 --> 00:16:28,053 And so it was, again, the beginning of change. 369 00:16:28,053 --> 00:16:32,291 People were beginning to see all kinds of folks 370 00:16:32,291 --> 00:16:33,826 as part of the community. 371 00:16:33,826 --> 00:16:36,829 And there was some inclusion even at that contest. 372 00:16:37,062 --> 00:16:38,530 But I knew that 373 00:16:38,530 --> 00:16:41,133 in my journeys I was going to be 374 00:16:41,133 --> 00:16:44,136 the atypical Miss Teenage America. 375 00:16:44,403 --> 00:16:47,773 If the head office ever got complaints 376 00:16:47,773 --> 00:16:49,241 or heard bad things? 377 00:16:49,241 --> 00:16:51,844 They never let me know. 378 00:16:51,844 --> 00:16:55,547 I would like to think that whenever I made an appearance 379 00:16:55,547 --> 00:16:57,583 that I was just coming across 380 00:16:57,583 --> 00:17:01,253 as a regular old teenager and the people 381 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,889 in the audience would accept me as such. 382 00:17:03,889 --> 00:17:04,990 And it 383 00:17:04,990 --> 00:17:06,091 it felt that way 384 00:17:06,091 --> 00:17:07,993 when I went to the television stations 385 00:17:07,993 --> 00:17:09,928 or appeared in the newspaper articles. 386 00:17:09,928 --> 00:17:12,398 It was very positive live coverage. 387 00:17:12,398 --> 00:17:13,932 It was very 388 00:17:13,932 --> 00:17:17,436 I think I got a break because I was from Hawaiʻi, frankly. 389 00:17:17,703 --> 00:17:20,372 They didn't see me so much as an Asian person, 390 00:17:20,372 --> 00:17:23,909 so much as that exotic Hawaiian person. 391 00:17:24,309 --> 00:17:25,778 So I did catch a break. 392 00:17:25,778 --> 00:17:27,646 I did catch a break there. 393 00:17:27,646 --> 00:17:31,784 But I wanted to be sure that if I was causing 394 00:17:31,784 --> 00:17:33,752 any trouble, that they would let me know. 395 00:17:33,752 --> 00:17:36,455 But they never they never said anything about that. 396 00:17:36,455 --> 00:17:37,089 That's good. 397 00:17:37,089 --> 00:17:40,225 -Never received any kind of hate mail or. 398 00:17:40,726 --> 00:17:42,628 -No, no, that's. 399 00:17:42,628 --> 00:17:44,329 -I was. I was really shocked. 400 00:17:44,329 --> 00:17:46,565 That's another astonishing thing. Right? 401 00:17:46,565 --> 00:17:48,600 You would think she would get some pushback. 402 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,571 The only time I did get hassled for being Japanese 403 00:17:52,805 --> 00:17:54,239 was when I was in Japan. 404 00:17:56,141 --> 00:17:58,243 I would go to the supermarket and we were 405 00:17:58,243 --> 00:18:00,045 just introducing Dr Pepper. 406 00:18:00,045 --> 00:18:02,915 Our sponsor, Dr Pepper in the markets. 407 00:18:02,915 --> 00:18:04,249 And these little kids 408 00:18:04,249 --> 00:18:07,119 would be standing there looking up, going, 409 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:09,755 and you could tell they're saying she's not Miss Teenage 410 00:18:09,755 --> 00:18:13,358 America, she's not blond, she doesn't have blue eyes. 411 00:18:13,692 --> 00:18:14,393 (grumbling) 412 00:18:14,393 --> 00:18:17,463 So I had memorized a few Japanese lines 413 00:18:17,463 --> 00:18:20,732 like, In Hawaiʻi, I learned hula dance. 414 00:18:20,732 --> 00:18:23,202 I didn't go to Japanese language school. 415 00:18:23,202 --> 00:18:26,171 And when they heard my Japanese, they knew, 416 00:18:26,171 --> 00:18:27,372 oh yeah, she's not Japanese. 417 00:18:27,372 --> 00:18:29,441 She's definitely American. 418 00:18:29,441 --> 00:18:32,244 So I quashed that right there. 419 00:18:32,244 --> 00:18:34,079 Right there. 420 00:18:34,079 --> 00:18:36,014 -So, Lori, when you were in high school, 421 00:18:36,014 --> 00:18:37,516 I understand you were very shy. 422 00:18:37,516 --> 00:18:40,519 You said you were very, very shy. 423 00:18:40,586 --> 00:18:42,454 You actually really started coming into your own 424 00:18:42,454 --> 00:18:44,923 in high school. You joined the choir. 425 00:18:44,923 --> 00:18:47,359 You joined speech club, speech and debate. 426 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,796 You were like award winner, of course. 427 00:18:52,698 --> 00:18:54,600 And that helped you 428 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,736 step out of your shyness, right? -Yes. 429 00:18:57,736 --> 00:19:00,172 Because when you don't have a boyfriend and 430 00:19:00,172 --> 00:19:03,175 you have a lot of extra time. 431 00:19:04,109 --> 00:19:07,179 So I you know, so that choir was good 432 00:19:07,179 --> 00:19:09,281 because we had practice after school. 433 00:19:09,281 --> 00:19:12,784 So I filled my time with practicing music and, 434 00:19:12,951 --> 00:19:17,723 and we did a Polynesian show as well as an American show. 435 00:19:17,956 --> 00:19:21,527 And so our Polynesian shows required our choir to perform 436 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:22,828 in Waikiki. 437 00:19:22,828 --> 00:19:24,129 So here is our high school 438 00:19:24,129 --> 00:19:27,966 choir performing in Waikiki like professional performers. 439 00:19:28,233 --> 00:19:31,770 And so that was part of the astonishing, 440 00:19:31,904 --> 00:19:35,507 you know, training that I got in high school. 441 00:19:35,774 --> 00:19:39,912 How to go to a hotel, set up your show costume change, 442 00:19:39,912 --> 00:19:43,682 right music, all in a row, organize, set up, 443 00:19:44,383 --> 00:19:47,419 tear down, out and off the stage in 45 minutes. 444 00:19:47,419 --> 00:19:49,421 And it was terrific training. 445 00:19:49,421 --> 00:19:51,190 So if you don't have a boyfriend, 446 00:19:51,190 --> 00:19:53,158 it's a great way to occupy some time. 447 00:19:53,158 --> 00:19:55,060 And then on weekends, 448 00:19:55,060 --> 00:19:56,862 I had a lot of time on weekends. 449 00:19:56,862 --> 00:19:59,798 So I joined the Speech Club because that's 450 00:19:59,798 --> 00:20:02,067 when they competed, was on Saturdays. 451 00:20:02,067 --> 00:20:05,537 And they had a category called Storytelling. 452 00:20:05,771 --> 00:20:07,773 You know, they have debate and stuff like that. 453 00:20:07,773 --> 00:20:09,641 But I said storytelling. 454 00:20:09,641 --> 00:20:12,177 Wow, I can do that. 455 00:20:12,177 --> 00:20:13,912 And so that I think, helped 456 00:20:13,912 --> 00:20:15,447 bring me out of my shell, too, 457 00:20:15,447 --> 00:20:18,450 because to be a storyteller, you can't be shy. 458 00:20:18,550 --> 00:20:22,554 You have to be so engrossed and excited about your story 459 00:20:22,888 --> 00:20:25,324 that your audience gets excited, too. 460 00:20:25,324 --> 00:20:27,259 So that was that was good training. 461 00:20:27,259 --> 00:20:30,095 And so in a way, I was very lucky 462 00:20:30,095 --> 00:20:31,096 not to have a boyfriend. 463 00:20:34,099 --> 00:20:37,002 -It It was their loss for sure. 464 00:20:37,002 --> 00:20:38,704 Okay. So high school, though. 465 00:20:38,704 --> 00:20:42,674 So you're you grew to be pretty independent and. 466 00:20:42,674 --> 00:20:44,009 Right. More confident. 467 00:20:44,009 --> 00:20:45,744 But then we're going to segue 468 00:20:45,744 --> 00:20:47,879 into something that happened to you 469 00:20:47,879 --> 00:20:50,082 while you're in high school. 470 00:20:50,082 --> 00:20:52,684 You were walking home from school 471 00:20:52,684 --> 00:20:54,820 and a stranger grabbed you. 472 00:20:54,820 --> 00:20:58,490 And it was only because passersby intervened 473 00:20:58,490 --> 00:21:01,193 that you were able to get away. 474 00:21:01,193 --> 00:21:02,995 Now, Lori, before we talk about this, 475 00:21:02,995 --> 00:21:03,595 I want you to 476 00:21:03,595 --> 00:21:06,598 read this excerpt, if you wouldn't mind. 477 00:21:07,165 --> 00:21:07,733 -Here we go. 478 00:21:07,733 --> 00:21:10,736 Okay. 479 00:21:12,337 --> 00:21:15,207 This was when I was in, 480 00:21:15,207 --> 00:21:16,675 I want to say 10th grade. 481 00:21:16,675 --> 00:21:18,910 So what does that make me? 482 00:21:18,910 --> 00:21:21,780 15, 16 years old. 483 00:21:21,780 --> 00:21:23,715 Okay. 484 00:21:23,715 --> 00:21:27,552 Every time I relive this scary time in my mind, 485 00:21:27,853 --> 00:21:28,387 I thank 486 00:21:28,387 --> 00:21:31,790 God for putting that soldier and his wife right there. 487 00:21:32,257 --> 00:21:34,059 Right then. 488 00:21:34,059 --> 00:21:37,062 But I also feel a simmering rage. 489 00:21:37,663 --> 00:21:40,465 I know this experience has skewed my attitude 490 00:21:40,465 --> 00:21:41,366 toward sex. 491 00:21:42,401 --> 00:21:44,503 Men just want to have sex. 492 00:21:44,503 --> 00:21:45,871 Rape people. 493 00:21:45,871 --> 00:21:48,006 They are animals. 494 00:21:48,006 --> 00:21:50,842 I never sought counseling for this trauma. 495 00:21:50,842 --> 00:21:53,312 Like a good Japanese girl, 496 00:21:53,312 --> 00:21:56,315 I kept it to myself because of Haji. 497 00:21:56,648 --> 00:21:59,751 The shame it would bring to me and my family. 498 00:22:00,619 --> 00:22:02,654 Maybe it was my fault. 499 00:22:02,654 --> 00:22:05,157 Should I have walked a different route? 500 00:22:05,157 --> 00:22:08,160 Why didn't I scream louder and put up a fight? 501 00:22:09,494 --> 00:22:12,831 Now I know it was not my fault 502 00:22:12,964 --> 00:22:15,701 that I became a victim. 503 00:22:15,701 --> 00:22:18,303 As I got older, I went on dates 504 00:22:18,303 --> 00:22:21,907 but never had a serious boyfriend because I knew 505 00:22:21,940 --> 00:22:23,375 what was coming. 506 00:22:23,375 --> 00:22:26,378 A sex act wanted or not. 507 00:22:27,279 --> 00:22:29,414 Only after positive relationships 508 00:22:29,414 --> 00:22:32,651 with kind and gentle men over several years 509 00:22:33,051 --> 00:22:36,054 did I feel safe enough to enjoy lovemaking. 510 00:22:36,922 --> 00:22:40,225 Today, I applaud women who have the courage 511 00:22:40,225 --> 00:22:43,228 to call out the brutes still among us. 512 00:22:43,662 --> 00:22:46,765 These women reject being called a victim. 513 00:22:46,998 --> 00:22:50,035 They are survivors. Brava! 514 00:22:51,570 --> 00:22:55,507 (applause) 515 00:22:57,042 --> 00:22:57,342 -Yeah. 516 00:22:57,342 --> 00:22:58,610 Thank you for sharing that, Lori. 517 00:22:58,610 --> 00:23:00,379 And it was really hard, 518 00:23:00,379 --> 00:23:03,815 and I think especially during this time, I think women 519 00:23:03,815 --> 00:23:06,518 have become more brave and being able to speak out. 520 00:23:06,518 --> 00:23:08,453 And I mean, what would you like to tell, 521 00:23:08,453 --> 00:23:11,456 I guess, young women and young girls, 522 00:23:12,090 --> 00:23:14,693 you know, about what you went through 523 00:23:14,693 --> 00:23:17,696 and what you hope they learn from it? 524 00:23:18,029 --> 00:23:20,766 -Boy, I all I can say is 525 00:23:20,766 --> 00:23:23,635 that you have to not blame yourself 526 00:23:23,635 --> 00:23:27,973 if you become a person who is attacked, assaulted, 527 00:23:28,340 --> 00:23:32,711 even if it doesn't go on to become a sexual assault, 528 00:23:32,711 --> 00:23:34,813 it could have very well become one, 529 00:23:34,813 --> 00:23:37,816 because the police later told me that there was a 530 00:23:38,016 --> 00:23:41,019 a buddy of this guy waiting in the garage 531 00:23:41,086 --> 00:23:43,188 down the street there. 532 00:23:43,188 --> 00:23:45,524 And who knows what would have happened 533 00:23:45,524 --> 00:23:47,926 with two versus one. Right. 534 00:23:47,926 --> 00:23:52,230 And so I would tell women to put up a fight, scream, 535 00:23:52,230 --> 00:23:55,233 yell, take self-defense classes. 536 00:23:55,300 --> 00:23:58,637 And if it is something that cannot be prevented 537 00:23:58,637 --> 00:24:03,208 and you do get assaulted, to not feel it's your fault, 538 00:24:03,208 --> 00:24:06,211 because it's not it's not your fault. 539 00:24:06,545 --> 00:24:09,014 And and to the men and 540 00:24:09,014 --> 00:24:12,017 and even other bystanders out there, 541 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:16,655 please don't hesitate to be an advocate 542 00:24:16,655 --> 00:24:19,724 or a rescuer or a hero like this soldier was. 543 00:24:19,724 --> 00:24:22,961 He was just driving down the street with his wife 544 00:24:22,961 --> 00:24:25,330 and he could see us, you know, in this tussle. 545 00:24:25,330 --> 00:24:28,400 And I'm thinking, my God, can't you see my purse? 546 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,035 And my books are scattered on the ground 547 00:24:30,035 --> 00:24:32,537 and I'm tugging, you know, tugging with this guy. 548 00:24:32,537 --> 00:24:35,440 And he go, you know, so he stopped, 549 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:37,909 and thank goodness this soldier stopped. 550 00:24:37,909 --> 00:24:40,579 And his wife saw him roll down the window 551 00:24:40,579 --> 00:24:42,714 and he goes, “Hey, what's going on?” 552 00:24:42,714 --> 00:24:46,251 And he the assaulter said, “this is nothing. 553 00:24:46,318 --> 00:24:47,252 This is my girlfriend. 554 00:24:47,252 --> 00:24:49,321 We're just having a fight.” 555 00:24:49,321 --> 00:24:52,424 And to, you know, today that would not be acceptable. 556 00:24:52,424 --> 00:24:54,493 We're just having a fight. 557 00:24:54,493 --> 00:24:57,395 But back then. Right. 558 00:24:57,395 --> 00:24:58,163 And the 559 00:24:58,163 --> 00:25:00,131 soldier opened his door and said, “hey, 560 00:25:00,131 --> 00:25:01,900 you just let her let her go.” 561 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:03,668 And so he did. 562 00:25:03,668 --> 00:25:06,004 He let go and he scooted away. 563 00:25:07,472 --> 00:25:09,374 And then his wife said, “Honey, 564 00:25:09,374 --> 00:25:12,377 you come sit in this car and you wait.” 565 00:25:12,644 --> 00:25:15,647 So they call the police. So 566 00:25:16,248 --> 00:25:18,450 defend yourself if you find yourself 567 00:25:18,450 --> 00:25:20,218 being assaulted and if you see 568 00:25:20,218 --> 00:25:22,354 an assault happening, get involved. 569 00:25:22,354 --> 00:25:25,357 Don't don't just stand by and say, 570 00:25:25,357 --> 00:25:26,591 someone else will do it 571 00:25:26,591 --> 00:25:29,427 because you might be the only person there. 572 00:25:29,427 --> 00:25:32,264 You might be the only person that will stop something 573 00:25:32,264 --> 00:25:35,267 very, very dangerous. 574 00:25:35,333 --> 00:25:36,601 -You know, something 575 00:25:36,601 --> 00:25:39,604 you mentioned to was Haji. 576 00:25:39,738 --> 00:25:40,772 -Right. 577 00:25:40,772 --> 00:25:44,609 -And shame and how it kept you silent. 578 00:25:44,876 --> 00:25:47,612 And I think for many Japanese Americans, Haji 579 00:25:47,612 --> 00:25:50,448 is something you're taught to carry 580 00:25:50,448 --> 00:25:51,917 If you want to be seen as like 581 00:25:51,917 --> 00:25:54,052 a good Japanese American, 582 00:25:54,052 --> 00:25:54,419 you know, 583 00:25:54,419 --> 00:25:57,422 and I know that that played a role in your life, right? 584 00:25:57,822 --> 00:25:58,356 -It does. 585 00:25:58,356 --> 00:26:01,026 And I don't know if other people can relate to this. 586 00:26:01,026 --> 00:26:05,030 It's probably most common in Japanese American families, 587 00:26:05,030 --> 00:26:08,033 but other Asian cultures to have this 588 00:26:08,099 --> 00:26:11,236 do not bring shame to your family idea. 589 00:26:11,803 --> 00:26:15,707 And so you don't say anything or do anything 590 00:26:15,707 --> 00:26:18,777 that will bring shame and dishonor to your family. 591 00:26:19,244 --> 00:26:24,349 So say you have a brother who has an addiction. 592 00:26:25,016 --> 00:26:28,019 You don't talk about it, not even to your own other 593 00:26:28,053 --> 00:26:30,355 family members about addiction. 594 00:26:30,355 --> 00:26:34,092 You don't talk about needing help seeking help 595 00:26:34,392 --> 00:26:37,729 because that would only bring shame to the family name. 596 00:26:38,129 --> 00:26:42,000 And so Haji is a very destructive thing in that way. 597 00:26:43,001 --> 00:26:45,136 On the other hand, Haji can 598 00:26:45,136 --> 00:26:48,273 also be a positive thing because it keeps you in line. 599 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:49,307 And I think that's 600 00:26:49,307 --> 00:26:51,943 what many of the parents were trying to do, 601 00:26:51,943 --> 00:26:54,212 especially the first generation immigrant parents. 602 00:26:54,212 --> 00:26:56,081 They're trying to keep their kids in line 603 00:26:56,081 --> 00:26:58,049 and threatening their kids and saying, 604 00:26:58,049 --> 00:27:00,852 “Don't you cause our family any shame?” 605 00:27:00,852 --> 00:27:05,256 And so Asian kids tended to be very well behaved, 606 00:27:05,824 --> 00:27:07,225 which which could have been good. 607 00:27:07,225 --> 00:27:10,395 Which could have been bad, but Haji, you know, 608 00:27:10,395 --> 00:27:13,398 both that good and bad element to it. 609 00:27:13,765 --> 00:27:13,999 -Thank you. 610 00:27:13,999 --> 00:27:16,534 You mentioned that your mom 611 00:27:16,534 --> 00:27:19,838 was you know, Haji was part of her thing. 612 00:27:20,405 --> 00:27:22,340 -She was really into Haji. 613 00:27:22,340 --> 00:27:26,077 Don't don't mention you don't say anything. 614 00:27:26,077 --> 00:27:27,479 You don't bring shame to your family 615 00:27:27,479 --> 00:27:28,813 and it's and it's too bad. 616 00:27:28,813 --> 00:27:31,983 I think today there's a lot more openness 617 00:27:31,983 --> 00:27:33,018 people are willing to talk 618 00:27:33,018 --> 00:27:36,321 about relatives who go to jail, for example, 619 00:27:36,788 --> 00:27:39,024 for relatives who get pregnant, 620 00:27:39,024 --> 00:27:40,992 you know, before they get married. 621 00:27:40,992 --> 00:27:43,461 Those kind of things were not discussed before 622 00:27:43,461 --> 00:27:44,562 because of Haji. 623 00:27:44,562 --> 00:27:45,997 But now there's just 624 00:27:45,997 --> 00:27:49,034 more openness and it's just a lot better 625 00:27:49,034 --> 00:27:51,803 for people's mental health in general. 626 00:27:51,803 --> 00:27:54,472 I really am glad that we're moving away 627 00:27:54,472 --> 00:27:58,543 from that strict Japanese old school Haji. 628 00:28:00,478 --> 00:28:01,846 -Okay, 629 00:28:01,846 --> 00:28:04,849 Lori, let's move on and let's talk about journalism. 630 00:28:04,983 --> 00:28:05,884 Okay? 631 00:28:05,884 --> 00:28:08,887 Power, mentorship, and responsibility. 632 00:28:11,389 --> 00:28:14,592 So early in your career, you write out of Stanford, 633 00:28:14,592 --> 00:28:15,894 you got your first job 634 00:28:15,894 --> 00:28:20,498 in lovely Redding, California, a small market. 635 00:28:20,532 --> 00:28:21,599 Big lessons, right? 636 00:28:21,599 --> 00:28:23,501 That's every every young journalist 637 00:28:23,501 --> 00:28:24,369 I tell you start out 638 00:28:24,369 --> 00:28:27,372 is a very small market and work your way up. 639 00:28:27,572 --> 00:28:29,441 It was also very personally 640 00:28:29,441 --> 00:28:32,377 significant because that's where you met Larry. Your husband. 641 00:28:32,377 --> 00:28:34,512 -Yes. Larry, where are you? 642 00:28:34,512 --> 00:28:37,482 There you are. 643 00:28:37,482 --> 00:28:40,618 He was a director in in Redding. 644 00:28:40,618 --> 00:28:43,688 And I was applying for a reporter anchor position. 645 00:28:44,089 --> 00:28:45,924 And he was the one in the booth 646 00:28:45,924 --> 00:28:47,892 when I did my audition. 647 00:28:47,892 --> 00:28:50,895 So I'm doing my audition and I stumbled on a word. 648 00:28:50,995 --> 00:28:53,064 And so Larry's tells me later, 649 00:28:53,064 --> 00:28:54,866 I didn't think you were going to get the job. 650 00:28:56,568 --> 00:28:59,204 -Did you really say that? 651 00:28:59,204 --> 00:29:01,973 -So I was really surprised when you showed up 652 00:29:01,973 --> 00:29:05,176 later and started working at the station. 653 00:29:05,176 --> 00:29:09,247 And so that was the beginning of our three city romance. 654 00:29:09,247 --> 00:29:11,616 We worked together in Redding, 655 00:29:11,616 --> 00:29:14,652 and then I got a job in Portland, Oregon. 656 00:29:14,652 --> 00:29:16,921 He got a job in Portland, Oregon. 657 00:29:16,921 --> 00:29:17,555 And and 658 00:29:17,555 --> 00:29:20,558 then we moved up to Seattle, which is actually where 659 00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:22,227 Larry was raised. 660 00:29:22,227 --> 00:29:25,663 And so we ended up in this in this beautiful city. 661 00:29:25,663 --> 00:29:27,165 And we said, okay, third city, 662 00:29:27,165 --> 00:29:29,067 it's about time we get married. 663 00:29:29,067 --> 00:29:31,402 So that that's that's how that. 664 00:29:31,402 --> 00:29:33,138 -And how long have you been married? 665 00:29:33,138 --> 00:29:36,941 -This year it's going to be 44 years. 666 00:29:37,976 --> 00:29:40,979 And 44. 667 00:29:41,813 --> 00:29:43,381 And you'll read more about the book 668 00:29:43,381 --> 00:29:47,152 because it wasn't exactly, you know, the Paradise flower 669 00:29:47,152 --> 00:29:50,488 strewn path to romance that, you know, remember, 670 00:29:50,922 --> 00:29:52,590 you're married and happy. 671 00:29:52,590 --> 00:29:53,191 Yeah. Okay. 672 00:29:53,191 --> 00:29:54,359 Yeah, Yeah. 673 00:29:54,359 --> 00:29:54,626 Okay. 674 00:29:54,626 --> 00:29:55,927 That's a that's another show, 675 00:29:55,927 --> 00:29:56,995 but you can read it in the book. 676 00:29:58,763 --> 00:29:59,063 -Okay. 677 00:29:59,063 --> 00:30:00,932 So you ended up at KING 5. 678 00:30:00,932 --> 00:30:03,168 You were at KOMO for a couple of years. 679 00:30:03,168 --> 00:30:06,171 You ended up at KING 5 for 36 years. 680 00:30:06,171 --> 00:30:09,040 You covered so many, so many things. 681 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:09,941 Right. 682 00:30:09,941 --> 00:30:12,010 And we'll get into sort of what 683 00:30:12,010 --> 00:30:14,746 your what was one of the most important, 684 00:30:14,746 --> 00:30:17,081 important issues that you covered 685 00:30:17,081 --> 00:30:19,551 and your legacy there. But, 686 00:30:19,551 --> 00:30:21,419 you know, I know it was 687 00:30:21,419 --> 00:30:23,121 you became one of the main anchors. 688 00:30:23,121 --> 00:30:24,923 You traveled a lot. 689 00:30:24,923 --> 00:30:27,926 But you also talk about a time when you were, 690 00:30:28,593 --> 00:30:32,363 I think, passed over for a main anchor role. 691 00:30:32,530 --> 00:30:34,532 -You would say, okay, this is important, 692 00:30:34,532 --> 00:30:37,836 because when I first came to this city, this market, 693 00:30:37,836 --> 00:30:41,506 it was in 1980, Mount St. Helens Right. 694 00:30:41,506 --> 00:30:43,908 That's what was my first big story was, 695 00:30:43,908 --> 00:30:45,677 yeah, I'm working the weekend shift. 696 00:30:45,677 --> 00:30:48,179 my God, there's a volcano exploding 697 00:30:48,179 --> 00:30:51,182 so that we can shift isn't always bad, 698 00:30:51,583 --> 00:30:55,787 but even in 1980, it was still, 699 00:30:55,787 --> 00:30:59,290 I would say, a pretty white market, television market. 700 00:30:59,591 --> 00:31:03,795 They were still mostly white men on the anchor 701 00:31:03,795 --> 00:31:06,798 and sports desks and weather and weathermen. 702 00:31:07,065 --> 00:31:10,435 And there there were the, you know, one 703 00:31:11,035 --> 00:31:14,739 white woman with all the men on the news desk. 704 00:31:15,173 --> 00:31:17,141 So it was and the reporting staff was 705 00:31:17,141 --> 00:31:19,344 largely Caucasian. And 706 00:31:20,511 --> 00:31:21,546 so it was 707 00:31:21,546 --> 00:31:25,383 not really representative representative of the city, 708 00:31:25,383 --> 00:31:29,287 because the city, the region was very diverse in my mind. 709 00:31:29,754 --> 00:31:33,024 And so it was important, I thought, that we, 710 00:31:33,491 --> 00:31:36,294 you know, get the colors, get the colors in there. 711 00:31:36,294 --> 00:31:39,430 And we started the third chapter 712 00:31:39,430 --> 00:31:42,934 of the Asian American Journalists in 1983. 713 00:31:43,434 --> 00:31:47,739 And so it was basically to start a pipeline 714 00:31:47,939 --> 00:31:49,007 because I said, 715 00:31:49,007 --> 00:31:49,340 you know, 716 00:31:49,340 --> 00:31:50,008 a lot of 717 00:31:50,008 --> 00:31:51,843 young people would become journalists 718 00:31:51,843 --> 00:31:53,778 if they knew as a possibility. 719 00:31:53,778 --> 00:31:57,148 So we have to tell them to go to college, 720 00:31:57,415 --> 00:32:00,585 stay in college, study journalism, 721 00:32:00,919 --> 00:32:05,056 and then we have to find them jobs and then get them 722 00:32:05,056 --> 00:32:09,961 promoted to better jobs and get this pipeline going. 723 00:32:10,361 --> 00:32:13,364 And so that was kind of our mission for 724 00:32:13,631 --> 00:32:16,734 and it's been 40 years now since we started Asian 725 00:32:16,734 --> 00:32:18,569 American journalists Association. 726 00:32:18,569 --> 00:32:23,274 AAJA And in that time, I have to say that 727 00:32:23,474 --> 00:32:26,377 not just this market, but markets across 728 00:32:26,377 --> 00:32:29,380 the country have become so much more diverse. 729 00:32:29,614 --> 00:32:32,917 So we have achieved a lot to the point 730 00:32:33,318 --> 00:32:36,754 where we have to remind young Asian American journalists 731 00:32:36,754 --> 00:32:38,222 in the field today, 732 00:32:38,222 --> 00:32:41,059 hey, you know, it wasn't always this way. 733 00:32:42,493 --> 00:32:43,328 We were so 734 00:32:43,328 --> 00:32:46,331 isolated and so alone in the very beginning. 735 00:32:46,631 --> 00:32:49,600 And so Asian American Journalists in print, 736 00:32:49,634 --> 00:32:52,837 in magazines, on the radio, in broadcast, 737 00:32:53,004 --> 00:32:57,342 we banded together and form this chain, 738 00:32:57,642 --> 00:33:00,912 and we started pulling each other up this chain 739 00:33:01,179 --> 00:33:04,349 with the goal of becoming decision makers, right? 740 00:33:04,349 --> 00:33:05,783 We wanted that corner office. 741 00:33:05,783 --> 00:33:08,786 We wanted to see Asian American CEOs, 742 00:33:08,953 --> 00:33:11,923 news directors, executive producers, and 743 00:33:12,223 --> 00:33:14,459 and now we're seeing a lot more, 744 00:33:14,459 --> 00:33:17,462 you know, diversity on on the news sets, too. 745 00:33:17,895 --> 00:33:20,965 - So it's sort of getting back to when you were 746 00:33:21,699 --> 00:33:24,068 maybe passed over, do you think it had something 747 00:33:24,068 --> 00:33:27,071 to do with the fact that you were Asian American? 748 00:33:28,606 --> 00:33:31,609 -It might have. 749 00:33:31,676 --> 00:33:36,214 I. I decided that I would just take 750 00:33:36,214 --> 00:33:39,684 it as a hard knock because I was replaced. 751 00:33:40,651 --> 00:33:41,219 I had 752 00:33:41,219 --> 00:33:44,222 a weeknight. It was a victory for me. 753 00:33:44,322 --> 00:33:50,461 I was named the weeknight 11:00 anchor at King, 754 00:33:50,895 --> 00:33:53,998 and the first time they ever had a woman of color, 755 00:33:53,998 --> 00:33:55,566 you know, taking that position. 756 00:33:55,566 --> 00:33:57,468 And so I was very happy 757 00:33:57,468 --> 00:33:59,904 we had a change of news directors, 758 00:33:59,904 --> 00:34:01,305 and all of a sudden 759 00:34:01,305 --> 00:34:03,374 I was called into the news director's office 760 00:34:03,374 --> 00:34:03,775 and told 761 00:34:03,775 --> 00:34:07,111 I was no longer going to be the anchor at 11 on King, 762 00:34:07,378 --> 00:34:10,381 but I would be the anchor at 10:00 on Kong. 763 00:34:11,082 --> 00:34:14,018 And I said, 764 00:34:14,018 --> 00:34:15,820 “When are you going to tell everybody else?” 765 00:34:15,820 --> 00:34:17,155 He says, 766 00:34:17,155 --> 00:34:20,158 “Oh, in about 10 minutes when we have our staff meeting.” 767 00:34:20,158 --> 00:34:22,326 So it was a decision that had been made. 768 00:34:22,326 --> 00:34:23,561 No one knew it was coming 769 00:34:23,561 --> 00:34:25,663 and I certainly didn't know was coming. 770 00:34:25,663 --> 00:34:27,932 And poof, it happened. 771 00:34:27,932 --> 00:34:29,133 And it was such a shock. 772 00:34:29,133 --> 00:34:31,502 I think everybody in the newsroom was surprised. 773 00:34:31,502 --> 00:34:33,204 I was surprised. 774 00:34:33,204 --> 00:34:35,339 The media started calling you know, 775 00:34:35,339 --> 00:34:36,741 John Levesque at The Seattle 776 00:34:36,741 --> 00:34:38,409 Times was like calling, saying, “Hey, 777 00:34:38,409 --> 00:34:39,811 what did I hear about this?” 778 00:34:39,811 --> 00:34:44,415 And it was just, you know, chaos and my mind was blown. 779 00:34:44,449 --> 00:34:45,283 I think, “Why? 780 00:34:45,283 --> 00:34:46,751 Why is this happening to me?” 781 00:34:46,751 --> 00:34:50,388 And at that time, I'd been working decades at KING 5. 782 00:34:50,388 --> 00:34:54,559 I'd been working, you know, at least 15 years at KING 5. 783 00:34:55,493 --> 00:34:57,895 So the community really, 784 00:34:57,895 --> 00:35:00,898 really came out and the community wrote 785 00:35:01,232 --> 00:35:03,835 they wrote in, they called, they called, 786 00:35:03,835 --> 00:35:05,770 they wrote letters to the editor. 787 00:35:05,770 --> 00:35:08,239 They wrote letters to KING. 788 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:10,808 I was so amazed that there was 789 00:35:10,808 --> 00:35:14,512 this reaction from all kinds of folks. So 790 00:35:15,746 --> 00:35:17,381 I still didn't get the job back. 791 00:35:17,381 --> 00:35:21,519 I considered maybe I should do a lawsuit, but I didn't. 792 00:35:21,686 --> 00:35:24,522 I didn't think I would be successful. 793 00:35:24,522 --> 00:35:27,492 I couldn't prove beyond a doubt 794 00:35:27,492 --> 00:35:30,728 that it was because I was Asian that I didn't 795 00:35:30,728 --> 00:35:32,029 I lost the job. 796 00:35:32,029 --> 00:35:33,297 So I said, “Okay, I'm 797 00:35:33,297 --> 00:35:37,301 just going to stick around because I have to be there. 798 00:35:38,102 --> 00:35:40,671 I can make I can make a difference 799 00:35:40,671 --> 00:35:45,009 by just being there and sticking around on KONG 800 00:35:45,343 --> 00:35:48,379 and making that newscast more successful.” 801 00:35:48,379 --> 00:35:52,550 And it sounds Pollyannaish, I know, but you know, 802 00:35:52,717 --> 00:35:56,420 I'd be better off sticking with this station than not. 803 00:35:56,954 --> 00:36:00,057 So I just kind of stuck it out two years later. 804 00:36:00,057 --> 00:36:00,992 This anchorwoman 805 00:36:00,992 --> 00:36:04,462 that had been in my place left to something else. 806 00:36:04,829 --> 00:36:07,098 And so they said, okay, we're going to do a 807 00:36:07,098 --> 00:36:10,701 international or a nationwide search for her replacement. 808 00:36:11,169 --> 00:36:14,038 And so I applied and 809 00:36:14,038 --> 00:36:17,041 I had to audition with Dennis Bounds again. 810 00:36:17,275 --> 00:36:18,276 I had to you know, 811 00:36:18,276 --> 00:36:20,111 I only been anchoring with him for ten years. 812 00:36:20,111 --> 00:36:20,444 “Okay. 813 00:36:20,444 --> 00:36:23,247 I'll I'll audition with Dennis.” And 814 00:36:24,448 --> 00:36:26,517 they they said, well, 815 00:36:26,517 --> 00:36:28,719 “Can you now that she's gone, 816 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,657 can you fill in for her until we finish this search.” 817 00:36:32,657 --> 00:36:35,026 I said “Sure, I'll fill in.” 818 00:36:35,026 --> 00:36:36,294 And then I stayed in that anchor 819 00:36:36,294 --> 00:36:38,229 chair for the next 13 years. 820 00:36:38,229 --> 00:36:39,463 It was kind of nuts. 821 00:36:39,463 --> 00:36:42,466 I didn't you know, it was like, okay, I'll stay. 822 00:36:43,768 --> 00:36:45,102 So. -Wow. 823 00:36:45,102 --> 00:36:47,338 -So being there makes a difference. 824 00:36:47,338 --> 00:36:50,341 I was so convinced that being there mattered. 825 00:36:50,341 --> 00:36:54,378 I just stayed there and it ended up okay. 826 00:36:55,012 --> 00:36:57,248 It ended up okay. 827 00:36:57,248 --> 00:36:58,349 -And I also want to mention 828 00:36:58,349 --> 00:37:00,084 that she does write in the book, 829 00:37:00,084 --> 00:37:01,052 which I think is 830 00:37:01,052 --> 00:37:02,587 a little funny, that 831 00:37:02,587 --> 00:37:04,755 when the community when there was a lot of 832 00:37:04,755 --> 00:37:07,225 sort of outrage in the community, 833 00:37:07,225 --> 00:37:08,292 I think they thought 834 00:37:08,292 --> 00:37:10,861 that Lori was the one who instigated it, 835 00:37:10,861 --> 00:37:11,929 which she didn't. 836 00:37:11,929 --> 00:37:12,496 You know, 837 00:37:12,496 --> 00:37:14,332 it was just a natural, 838 00:37:14,332 --> 00:37:16,634 natural thing from the community that erupted. 839 00:37:16,634 --> 00:37:20,171 And so, yeah, the news director said called them off 840 00:37:21,138 --> 00:37:23,107 -Like call off the dogs or something like that. 841 00:37:23,107 --> 00:37:24,675 I said, “What call off who?” 842 00:37:24,675 --> 00:37:27,078 He said, “I know you told them to write letters.” 843 00:37:27,078 --> 00:37:29,380 I said, “No, I didn't.” 844 00:37:29,380 --> 00:37:31,916 And I was thinking, but “I should have.” 845 00:37:31,916 --> 00:37:33,451 -Yeah. 846 00:37:33,451 --> 00:37:36,454 -Why didn't I think of that? Yes. 847 00:37:37,622 --> 00:37:39,557 -Well, Lori, you mentioned Dennis Bounds. 848 00:37:39,557 --> 00:37:42,660 So you were longtime co-anchor with with Dennis. 849 00:37:43,060 --> 00:37:44,729 He was awesome. 850 00:37:44,729 --> 00:37:47,965 And when you're about well, when you left KING 851 00:37:47,965 --> 00:37:49,967 You are close to when you were leaving 852 00:37:49,967 --> 00:37:51,002 KING. There at 853 00:37:51,002 --> 00:37:53,504 KING. they offered a buyout, right? 854 00:37:53,504 --> 00:37:55,873 And they offered you and Dennis. 855 00:37:55,873 --> 00:37:58,209 But only one of you, because your anchors 856 00:37:58,209 --> 00:38:01,612 could take the buyout, But because you had seniority, 857 00:38:01,946 --> 00:38:05,116 you could have you had first dibs, right, 858 00:38:05,116 --> 00:38:08,119 to take the buyout, but you decided not to. 859 00:38:08,152 --> 00:38:10,288 And Dennis was very happy to take it. 860 00:38:10,288 --> 00:38:12,590 Right. Right. But tell us why. 861 00:38:12,590 --> 00:38:16,861 Because you said you had one important series 862 00:38:17,061 --> 00:38:20,064 story to tell before you retire. 863 00:38:20,665 --> 00:38:21,866 -I did. 864 00:38:21,866 --> 00:38:25,536 I had started working on a project 865 00:38:25,536 --> 00:38:28,939 with photographer Dave Wike on the 866 00:38:29,073 --> 00:38:30,908 what I considered 867 00:38:30,908 --> 00:38:34,211 the ultimate incarceration series 868 00:38:34,979 --> 00:38:37,882 for KING 5's archive library. 869 00:38:37,882 --> 00:38:41,052 I said we have to have the definitive story 870 00:38:41,052 --> 00:38:44,055 of Japanese American incarceration. 871 00:38:44,255 --> 00:38:45,856 What happened? 872 00:38:45,856 --> 00:38:47,024 Part two 873 00:38:47,024 --> 00:38:50,027 What happened after they came back from camp 874 00:38:50,361 --> 00:38:51,696 and what they faced, 875 00:38:51,696 --> 00:38:54,298 including the redress movement? 876 00:38:54,298 --> 00:38:57,034 Part three The little-told story 877 00:38:57,034 --> 00:39:00,805 of the conflict between families of the the 878 00:39:01,038 --> 00:39:04,575 the people who were incarcerated who volunteered 879 00:39:04,575 --> 00:39:08,312 to fight in the military versus the people who 880 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,950 resisted, resisted the draft and protested 881 00:39:13,117 --> 00:39:16,120 and had to serve time in prison for that. 882 00:39:16,420 --> 00:39:20,458 And then we did a story on how do we continue 883 00:39:20,725 --> 00:39:24,762 the telling the story and remembering the story. 884 00:39:25,062 --> 00:39:27,331 And I did a whole series of 885 00:39:28,532 --> 00:39:30,501 covered a lot of art, 886 00:39:30,501 --> 00:39:33,704 art and storytelling methods that were being used 887 00:39:33,704 --> 00:39:38,442 to tell the story, including Butoh, Butoh, dance, a 888 00:39:39,477 --> 00:39:43,247 spoken-word, opera story, you know, 889 00:39:43,247 --> 00:39:46,283 just children's books children's books, right? 890 00:39:46,450 --> 00:39:48,552 All kinds of ways of telling 891 00:39:48,552 --> 00:39:50,521 and retelling the story so no one 892 00:39:50,521 --> 00:39:52,523 would forget the lessons. 893 00:39:52,523 --> 00:39:55,393 So I, I said, I have to do this project 894 00:39:55,393 --> 00:39:59,130 because so many people who had survived incarceration 895 00:39:59,330 --> 00:40:01,632 were beginning to die off. 896 00:40:01,632 --> 00:40:04,602 I would clip these obituaries every Sunday, 897 00:40:05,002 --> 00:40:05,970 and by the time 898 00:40:05,970 --> 00:40:09,340 I was done with the series, I had a whole manila folder 899 00:40:09,707 --> 00:40:12,076 full of hundreds of obituaries. 900 00:40:12,076 --> 00:40:13,511 And I'm like, “Oh oh my gosh, 901 00:40:13,511 --> 00:40:17,281 we have to tell their story now, now, now.” 902 00:40:17,281 --> 00:40:21,318 So I said, “I have no time to retire, Dennis, You retire. 903 00:40:21,852 --> 00:40:24,522 And Dave and I are going to finish this series.” 904 00:40:24,522 --> 00:40:27,057 -And what was great about that series, Lori 905 00:40:27,057 --> 00:40:29,827 won her first Emmy with that series. Yes. 906 00:40:29,827 --> 00:40:32,696 (applause) 907 00:40:33,230 --> 00:40:34,732 And they still 908 00:40:34,732 --> 00:40:36,901 at KING, they still refer to that series 909 00:40:36,901 --> 00:40:40,771 and go back and it's still used as an archival piece. 910 00:40:40,771 --> 00:40:41,639 -They still use it. 911 00:40:41,639 --> 00:40:43,941 -So that is an incredible legacy 912 00:40:43,941 --> 00:40:47,144 you have left KING and all of us for sure. 913 00:40:49,346 --> 00:40:52,149 You know, one of the things I loved about 914 00:40:52,149 --> 00:40:55,786 your memoir was that you're not afraid to name people 915 00:40:56,787 --> 00:40:59,890 who had a huge impact in your life, 916 00:41:00,191 --> 00:41:03,260 including local heroes who were really courageous 917 00:41:03,260 --> 00:41:06,263 during the civil rights movement, community work. 918 00:41:07,164 --> 00:41:10,201 And I also want mention that Lori, you know, in 919 00:41:10,201 --> 00:41:13,204 everything that she did, she was she founded 920 00:41:13,871 --> 00:41:16,674 AAJA, the Asian American Journalists Association, 921 00:41:16,674 --> 00:41:20,110 and it was so important to have her as a mentor 922 00:41:20,377 --> 00:41:21,946 to so many young journalists. 923 00:41:21,946 --> 00:41:24,982 But also she was one of the co-founders 924 00:41:24,982 --> 00:41:27,084 of the Japanese Cultural 925 00:41:27,084 --> 00:41:29,620 and Community Center of Washington. 926 00:41:29,620 --> 00:41:31,088 So she did all this 927 00:41:31,088 --> 00:41:33,023 when she was still working at KING. 928 00:41:33,023 --> 00:41:36,126 I don't know how she did it. -Exhausted all the time. 929 00:41:36,126 --> 00:41:40,564 -Yeah, but I mean, these were so important to you, this 930 00:41:40,898 --> 00:41:45,536 keeping your culture and and and mentoring young people. 931 00:41:45,936 --> 00:41:48,672 And I know that there have been some 932 00:41:48,672 --> 00:41:51,342 very influential women in your life. 933 00:41:51,342 --> 00:41:52,142 Can you name 934 00:41:52,142 --> 00:41:55,246 maybe a couple that have had a huge impact on your life? 935 00:41:56,313 --> 00:41:59,316 -Well, I have to say, as 936 00:41:59,350 --> 00:41:59,917 as set 937 00:41:59,917 --> 00:42:01,585 as she was in her ways, I have to say 938 00:42:01,585 --> 00:42:05,022 my mom was pretty influential, Haji and all. 939 00:42:05,389 --> 00:42:07,391 She was pretty influential. 940 00:42:07,391 --> 00:42:11,662 And she really, you know, fought for what she believed. 941 00:42:11,662 --> 00:42:13,731 And I think that that spirit, 942 00:42:13,731 --> 00:42:17,034 that spunk was part of what kind of rubbed off on me. 943 00:42:17,668 --> 00:42:20,671 I was inspired, too, by a woman. 944 00:42:20,771 --> 00:42:23,841 She's not a local woman, but she eventually 945 00:42:25,042 --> 00:42:27,177 she was the founder of the Japanese American 946 00:42:27,177 --> 00:42:28,379 National Museum. 947 00:42:28,379 --> 00:42:30,748 Her name is Irene Hirano Inouye. 948 00:42:30,748 --> 00:42:34,218 She eventually married the late Senator Inouye, 949 00:42:34,552 --> 00:42:39,323 and she was a quiet behind the scenes person. 950 00:42:39,323 --> 00:42:43,093 And that's kind of what I admired about her 951 00:42:43,093 --> 00:42:43,694 and I tried to 952 00:42:43,694 --> 00:42:47,064 emulate is like she did so much to help people 953 00:42:47,197 --> 00:42:48,732 and she didn't care that she didn't 954 00:42:48,732 --> 00:42:51,001 get the credit necessarily. 955 00:42:51,001 --> 00:42:52,703 You know, she was on several boards, 956 00:42:52,703 --> 00:42:56,740 influential ones, Casey Family, Carnegie, 957 00:42:57,408 --> 00:43:00,411 you know, these mega boards she even took, 958 00:43:00,477 --> 00:43:03,480 you know, was credited with saving the city of Detroit 959 00:43:03,714 --> 00:43:06,951 from selling its art artwork in its art museum 960 00:43:07,484 --> 00:43:10,888 and by rallying, you know, corporate 961 00:43:11,255 --> 00:43:14,291 foundations to save Detroit. 962 00:43:14,592 --> 00:43:17,595 And so, you know, people don't mention Irene 963 00:43:17,595 --> 00:43:20,464 as saving Detroit, but she didn't care. 964 00:43:20,464 --> 00:43:22,166 She says so long as they don't 965 00:43:22,166 --> 00:43:25,269 have to sell that art collection to pay, you know, 966 00:43:25,269 --> 00:43:29,073 for their union members, that's fine. 967 00:43:29,373 --> 00:43:32,376 So I think Irene was really influential, 968 00:43:32,443 --> 00:43:34,612 not taking credit, not being worried about 969 00:43:34,612 --> 00:43:36,880 who gets the credit, just get the job done. 970 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:39,183 I think that's an important lesson, too. 971 00:43:40,217 --> 00:43:41,285 -Definitely. 972 00:43:41,285 --> 00:43:42,019 Yeah. 973 00:43:42,019 --> 00:43:45,723 I want to like maybe pause a little here 974 00:43:45,723 --> 00:43:50,094 and invite any questions that you might have for Lori. 975 00:43:50,761 --> 00:43:51,362 I know that 976 00:43:51,362 --> 00:43:52,997 I'll take a look at the iPad here, 977 00:43:52,997 --> 00:43:55,699 but also if you wanted to come up to the microphone, 978 00:43:55,699 --> 00:43:57,835 -I think it's I think it's over this way. 979 00:43:57,835 --> 00:43:59,870 -I can't see it this way. 980 00:43:59,870 --> 00:44:00,904 Yeah. Yeah. 981 00:44:00,904 --> 00:44:04,608 I can see her not be afraid to ask questions of Lori, 982 00:44:05,142 --> 00:44:05,509 but I'm going. 983 00:44:05,509 --> 00:44:09,513 I'll just start it off before if first 984 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:11,281 I wanted to know, like, 985 00:44:11,281 --> 00:44:14,284 of everything you've covered Mount St. Helens, 986 00:44:15,152 --> 00:44:17,221 I think even you went to New York, 987 00:44:17,221 --> 00:44:21,225 you went to Japan covering the the earthquake, tsunami. 988 00:44:21,558 --> 00:44:24,561 What maybe had the most impact on you? 989 00:44:25,062 --> 00:44:28,999 I think the biggest impact, I think my my most exciting 990 00:44:28,999 --> 00:44:32,970 and eye opening story was when we followed Gary 991 00:44:32,970 --> 00:44:36,073 Locke to his first trade mission to China. 992 00:44:36,940 --> 00:44:41,211 This was a story that I pitched and we got to go, 993 00:44:41,445 --> 00:44:44,415 and it was the hardest I had ever worked in my life. 994 00:44:44,415 --> 00:44:45,983 And again, my hero, Dave Wike, 995 00:44:45,983 --> 00:44:48,519 was my videographer on that shoot, too. 996 00:44:48,519 --> 00:44:52,256 We were working 13 hour, 15 hour days 997 00:44:52,256 --> 00:44:55,292 following Gary around. His first day 998 00:44:55,592 --> 00:44:58,996 there, he decided to go on the Great Wall of China, 999 00:44:59,663 --> 00:45:03,167 scoot up the stairs and fly a kite. 1000 00:45:04,234 --> 00:45:06,336 So here we are all 1001 00:45:06,336 --> 00:45:08,639 Dave and I are trying to follow him up these stairs. 1002 00:45:08,639 --> 00:45:10,908 And if you've ever seen those stairs, they're like 1003 00:45:10,908 --> 00:45:12,910 really large stairs. 1004 00:45:12,910 --> 00:45:13,944 They're not little steps. 1005 00:45:13,944 --> 00:45:15,679 They're like, you know, three feet 1006 00:45:15,679 --> 00:45:18,682 high, like four horses or something. 1007 00:45:18,949 --> 00:45:20,951 And so I'm trying to chase them. 1008 00:45:20,951 --> 00:45:23,253 I'm carrying this wooden tripod 1009 00:45:23,253 --> 00:45:25,456 and we're trying to chase after the governor. 1010 00:45:25,456 --> 00:45:27,057 And I said, “Oh, forget it. 1011 00:45:27,057 --> 00:45:28,759 This is just too much. 1012 00:45:28,759 --> 00:45:31,128 I'm going to wait and we're going to get him on 1013 00:45:31,128 --> 00:45:32,463 on his way down.” 1014 00:45:32,463 --> 00:45:33,430 So we're sitting there 1015 00:45:33,430 --> 00:45:35,899 on the Great Wall of China waiting for the governor, 1016 00:45:35,899 --> 00:45:39,670 and all of a sudden I start feeling really lightheaded 1017 00:45:39,903 --> 00:45:42,673 and I must have passed out because I 1018 00:45:42,673 --> 00:45:46,310 opened my eyes and I hear someone saying, “Is she okay? 1019 00:45:47,411 --> 00:45:50,013 Does she need water?” 1020 00:45:50,013 --> 00:45:53,016 And my photographer, Dave, said, 1021 00:45:53,183 --> 00:45:55,452 he said, “What, you scared me to death 1022 00:45:55,452 --> 00:45:57,020 because you just kind of 1023 00:45:57,020 --> 00:46:01,058 sank off the wall and into the floor.” 1024 00:46:01,425 --> 00:46:04,161 And he said, “if you had gone the opposite, 1025 00:46:04,161 --> 00:46:06,163 if you had gone back instead of four, 1026 00:46:06,163 --> 00:46:07,431 you would have fallen down 1027 00:46:07,431 --> 00:46:10,434 30 feet down the Great Wall of China.” 1028 00:46:11,201 --> 00:46:11,702 So I said, “Well, 1029 00:46:11,702 --> 00:46:12,035 thank you 1030 00:46:12,035 --> 00:46:15,038 for stopping me from falling off the Great Wall of China.” 1031 00:46:15,906 --> 00:46:18,776 And then, and then here comes the governor. 1032 00:46:18,776 --> 00:46:20,177 Okay, so you have to get up 1033 00:46:20,177 --> 00:46:22,446 and start chasing after him to do the interview. 1034 00:46:22,446 --> 00:46:26,650 So we had some words with Governor Locke, “Don't do that. 1035 00:46:28,085 --> 00:46:31,388 We're trying to cover your trip, so don't run away.” 1036 00:46:31,388 --> 00:46:34,491 So I think we we got to an understanding 1037 00:46:34,491 --> 00:46:36,260 and the rest of the trip was pretty good. 1038 00:46:36,260 --> 00:46:39,096 The rest of the trip, we got good coverage. 1039 00:46:39,096 --> 00:46:39,563 Exciting. 1040 00:46:40,931 --> 00:46:42,833 -Do you have any questions here? 1041 00:46:42,833 --> 00:46:45,836 -Don't be shy, everyone. 1042 00:46:48,972 --> 00:46:49,373 -All right. 1043 00:46:49,373 --> 00:46:50,440 I won't be shy, 1044 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,543 but I will say I was one of the producers 1045 00:46:52,543 --> 00:46:54,678 at KING-TV for many, many years. 1046 00:46:54,678 --> 00:46:57,581 And working with Lori, I will always say that 1047 00:46:57,581 --> 00:47:01,051 probably of all the on-air talent, 1048 00:47:01,251 --> 00:47:04,254 you could have breaking news and you'd say to Lori, 1049 00:47:04,288 --> 00:47:05,923 we have 10 minutes. 1050 00:47:05,923 --> 00:47:08,325 So you whatever you think she'd be like, 1051 00:47:08,325 --> 00:47:09,827 I'm on this, right? 1052 00:47:09,827 --> 00:47:12,196 And you didn't have to think about it again. 1053 00:47:12,196 --> 00:47:15,165 You could go live on air and go to Lori 1054 00:47:15,165 --> 00:47:16,033 and she would have that. 1055 00:47:16,033 --> 00:47:17,201 absolute latest 1056 00:47:17,201 --> 00:47:20,504 give us 10 minutes or 2 hours, just the best. 1057 00:47:20,504 --> 00:47:23,440 And so working with Lori was a pleasure. 1058 00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:25,309 She was one of the most solid 1059 00:47:25,309 --> 00:47:28,979 people I've ever worked with, never failed to ever 1060 00:47:30,514 --> 00:47:33,517 say. 1061 00:47:35,686 --> 00:47:36,453 -Thanks, Diane. 1062 00:47:36,453 --> 00:47:37,187 That's so nice. 1063 00:47:37,187 --> 00:47:38,322 And now I can see that 1064 00:47:38,322 --> 00:47:39,923 some of you I can see a lot of KING 5 1065 00:47:39,923 --> 00:47:43,493 colleagues here. -Hi to the KING 5 folks! -Mimi Jung. Hi! 1066 00:47:43,493 --> 00:47:47,197 Hi, Mike James! -Look, Mike and Donna James right there. 1067 00:47:47,531 --> 00:47:48,031 I anchored 1068 00:47:48,031 --> 00:47:51,034 with Mike James, too, and it was a pleasure, Mike. 1069 00:47:51,835 --> 00:47:53,136 -Same here. 1070 00:47:53,136 --> 00:47:54,471 -So here's the deal. 1071 00:47:54,471 --> 00:47:56,173 Another reason I had to write 1072 00:47:56,173 --> 00:47:59,142 this book is there are people going into the business 1073 00:47:59,309 --> 00:48:02,079 who have never known that there was a time 1074 00:48:02,079 --> 00:48:05,082 where we used typewriters 1075 00:48:05,148 --> 00:48:08,952 in the newsroom, that we use five-ply carbon 1076 00:48:08,952 --> 00:48:12,789 paper scripts that we didn't have cell phones. 1077 00:48:12,789 --> 00:48:14,591 So how do we talk to the base? 1078 00:48:14,591 --> 00:48:16,360 We use the radio 1079 00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:19,363 and who remembers the KING 5 radio numbers? 1080 00:48:20,230 --> 00:48:22,199 Anybody? Anybody? 1081 00:48:22,199 --> 00:48:25,202 -KSB 4A Yeah, Yes. 1082 00:48:26,136 --> 00:48:27,671 Category five, right? 1083 00:48:28,805 --> 00:48:29,139 Yeah. 1084 00:48:29,139 --> 00:48:30,741 And and you have to say your unit number, 1085 00:48:30,741 --> 00:48:33,911 which is your car number, Unit two was a crew right? 1086 00:48:34,511 --> 00:48:37,514 Unit two and then unit ten, Right. 1087 00:48:38,048 --> 00:48:40,584 KSB 4A3 1088 00:48:40,584 --> 00:48:44,922 and you had to kind of call in your, your stories 1089 00:48:44,922 --> 00:48:48,825 sometimes using a payphone at the King County courthouse 1090 00:48:49,226 --> 00:48:52,396 and you had to wait in line until the guy from KIRO 1091 00:48:52,396 --> 00:48:53,263 finished his. 1092 00:48:53,263 --> 00:48:54,898 And it was like 1093 00:48:54,898 --> 00:48:58,735 really, really that was really bad. 1094 00:48:58,869 --> 00:49:01,338 That was really bad. 1095 00:49:01,338 --> 00:49:02,372 -Yes. We have a question. 1096 00:49:02,372 --> 00:49:04,908 -QUESTION Hi, Lori. -Hi, Barb. 1097 00:49:04,908 --> 00:49:06,543 -Hi. It's so great to see you. 1098 00:49:06,543 --> 00:49:07,978 I don't know that 1099 00:49:07,978 --> 00:49:08,779 all of you know 1100 00:49:08,779 --> 00:49:10,747 that besides being her 1101 00:49:10,747 --> 00:49:12,549 contributions to journalism, Lori 1102 00:49:12,549 --> 00:49:15,786 has just been a champion of the Japanese American 1103 00:49:15,786 --> 00:49:17,354 Asian American community in Seattle. 1104 00:49:17,354 --> 00:49:19,356 So I want to thank you for that. 1105 00:49:19,356 --> 00:49:21,325 But I do have a question, 1106 00:49:21,325 --> 00:49:24,895 and it has to do with the model 1107 00:49:24,895 --> 00:49:27,931 minority myth, which I'm sure you're familiar with. 1108 00:49:28,198 --> 00:49:30,500 I'm wondering what you think about it 1109 00:49:30,500 --> 00:49:35,005 and how you feel it either helped you or hindered you 1110 00:49:35,172 --> 00:49:36,073 in your career. 1111 00:49:37,674 --> 00:49:39,209 -That's a terrific question. 1112 00:49:39,209 --> 00:49:42,779 I think it hindered myself. 1113 00:49:42,813 --> 00:49:45,415 I hindered myself 1114 00:49:45,415 --> 00:49:47,918 with this model minority myth, 1115 00:49:47,918 --> 00:49:50,620 and it kind of goes back to that Haji thing, too. 1116 00:49:50,620 --> 00:49:53,023 You know, don't bring shame to your family. 1117 00:49:53,023 --> 00:49:54,658 Don't do anything that would, 1118 00:49:54,658 --> 00:49:57,861 you know, make you stand out, stick up. 1119 00:49:58,228 --> 00:50:00,831 Right. Be obnoxious. Yes. 1120 00:50:00,831 --> 00:50:05,669 So I did kind of try to be the good Japanese 1121 00:50:05,669 --> 00:50:08,672 girl and not cause trouble and not make waves. 1122 00:50:09,006 --> 00:50:13,310 And I thought by being nice and by being, 1123 00:50:13,577 --> 00:50:16,580 you know, pleasant and good, 1124 00:50:16,980 --> 00:50:20,717 it would get me far in journalism and no, 1125 00:50:21,418 --> 00:50:22,552 in this business, 1126 00:50:22,552 --> 00:50:24,287 you really have to be aggressive 1127 00:50:24,287 --> 00:50:26,089 and you have to toot your own horn. 1128 00:50:26,089 --> 00:50:26,823 You can't just 1129 00:50:26,823 --> 00:50:29,526 expect people to notice, “Hey, there's a good 1130 00:50:29,526 --> 00:50:31,661 there's a good, hardworking person.” 1131 00:50:31,661 --> 00:50:33,063 It doesn't happen that way. 1132 00:50:33,063 --> 00:50:36,166 So I think by kind of 1133 00:50:36,199 --> 00:50:39,503 absorbing my model minority myth in my own head, 1134 00:50:39,669 --> 00:50:42,472 I was my own worst enemy at times. 1135 00:50:42,472 --> 00:50:44,207 Yeah, I had to outgrow that. 1136 00:50:47,644 --> 00:50:49,413 -So what do you think about journalism now? 1137 00:50:49,413 --> 00:50:50,680 Has it gotten better? 1138 00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:53,650 Has it gotten worse since you were in it? 1139 00:50:56,520 --> 00:50:59,289 -In many ways, the journalism has gotten better 1140 00:50:59,289 --> 00:51:04,428 because the technology allows them to go into scenes 1141 00:51:04,428 --> 00:51:07,697 that they we didn't go into before. 1142 00:51:07,697 --> 00:51:09,399 We can go into courtrooms 1143 00:51:09,399 --> 00:51:12,402 now that we didn't go into before we could go into 1144 00:51:13,570 --> 00:51:16,573 jails, we can, you know, use smaller, 1145 00:51:16,840 --> 00:51:20,410 less obtrusive technology to cover events. 1146 00:51:22,212 --> 00:51:24,314 I think a people 1147 00:51:24,314 --> 00:51:27,818 because of the need to get the need for speed, 1148 00:51:28,552 --> 00:51:31,021 sometimes there's a lot of context in history 1149 00:51:31,021 --> 00:51:32,155 that's lost. 1150 00:51:32,155 --> 00:51:33,390 And so 1151 00:51:33,390 --> 00:51:38,562 my hope is that we focus on context and reason 1152 00:51:38,562 --> 00:51:41,031 and tell people why this is an important story. 1153 00:51:41,031 --> 00:51:44,768 I think that's lacking today's fast moving, 1154 00:51:45,502 --> 00:51:49,573 very short soundbite, limited news coverage. 1155 00:51:49,906 --> 00:51:52,909 So generally, I think the news coverage is 1156 00:51:53,009 --> 00:51:55,879 okay, but it could be a lot better. 1157 00:51:55,879 --> 00:51:58,715 And it's very scary that it's being attacked 1158 00:51:58,715 --> 00:52:01,751 by an administration that doesn't seem 1159 00:52:01,751 --> 00:52:04,855 to value this fourth estate. 1160 00:52:05,689 --> 00:52:07,958 And I fear for the fate 1161 00:52:07,958 --> 00:52:10,961 of the fourth estate in the US Supreme Court. 1162 00:52:11,294 --> 00:52:14,064 We have seen, you know, the US Supreme Court 1163 00:52:14,064 --> 00:52:17,200 with the whole incarceration of Japanese Americans thing, 1164 00:52:17,801 --> 00:52:21,371 that they make mistakes, that they are not, 1165 00:52:21,371 --> 00:52:22,305 you know, infallible. 1166 00:52:22,305 --> 00:52:26,276 And I just don't want to see a repetition of that, 1167 00:52:26,276 --> 00:52:29,713 a repeat of that today, just absolutely not. 1168 00:52:29,713 --> 00:52:31,148 And I'm fearful. 1169 00:52:31,148 --> 00:52:33,850 I'm fearful for the fourth estate today. 1170 00:52:35,952 --> 00:52:37,521 -Hi. Hi. 1171 00:52:37,521 --> 00:52:39,055 I'm glad that you brought that up. 1172 00:52:39,055 --> 00:52:41,691 I was going to comment on the very same thing 1173 00:52:41,691 --> 00:52:43,994 and ask you to say some more 1174 00:52:43,994 --> 00:52:46,863 about the First Amendment issues with journalism 1175 00:52:46,863 --> 00:52:49,866 these days, particularly vis-à-vis our administration. 1176 00:52:50,534 --> 00:52:53,537 Thank you. 1177 00:52:54,504 --> 00:52:55,272 -I can't speak 1178 00:52:55,272 --> 00:52:59,676 for all journalists, but I am afraid for our future. 1179 00:53:00,010 --> 00:53:02,179 I, I think we need 1180 00:53:02,179 --> 00:53:05,982 to all stand up and protect our local for example, 1181 00:53:06,049 --> 00:53:09,152 we all have to stand up and protect our local news, 1182 00:53:09,419 --> 00:53:11,655 whether it's our community papers, 1183 00:53:11,655 --> 00:53:15,125 whether it's the Seattle Times, whether it's right. 1184 00:53:15,458 --> 00:53:18,228 KUOW Right. 1185 00:53:18,228 --> 00:53:21,164 We have to be prepared to stand up and 1186 00:53:21,164 --> 00:53:24,701 protect our local journalism because journalism and news 1187 00:53:25,001 --> 00:53:27,904 is local, not The New York Times 1188 00:53:27,904 --> 00:53:31,541 cannot cover Seattle King County, Pierce County. 1189 00:53:31,708 --> 00:53:32,709 They cannot cover the state 1190 00:53:32,709 --> 00:53:34,477 of Washington like local news. 1191 00:53:34,477 --> 00:53:38,448 So we have to protect, defend, subscribe 1192 00:53:38,882 --> 00:53:43,386 to our local news first and then and then subscribe 1193 00:53:43,386 --> 00:53:47,023 to national news or regional news coverage 1194 00:53:47,257 --> 00:53:50,594 and and speak out in defense of journalists 1195 00:53:50,894 --> 00:53:54,130 because they they have an important job. 1196 00:53:54,364 --> 00:53:56,967 They are sometimes the only ones you can, 1197 00:53:56,967 --> 00:54:00,237 you know, really hope to get a smattering 1198 00:54:00,237 --> 00:54:04,107 of information from that is mostly true. 1199 00:54:04,441 --> 00:54:07,444 It's hard because they are kind of left 1200 00:54:07,510 --> 00:54:09,379 looking for reliable sources, 1201 00:54:09,379 --> 00:54:10,513 which may or may not be there. 1202 00:54:11,615 --> 00:54:14,184 So support your local 1203 00:54:14,184 --> 00:54:18,121 media in any way, shape or form that you can and 1204 00:54:19,422 --> 00:54:21,758 and stand up for journalists, 1205 00:54:21,758 --> 00:54:24,394 stand up for them, get them into the, 1206 00:54:24,394 --> 00:54:26,429 into the places they need to be. 1207 00:54:26,429 --> 00:54:28,098 Yeah. 1208 00:54:28,098 --> 00:54:29,933 -Lori, on that note, I want to ask you, 1209 00:54:29,933 --> 00:54:33,303 because as a journalist, you always had to pretty much 1210 00:54:33,403 --> 00:54:36,373 remain unbiased, you know, unbiased, right. 1211 00:54:36,706 --> 00:54:38,441 And really couldn't advocate 1212 00:54:38,441 --> 00:54:40,210 for certain issues and things. 1213 00:54:40,210 --> 00:54:42,646 So how did you how did you sort of maintain 1214 00:54:42,646 --> 00:54:43,713 that balance? 1215 00:54:43,713 --> 00:54:48,652 And also, what is it like now being outside of journalism 1216 00:54:49,019 --> 00:54:51,721 and being able to actually, 1217 00:54:51,721 --> 00:54:54,958 you know, freely protest if you want, 1218 00:54:55,959 --> 00:54:59,095 you know, be an advocate for for various issues? 1219 00:55:00,397 --> 00:55:02,499 -I think when I was at KING, 1220 00:55:02,499 --> 00:55:05,502 I had a a bit of license. 1221 00:55:06,002 --> 00:55:10,507 There was something called the minority report beat 1222 00:55:10,907 --> 00:55:12,442 and so that was reporting on 1223 00:55:12,442 --> 00:55:15,245 anything that happened in communities of color. 1224 00:55:15,245 --> 00:55:18,248 And for the longest time, there were a few of us 1225 00:55:18,281 --> 00:55:20,150 reporters of color in the KING newsroom 1226 00:55:20,150 --> 00:55:23,153 that were fiercely against being pigeonholed 1227 00:55:23,353 --> 00:55:26,056 as the minority affairs reporter. 1228 00:55:26,056 --> 00:55:28,291 You know, we didn't want to be labeled with that. 1229 00:55:28,291 --> 00:55:30,193 We don't want to be sent out to the Cinco 1230 00:55:30,193 --> 00:55:32,962 de Mayo celebration every year. 1231 00:55:32,962 --> 00:55:34,731 We didn't want to be the one sent out 1232 00:55:34,731 --> 00:55:37,534 to write the Bon Odori And every July. 1233 00:55:37,534 --> 00:55:41,404 And so, yeah, but I realized that 1234 00:55:41,471 --> 00:55:44,941 at some point if we didn't cover it, 1235 00:55:45,442 --> 00:55:49,245 it wouldn't get covered at all, which is even worse. 1236 00:55:49,612 --> 00:55:53,383 So I said, okay, if, if they want me to cover 1237 00:55:53,383 --> 00:55:56,353 minority communities, I'm going to cover them. 1238 00:55:56,353 --> 00:55:59,723 So I began covering all of the communities. 1239 00:55:59,723 --> 00:56:00,924 If it was, 1240 00:56:00,924 --> 00:56:02,392 you know, if it was 1241 00:56:02,392 --> 00:56:05,462 African American business days, I was out there 1242 00:56:05,462 --> 00:56:07,964 and if it was Latino, you know, Cinco de Mayo, 1243 00:56:07,964 --> 00:56:10,533 and if it was Native American salmon days, 1244 00:56:10,533 --> 00:56:14,170 every every ethnic group became my ethnic group. 1245 00:56:14,771 --> 00:56:18,041 And because if we if I didn't cover it, 1246 00:56:18,174 --> 00:56:19,843 nobody else was going to cover it. 1247 00:56:19,843 --> 00:56:22,245 And it gave me a little license 1248 00:56:22,245 --> 00:56:23,680 to kind of like be out there. 1249 00:56:23,680 --> 00:56:25,582 And so you end up 1250 00:56:25,582 --> 00:56:27,317 putting these communities of color 1251 00:56:27,317 --> 00:56:29,319 and their issues out there. 1252 00:56:29,319 --> 00:56:32,322 And I didn't get I didn't get pushback. 1253 00:56:32,455 --> 00:56:34,157 I don't know how that came to be. 1254 00:56:34,157 --> 00:56:35,058 I don't know. 1255 00:56:35,058 --> 00:56:35,925 People who are closer 1256 00:56:35,925 --> 00:56:38,261 to the administration maybe would know. 1257 00:56:38,261 --> 00:56:41,231 I don't know what the news honchos at KING 5 thought, but 1258 00:56:41,631 --> 00:56:43,800 if I was going to cover it. 1259 00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:46,469 And so that's why we covered the incarceration stuff 1260 00:56:46,469 --> 00:56:49,506 so much, because they didn't say anything. 1261 00:56:49,506 --> 00:56:51,441 So I just kept covering it. 1262 00:56:51,441 --> 00:56:52,842 Right. Be bold. 1263 00:56:54,077 --> 00:56:56,546 -Thank thank you for all your thoughtful questions. 1264 00:56:56,546 --> 00:56:57,881 Are there any more I just want to 1265 00:56:57,881 --> 00:56:59,883 put it out there just to see. 1266 00:56:59,883 --> 00:57:02,852 Here, we've got one more. 1267 00:57:02,852 --> 00:57:05,355 -And there's there's so much 1268 00:57:05,355 --> 00:57:07,791 that younger generations don't seem to know. 1269 00:57:07,791 --> 00:57:11,261 Who don't seem to get their news from 1270 00:57:11,895 --> 00:57:14,898 the local news from reading the paper. 1271 00:57:15,031 --> 00:57:18,067 Much more on the Internet and social media. 1272 00:57:18,501 --> 00:57:21,504 And do you think that 1273 00:57:21,671 --> 00:57:24,674 it's best to somehow engage 1274 00:57:25,141 --> 00:57:29,012 with that medium or how do you overcome that? 1275 00:57:29,279 --> 00:57:32,982 How do we get younger people to to actually watch 1276 00:57:33,149 --> 00:57:36,453 the news, read the news, or get reliable information? 1277 00:57:37,887 --> 00:57:40,323 -You can't tell them what to do. 1278 00:57:40,323 --> 00:57:42,892 What is your what is your what is your thought on that? 1279 00:57:42,892 --> 00:57:43,927 I, I don't know. 1280 00:57:43,927 --> 00:57:45,028 I don't think I could tell 1281 00:57:45,028 --> 00:57:48,131 any young person what to do or how to consume news. 1282 00:57:48,331 --> 00:57:49,032 -No, I yeah, 1283 00:57:49,032 --> 00:57:50,800 I don't think you can tell people, but that's 1284 00:57:50,800 --> 00:57:52,869 I guess that's part of my question is, is then 1285 00:57:53,970 --> 00:57:55,271 how does the 1286 00:57:55,271 --> 00:57:58,575 mainstream media then engage with that 1287 00:57:58,575 --> 00:58:02,612 you know, or transfer onto web based media? 1288 00:58:02,846 --> 00:58:03,513 I don't think you're going 1289 00:58:03,513 --> 00:58:06,483 to get people away from from social media 1290 00:58:06,483 --> 00:58:07,183 or from X 1291 00:58:07,183 --> 00:58:10,220 or all of those other little snippets of news. 1292 00:58:10,220 --> 00:58:13,523 But how do you get yourself out into that 1293 00:58:15,158 --> 00:58:16,626 lane? 1294 00:58:16,626 --> 00:58:18,561 -One one thing that I found helpful, 1295 00:58:18,561 --> 00:58:20,196 especially since I've been retired 1296 00:58:20,196 --> 00:58:21,264 and this leads to your question 1297 00:58:21,264 --> 00:58:23,233 about you know, you're a lot more free. 1298 00:58:23,233 --> 00:58:27,170 I'm a lot more free to, you know, express my opinion 1299 00:58:27,170 --> 00:58:29,639 and get active in various community events 1300 00:58:29,639 --> 00:58:32,642 because I'm no longer representing 1301 00:58:33,009 --> 00:58:35,678 a station or a company and I'm no longer 1302 00:58:35,678 --> 00:58:36,946 working as a journalist. 1303 00:58:36,946 --> 00:58:38,381 I'm not wearing a journalist hat. 1304 00:58:38,381 --> 00:58:40,850 I'm just a citizen with an opinion. 1305 00:58:40,850 --> 00:58:41,618 And so 1306 00:58:42,819 --> 00:58:43,353 what I 1307 00:58:43,353 --> 00:58:46,556 find important is being an advocate 1308 00:58:46,556 --> 00:58:49,692 and having a point of view and being willing to 1309 00:58:50,894 --> 00:58:52,629 share 1310 00:58:52,629 --> 00:58:55,632 knowledge with journalists, you know, 1311 00:58:56,366 --> 00:58:59,502 saying, hey, if you want to do a story about, 1312 00:59:00,236 --> 00:59:03,239 you know, I know Barb is is very involved in 1313 00:59:03,573 --> 00:59:06,943 efforts to track immigration, you know, ICE 1314 00:59:06,943 --> 00:59:08,578 and immigration 1315 00:59:08,578 --> 00:59:11,581 arrests and deportations out of King County Airport. 1316 00:59:11,981 --> 00:59:16,152 So if if you want to cover stories about deportation 1317 00:59:16,152 --> 00:59:17,720 flights out of King County Airport, 1318 00:59:17,720 --> 00:59:20,723 I know an organization that does that. 1319 00:59:20,990 --> 00:59:24,193 And I find, well, a certain amount of value 1320 00:59:24,193 --> 00:59:27,564 being a liaison between groups and media. 1321 00:59:28,164 --> 00:59:30,700 So maybe that's all I can do at this point, 1322 00:59:30,700 --> 00:59:32,569 but I think that's helpful. 1323 00:59:32,569 --> 00:59:34,737 You know, people will will call you up and say, 1324 00:59:34,737 --> 00:59:38,207 “Hey, Lori, who do we call about X, Y, Z?” 1325 00:59:38,741 --> 00:59:44,247 So there's value in being maybe a liaison or a bridge 1326 00:59:44,647 --> 00:59:48,084 between groups that have a point of view 1327 00:59:48,318 --> 00:59:51,321 and media and have the media decide, 1328 00:59:51,554 --> 00:59:54,557 is this a group that I want to talk to or not? 1329 00:59:55,091 --> 00:59:58,628 So maybe a liaison because you can't tell young 1330 00:59:58,628 --> 01:00:00,797 people, stop reading it on the Internet. 1331 01:00:00,797 --> 01:00:03,266 They're going to that's how they get their news. 1332 01:00:03,266 --> 01:00:04,701 That's how they get their news. -So 1333 01:00:06,703 --> 01:00:09,639 so, Lori, as we're wrapping things up, 1334 01:00:09,639 --> 01:00:12,542 besides writing a book and writing a children's book, too. 1335 01:00:12,976 --> 01:00:15,979 So you all know about her children's book, right? 1336 01:00:16,512 --> 01:00:17,246 One more question. 1337 01:00:17,246 --> 01:00:18,715 Sorry, I didn't see you there. 1338 01:00:18,715 --> 01:00:20,383 Go ahead. -Thank you. 1339 01:00:20,383 --> 01:00:24,020 So I did a lot of advocacy for a couple decades 1340 01:00:24,487 --> 01:00:27,490 trying to get national news 1341 01:00:27,724 --> 01:00:30,727 to be more diverse. 1342 01:00:31,160 --> 01:00:33,663 And since Connie Chung, we really haven't 1343 01:00:33,663 --> 01:00:35,398 had Asian Americans 1344 01:00:35,398 --> 01:00:39,168 at the top of the national not as national anchors. 1345 01:00:39,836 --> 01:00:41,104 And we also haven't 1346 01:00:41,104 --> 01:00:44,107 had that many who make it to producer levels. 1347 01:00:44,507 --> 01:00:47,210 And I came to learn that the producers controlled 1348 01:00:47,210 --> 01:00:50,346 so much about who got to tell what stories 1349 01:00:50,346 --> 01:00:52,348 and what the stories were going to be. 1350 01:00:52,348 --> 01:00:55,451 What is your thinking about why it's been so hard, 1351 01:00:55,652 --> 01:00:57,286 Asian Americans to really crack 1352 01:00:57,286 --> 01:00:59,255 that particular glass ceiling? 1353 01:01:01,257 --> 01:01:02,892 -Well, 1354 01:01:02,892 --> 01:01:05,828 I don't know what I look to the producers 1355 01:01:05,828 --> 01:01:06,496 out in the crowd. 1356 01:01:06,496 --> 01:01:09,499 Why do you think there aren't that many? 1357 01:01:09,732 --> 01:01:12,702 Why...you’re a producer. 1358 01:01:14,404 --> 01:01:17,807 -I don't I can't I really can't answer that. 1359 01:01:17,807 --> 01:01:21,611 -I the thinking of the news directors 1360 01:01:21,611 --> 01:01:24,580 and producers of color that I know. 1361 01:01:24,714 --> 01:01:27,717 I'm thinking of Janice Gin and all those people. 1362 01:01:29,419 --> 01:01:32,422 They have to have a lot of fire in the belly. 1363 01:01:32,989 --> 01:01:35,458 And so initially 1364 01:01:35,458 --> 01:01:38,461 a lot of us hajji, 1365 01:01:38,928 --> 01:01:41,931 all of us model minority were 1366 01:01:41,998 --> 01:01:43,633 we were kind of saddled 1367 01:01:43,633 --> 01:01:44,300 with things, 1368 01:01:44,300 --> 01:01:46,903 so we weren't able to have that fire in the belly 1369 01:01:46,903 --> 01:01:49,872 and just say to hell with this, I'm going to become 1370 01:01:50,106 --> 01:01:54,077 a news director, producer, you know, CEO or whatever. 1371 01:01:54,510 --> 01:01:56,679 So there are individuals 1372 01:01:56,679 --> 01:01:58,181 who have that fire in the belly, 1373 01:01:58,181 --> 01:01:59,682 and because they're behind the scenes, 1374 01:01:59,682 --> 01:02:02,685 you don't see them, but they are there. 1375 01:02:02,785 --> 01:02:05,388 And we just have to make sure that as an organization, 1376 01:02:05,388 --> 01:02:08,758 for example, AAJA, is out there promoting them. 1377 01:02:08,791 --> 01:02:10,727 When we promote them at our conventions, 1378 01:02:10,727 --> 01:02:11,394 we promote them 1379 01:02:11,394 --> 01:02:13,129 among organizations like The New York 1380 01:02:13,129 --> 01:02:16,599 Times, like CNN, and they're there. 1381 01:02:17,066 --> 01:02:18,701 It's just that maybe the general public 1382 01:02:18,701 --> 01:02:21,704 doesn't hear their names because producers, 1383 01:02:22,071 --> 01:02:24,640 you know, they work hard, they make the decisions. 1384 01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:28,745 They they do a lot to determine what you see, 1385 01:02:29,545 --> 01:02:32,548 but they're not the ones that get the credit, 1386 01:02:32,682 --> 01:02:34,083 but they're there. 1387 01:02:34,083 --> 01:02:36,586 And we just have to continue to encourage them. 1388 01:02:36,586 --> 01:02:37,120 And that's why 1389 01:02:37,120 --> 01:02:38,321 these young people who are getting all 1390 01:02:38,321 --> 01:02:40,923 their news on the Internet, we can't just 1391 01:02:40,923 --> 01:02:43,292 say, you're worthless. 1392 01:02:43,292 --> 01:02:46,429 They're not they are communicators. 1393 01:02:46,729 --> 01:02:48,598 They're communicating. 1394 01:02:48,598 --> 01:02:51,634 We just have to make sure that they have the context, 1395 01:02:51,634 --> 01:02:52,769 the wisdom, 1396 01:02:52,769 --> 01:02:55,772 the collective knowledge that we all kind of hold 1397 01:02:55,772 --> 01:02:58,641 and we keep this we keep this connection 1398 01:02:58,641 --> 01:03:00,910 and we help advocate for each other. 1399 01:03:02,011 --> 01:03:02,645 -Yeah, 1400 01:03:02,645 --> 01:03:05,481 critical thinking as well. 1401 01:03:05,481 --> 01:03:06,682 Anyone else? 1402 01:03:06,682 --> 01:03:08,484 Do we have any more questions? 1403 01:03:08,484 --> 01:03:10,486 One more here. 1404 01:03:10,486 --> 01:03:13,489 -As you look back at your career 1405 01:03:13,523 --> 01:03:16,192 like everybody else, you knew something 1406 01:03:16,192 --> 01:03:18,761 and I saw you come up to this microphone 1407 01:03:18,761 --> 01:03:20,696 after 20 years year. 1408 01:03:20,696 --> 01:03:23,699 You also have a reporting running for the 1409 01:03:23,933 --> 01:03:24,801 I'm sorry. 1410 01:03:24,801 --> 01:03:27,804 you're totally familiar with 1411 01:03:28,704 --> 01:03:30,473 you know, as 1412 01:03:30,473 --> 01:03:33,476 you look back at your career 1413 01:03:33,543 --> 01:03:36,979 and I think like everybody else, we have some regrets. 1414 01:03:37,413 --> 01:03:40,183 So I was wondering, 1415 01:03:40,183 --> 01:03:44,153 what would you say situation that you've encountered 1416 01:03:44,487 --> 01:03:47,490 that you wish you could have a do over? 1417 01:03:48,357 --> 01:03:51,327 I'll be curious about that. 1418 01:03:51,327 --> 01:03:54,831 -So know for 1419 01:03:56,899 --> 01:04:00,937 you know, I really how I don't know. 1420 01:04:01,737 --> 01:04:04,574 The biggest decision I ever made in my career 1421 01:04:04,574 --> 01:04:08,544 was whether to go to the network or stay in Seattle. 1422 01:04:09,612 --> 01:04:10,513 Right. 1423 01:04:10,513 --> 01:04:13,516 Because it was everybody's dream at the time. 1424 01:04:13,583 --> 01:04:15,551 I'm going to go work for the network, right? 1425 01:04:15,551 --> 01:04:18,321 Everybody wants go to that big job. 1426 01:04:18,321 --> 01:04:20,656 And I sometimes wonder 1427 01:04:20,656 --> 01:04:23,659 if I, you know, did I blow it 1428 01:04:23,659 --> 01:04:27,196 when I chose to stay here instead of go to work in L.A. 1429 01:04:27,196 --> 01:04:29,332 for NBC? 1430 01:04:29,332 --> 01:04:31,434 But it's only a wonder. 1431 01:04:31,434 --> 01:04:33,069 It's not a regret. 1432 01:04:33,069 --> 01:04:35,238 And I don't want to do over. 1433 01:04:35,238 --> 01:04:38,241 I think I even I made the right decision for me. 1434 01:04:39,375 --> 01:04:42,378 But I really am curious what would have happened 1435 01:04:42,645 --> 01:04:45,648 if I had gone to L.A., Our family. 1436 01:04:47,016 --> 01:04:48,117 that would have been that. 1437 01:04:48,117 --> 01:04:48,851 Yeah, I think 1438 01:04:48,851 --> 01:04:49,785 -I think you mentioned 1439 01:04:49,785 --> 01:04:53,289 that you did have that opportunity to go to L.A., 1440 01:04:53,723 --> 01:04:57,660 but because of your family, right, Larry? 1441 01:04:58,794 --> 01:05:00,863 A new son. Right. 1442 01:05:00,863 --> 01:05:02,932 Those all came into play. 1443 01:05:02,932 --> 01:05:06,102 And then also you ended up doing big stories 1444 01:05:07,837 --> 01:05:10,640 that where, you know, I think she used to 1445 01:05:10,640 --> 01:05:14,043 think, Lori must tackle NBC News, right? 1446 01:05:14,076 --> 01:05:15,344 -Tokyo, right? 1447 01:05:15,344 --> 01:05:17,580 Yeah, That was my big dream, Tokyo 1448 01:05:17,580 --> 01:05:20,182 Russia, you know, so, you know Moscow. 1449 01:05:20,182 --> 01:05:23,953 But I so then I gave up this NBC job 1450 01:05:23,953 --> 01:05:26,022 because knowing NBC, 1451 01:05:26,022 --> 01:05:28,324 I probably would have ended up being Lori 1452 01:05:28,324 --> 01:05:31,460 Matsukawa, NBC News, Portland, Oregon. 1453 01:05:33,062 --> 01:05:33,462 Right. 1454 01:05:33,462 --> 01:05:34,397 Because your 1455 01:05:34,397 --> 01:05:36,532 your your whole set, the whole West 1456 01:05:36,532 --> 01:05:38,434 Coast is now your beat. 1457 01:05:38,434 --> 01:05:39,769 So on any given day, 1458 01:05:39,769 --> 01:05:43,406 you'd be in Ellensburg or you'd be in, you know, 1459 01:05:44,507 --> 01:05:46,642 Yuba City, Arizona. 1460 01:05:46,642 --> 01:05:50,746 So after I said, No, I'm going to stay at KING, 1461 01:05:50,980 --> 01:05:52,448 then KING starts sending me 1462 01:05:52,448 --> 01:05:56,485 to Japan and El Salvador and, you know, China. 1463 01:05:56,485 --> 01:06:00,189 And I'm going like, okay, this is good. 1464 01:06:00,756 --> 01:06:03,793 So again, astonishing, isn't it? 1465 01:06:03,993 --> 01:06:05,594 Isn't it astonishing? 1466 01:06:05,594 --> 01:06:07,029 So that's why I had to write it down. 1467 01:06:07,029 --> 01:06:09,465 It's like, so astonishing. 1468 01:06:09,465 --> 01:06:10,633 But I did want 1469 01:06:10,633 --> 01:06:13,803 the young people today to know Mike James, that it 1470 01:06:14,503 --> 01:06:17,406 it was a there was a time when, yes, 1471 01:06:17,406 --> 01:06:22,178 we used typewriters and five-ply carbon script paper. 1472 01:06:25,614 --> 01:06:26,782 So thanks so much. 1473 01:06:26,782 --> 01:06:29,785 And if you if you do buy the book, 1474 01:06:29,952 --> 01:06:33,122 please be merciful, because I'm not really an author. 1475 01:06:33,122 --> 01:06:36,125 I'm just basically as a journalist scribe, 1476 01:06:36,158 --> 01:06:37,793 I'm just describing through my eyes 1477 01:06:37,793 --> 01:06:42,064 what we all went through a tremendous amount of change 1478 01:06:42,732 --> 01:06:47,503 technologically, socially and in the industry too, 1479 01:06:47,937 --> 01:06:52,174 and in among the genders and everything great. 1480 01:06:52,174 --> 01:06:54,510 -We have another question. 1481 01:06:54,510 --> 01:06:56,178 -Hello. Hello. 1482 01:06:56,178 --> 01:06:59,181 So my question is, what are your thoughts about 1483 01:07:00,049 --> 01:07:01,717 we've talked a little bit about, 1484 01:07:01,717 --> 01:07:02,051 you know, 1485 01:07:02,051 --> 01:07:03,719 different media 1486 01:07:03,719 --> 01:07:06,088 channels that people are getting their news from now. 1487 01:07:06,088 --> 01:07:07,423 What are your thoughts about people 1488 01:07:07,423 --> 01:07:10,526 who've been in network, in 1489 01:07:11,394 --> 01:07:14,130 print journalism, web journalism, 1490 01:07:14,130 --> 01:07:16,665 striking out on their own and becoming 1491 01:07:16,665 --> 01:07:19,869 independent journalists and all that as a trend? 1492 01:07:20,302 --> 01:07:23,305 Because now people are following personalities 1493 01:07:23,572 --> 01:07:26,008 without having the backing of an organization. 1494 01:07:27,043 --> 01:07:28,944 So what are your thoughts about that? 1495 01:07:28,944 --> 01:07:31,947 Is the trend in journalism, in news? 1496 01:07:32,281 --> 01:07:34,683 -I hope that that they will continue 1497 01:07:34,683 --> 01:07:37,686 to be truth tellers first and foremost 1498 01:07:38,020 --> 01:07:41,457 if they are truth tellers as well as storytellers 1499 01:07:41,490 --> 01:07:42,992 we need them. 1500 01:07:42,992 --> 01:07:45,995 We need this fourth estate to keep our country 1501 01:07:46,662 --> 01:07:49,632 balanced, democracy safe. 1502 01:07:49,865 --> 01:07:51,901 Our democracy protected. 1503 01:07:51,901 --> 01:07:54,603 We need an informed public. 1504 01:07:54,603 --> 01:07:58,207 I'm hoping that they will, through media, 1505 01:07:58,207 --> 01:08:01,277 keep people engaged somehow 1506 01:08:01,277 --> 01:08:04,713 and if it's on the Internet, so be it. 1507 01:08:04,914 --> 01:08:05,581 I mean, our 1508 01:08:05,581 --> 01:08:09,385 our own son gets all of his news on the Internet, 1509 01:08:09,718 --> 01:08:13,823 but hopefully there are reputable 1510 01:08:14,523 --> 01:08:16,692 sources of news on the Internet. 1511 01:08:16,692 --> 01:08:19,128 And there are there are reputable sources. 1512 01:08:19,128 --> 01:08:22,364 So, you know, let's keep them all informed. 1513 01:08:22,364 --> 01:08:23,766 Let's keep them engaged. 1514 01:08:23,766 --> 01:08:26,769 The worst would be to not engage at all. 1515 01:08:26,836 --> 01:08:28,971 That would be the worst. 1516 01:08:28,971 --> 01:08:32,441 -And I think donating and supporting independent 1517 01:08:33,476 --> 01:08:36,245 journalism like NPR, right. 1518 01:08:36,245 --> 01:08:40,382 There's The 19th, which is a women run 1519 01:08:41,217 --> 01:08:44,053 independent journalism organization. 1520 01:08:44,053 --> 01:08:46,589 And, you know, shout out to Connie Ballmer 1521 01:08:46,589 --> 01:08:48,057 who's who stepped up. 1522 01:08:48,057 --> 01:08:49,125 Yeah, that's right. 1523 01:08:49,125 --> 01:08:51,494 To support NPR. 1524 01:08:51,494 --> 01:08:53,863 So I think we just yeah, we just need to keep 1525 01:08:53,863 --> 01:08:56,832 supporting these independent journalists. 1526 01:08:58,567 --> 01:09:01,570 So, Lori, this has been really amazing. 1527 01:09:01,804 --> 01:09:04,039 Thank you so much for your time. 1528 01:09:04,039 --> 01:09:06,475 Thank you for so much for bringing so much. 1529 01:09:06,475 --> 01:09:09,612 I guess, joy, creativity to 1530 01:09:10,012 --> 01:09:12,581 as well as your 1531 01:09:12,581 --> 01:09:15,251 just being such an incredible role model, 1532 01:09:15,251 --> 01:09:16,318 really for all of us. 1533 01:09:16,318 --> 01:09:17,953 And kindness 1534 01:09:17,953 --> 01:09:20,956 and courage and community are so important to you. 1535 01:09:21,223 --> 01:09:24,760 And I do have one last gift for you. 1536 01:09:25,394 --> 01:09:29,932 -I love gifts. That that may bring this full circle. 1537 01:09:29,932 --> 01:09:31,867 So I want you to open it. 1538 01:09:31,867 --> 01:09:33,202 my goodness. 1539 01:09:33,202 --> 01:09:34,970 It says Mimi on it. 1540 01:09:39,141 --> 01:09:42,144 Oh no! Are you ready? 1541 01:09:42,244 --> 01:09:45,247 Poi balls! 1542 01:09:45,481 --> 01:09:46,715 -Come on, Lori. 1543 01:09:46,715 --> 01:09:48,350 You still got it in You do? 1544 01:09:48,350 --> 01:09:50,953 You still have it in you? Come on. No. 1545 01:09:50,953 --> 01:09:52,388 No? Just a little bit. 1546 01:09:52,388 --> 01:09:53,923 Come on. Just a little bit. 1547 01:09:53,923 --> 01:09:57,092 Yes! -Mimi! 1548 01:09:58,561 --> 01:09:59,562 -Oh oh my gosh. 1549 01:09:59,562 --> 01:10:00,996 -I knew you'd hate me for it. 1550 01:10:00,996 --> 01:10:02,264 This is crazy. 1551 01:10:02,264 --> 01:10:03,432 Okay, true story. 1552 01:10:03,432 --> 01:10:05,668 I actually made a pair of poi 1553 01:10:05,668 --> 01:10:08,237 balls for the Obama girls when they were much younger, 1554 01:10:08,237 --> 01:10:10,306 but there is still in the White House. Okay. 1555 01:10:10,306 --> 01:10:13,309 And I got a thank you letter from Michelle. 1556 01:10:14,944 --> 01:10:24,053 (chatter) 1557 01:10:24,820 --> 01:10:33,929 (cheering and applause) 1558 01:10:35,431 --> 01:10:51,580 (cheering and applause)