Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2006
Abstract
The first time I saw Chris, he was speaking at a meeting of the East Coast Asian American Student Union, a semi-political but largely social gathering of college kids. I have learned over the years that law schools are adept at finding faculty of color who are smart and ineffectual. So, frankly, I was not expecting much when this Professor Iijima got up to talk. I was concentrating on preparing my own remarks, when I was hit by the whirlwind that is the public Chris Iijima. He got up and assumed the posture of a pugilistic grizzly bear. He actually held his fist in the air at one point. He leaned into the microphone, then backed up, as if winding up for a punch, then came booming forward again, pacing rapidly to the front of the stage. He exhorted and orated and scolded the roomful of earnest pre-professionals. "Get out there and DO something for the people who sacrificed so you could get your precious college education." He talked about power. He talked about oppression. He talked about racism.
Publication Citation
29 U. Haw. L. Rev. 1-8 (2006)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Matsuda, Mari J., "Peace in the Valley: For Chris Iijima" (2006). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 320.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/320