Asian America Across the Disciplines Series and the JACL Philadelphia presents Mas Nakawatase, Japanese American civil rights organizer, educator, and advocate for peace and justice.
Hosted by ASAM Lecturer Rob Buscher in his course Asian American Activism.
Mas Nakawatase was born in one of the ten War Relocation Authority concentration camps where the US government detained people of Japanese descent during World War II. He grew up in Seabrook, New Jersey among many families who had been detained. In the mid-1960s, Mas had a formative political experience working in Atlanta for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Mas returned to rural South Jersey as a community organizer with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which launched his 31-year career at AFSC. His work there focused on supporting Native peoples and advancing Asian American voices and priorities. Within AFSC, Mas helped establish a caucus for staff of color and supported a successful unionization campaign.
Mas has served on the board of Asian Americans United since 2002 and served on the board of Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School for twelve years. Since 2010, he has chaired the Racial and Social Justice Committee of Germantown Friends Meeting. In 2021, Mas began serving on the board of Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center. Recipient of the Paul Robeson Lifetime Achievement Award 2024.