TRIBUTE JEAN YONEMURA WING
MAY 12-14, 2021
JEAN YONEMURA WING On, Monday, March 29, 2021 our community suffered a terrible loss. Jean Yonemura Wing passed away in the midst of my phone conversation with her strategizing about the way forward for Kingmakers of Oakland. Jean’s contributions to Kingmaker’s of Oakland, and before it the African American Male Achievement Project, were amazing, reflecting Jean’s commitment to our youth, to equity in education, to fighting unwaveringly for social justice. Her track record of investment, influence and impact resonated throughout the bay area, and across the region, for her entire educational career and beyond... Jeanie came from a family of Issei pioneers and Nisei freedom fighters. Jeanie herself worked in community FOR the community – always looking for the common good.
Jeanie was one of the founders of the Asian American Movement in the late 60s/early 70s. She became a political activist while attending the City College of New York, where she took a deep dive into Asian American Studies, graduating with a BA in that field. Jeanie worked to organize Asian American communities to fight for immigrant rights, worker rights, racial equality, and social justice. She spread the word as editor of the movement newspaper Unity. In order to work collectively for common cause, Jeanie forged strong relationships with community activists on both the east and west coasts. She sustained these relationships for more than 50 years in a shared, lifelong commitment to end racism and ensure equal rights and opportunities for Asian Americans. Jeanie was the heart of her family. She and her husband were a couple in the truest sense. To many extended family members, they had one name: Butch-and-Jean. Butch’s work was Jeanie’s too. When Butch decided to support Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. in his 1984 campaign for president and took on responsibilities as cochair of Asian Americans for Jesse Jackson, Jeanie became fully involved as well. Butch served as senior advisor to Reverend Jackson for the subsequent three decades, traveling with him to countries on every continent to try to make a better world. Jeanie was a vital though virtual presence. As Reverend Jackson frequently observed: “Jeanie is our secret weapon.”
When Rev. Bryant gave me the news of Jean’s passing and with the suddenness of it all, I was totally disoriented. There was a sense of shock, yes, for Butch and the members of the Wing family, but also for all of us. Jean was a mother, wife, educator, friend, proud grandparent and FREEDOM FIGHTER. The Jackson and the Wing family are one family with two different names. Butch is my brother from another mother. With Jean’s help, we traveled the world together. We went to South Africa, Nigeria, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Egypt, Japan, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Paris, Korea, Kenya and Cuba. She was always the launching pad for these journeys and the landing pad for our return. Together we tried to make the world better. We look back on these moments with pride. When blacks were attacked, Jean stood with us. When the children of Oakland were underserved and marginalized, Jean displayed non-negotiable dignity. Jean helped dispel the stereotypes of Asians. She challenged Charlie Chan movies. She made us cognizant of the Japanese Internment. They were beaten. She made us aware of the autoworkers who killed Vincent Chin during a wave of anti-Asian sentiment sweeping the country not unlike what we are witnessing today. The racist reaction to Toyota, Honda and Nissan’s success created an ugly climate much like today. Our Asian brothers and sisters had a body of pain and experience. So they helped us found the Rainbow Coalition. Jean and Butch, Mabel Teng, Mike Murase, Eddie Wong, May Louie and Cindy Ng made us feel so welcome. We met at Portsmouth Square with Asian Americans for the first time in history in 1984, in great numbers politically. They also made us feel so welcome. They have meant so much to me. I reflect on these days with joy and excitement. Jean was the perfect helpmate for Butch. Teri came from this perfect union: the same coin house of dignity and mutual respect. They were compatible in the struggle to make America deliver its promises. Teri & Jamie are their legacy. Butch you lost a lot but you have a lot left. A daughter, Teri. A son-in-law, Paul. A grandchild, Jamie…from the lineage of both of you. Her life was a gift. Her life was a statement. She preached her own eulogy every day. And now we celebrate her. Surely as the night cometh, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
WE LOVE YOU JEAN, REST IN POWER… AND WE LOVE YOU BUTCH.
Jeanie believed that the purpose of public education is to empower children. Jeanie saw public education as the one and only American institution free and available to all, regardless of a child’s citizenship, economic background, race, language, or ethnicity. And so she dedicated her career to advocating for and taking direct action to transform the public schools — to making public school systems ever more equitable for each and every child. Jeanie’s work in pursuit of educational equity centered on data. Her approach to data collection, display, and analysis was brilliant. Jeanie devoted 16 years to the education of Oakland students. She initially served as Coordinator of Research and Best Practices for New School Development. For nine years, until she retired in 2020, Jeanie led the Department of Research, Assessment, and Data as its Executive Directive. She stressed the value of engaging parents in discussions of the data and worked side-byside principals to demonstrate the process and protocols of partnering with parents around data. Moreover, Jeanie found time to go beyond Oakland to help other school districts finetune their data equity goals and plans of work. In 2015-2016, the Council of Great City Schools recognized Jeanie’s impact on urban school districts across the nation by presenting her with an award for excellence in research and leadership.
WE WILL ALL MEAN JEAN YONEMURA WING. The Wing Family – Jean’s husband Butch, her daughter Teri, and the extended Wing and Yonemura families – have asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Jean’s memory to Kingmakers of Oakland. Your donations will fund a special project in her honor.
Contact: Pastor Joseph Bryant Pastorbryant@rainbowpush.org WWW.RAINBOWPUSHSV.ORG Get Informed & Be Social with PUSH @PushTech2020 / @RPCoalition #PUSHTECH2020 / #SPORTSTECH2020 / #FAITHTECH2020
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR! May 2022