Michael Yamaki is a living legend. An elite criminal defense attorney, a former Appointment Secretary for California Governor Gray Davis, and a community activist, he has long been familiar with creating equal opportunities and channeling solidarity across communities. Living through a time when people of color struggled to denounce stereotypes and break into various careers, Mr. Yamaki has always advocated for community and solidarity. From co-founding the Yellow Brotherhood to appointing numerous people of color to California boards and judicial positions, his career has opened doors for others and has given more minorities than ever the chance to succeed.
Born and Raised in Diversity
Mr. Yamaki was born in 1947 in Los Angeles, where he spent much of his childhood in the notably diverse environment of Crenshaw. Mr. Yamaki has always carried a bit of a “bad boy” persona, and laughs when recalling the antics of his youth. However, after a stint at Camp Kilpatrick, Mr. Yamaki decided to focus on his education.
He completed his undergraduate degree at UCLA, then trained to become a professional magician and toured the country before turning to the law. While attending the University of West Los Angeles to earn his law degree, Mr. Yamaki worked as a blackjack and craps dealer in Las Vegas, one of the very few Asian Americans working in the Nevada gaming industry at the time.
Mr. Yamaki has long been aware of his identity as an Asian American—particularly due to his mother’s stories about Japanese American incarceration. He recalls one particular story of her being told by her father to burn a photo of herself depicting her dressed in a kimono in order to shed any evidence of her Japanese heritage. Although she was told to get rid of the picture, as it risked revealing them as a very Japanese family, she refused to do so, and instead hid it in a Bible as a way of cultural retention. Even from a young age, this event struck him.
Their family’s experiences during World War II shaped Mr. Yamaki’s mother’s outlook on life, and, subsequently, she saw community engagement as a top priority for her and her children. Mr. Yamaki recalls how his mother regularly organized gatherings for their neighborhood to discuss how political events would impact them, as she wanted to make sure that everyone in her life was informed and engaged. Her focus on ensuring that nobody in her life was politically disenfranchised again made a huge impact on Mr. Yamaki, and, from a young age, he saw the value of community organization. His mother’s emphasis on building solidarity largely informed his own outlook on community.
The “Yellow Brotherhood” and Community Organization
As a young adult, Mr. Yamaki played a foundational role in organizing the Yellow Brotherhood, a community-based organization that worked to help Asian teenagers get back on track. Mr. Yamaki notes that “the Yellow Brotherhood helped all of us because going out in that community, we learned about a sense of community.” The Yellow Brotherhood partnered with Centenary Church and Senshin Buddhist Church, drug abuse programs, parents, and community organizers in order to enroll teenagers back into high school and keep them on track.
He particularly credits the Nisei generation for their work in organizing the Yellow Brotherhood, noting that the heart of the fundraising came from Nisei parents who wanted to help their community members. From an early age, community organization and activism has been a fundamental part of Mr. Yamaki’s story, and he continues to emphasize its power and significance to this day.
A Legacy of Diversity
Throughout his professional career, Mr. Yamaki has always played an active role in community organization and political engagement. During Governor Jerry Brown’s first term as California Governor, Mr. Yamaki played a significant role in getting Asian Americans appointed to various California state boards and as Judges. Mr. Yamaki recalls that fewer than 15 Asian Americans were appointed as Judges or served on California state boards before Jerry Brown’s governorship, and notes that the state bench and each board saw a significant rise in diversity during Governor Brown’s tenure.
Mr. Yamaki played a similar role as police commissioner for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). During Mr. Yamaki’s term as police commissioner of the LAPD, the first Asian American Captain of the LAPD was appointed and many Asian American Lieutenants and Sergeants followed. One significant factor in appointing people of color to state boards, law enforcement leadership, and judicial positions was the organization of local bar associations.
Mr. Yamaki laughs when recalling how the Japanese American Bar Association (JABA) had a friendly rivalry with the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA), which was the first minority bar organization in the country founded in 1975, noting that attorneys from SCCLA would call him up and say, “Hey, were your ears burning? We were at the Chinese American Bar Association, and we were just blasting you! [Saying] that if we don’t hurry up, Yamaki is going to get more Japanese judges in there.” While the friendly rivalry lightened the mood for all of them, Mr. Yamaki notes with seriousness that calls like this were actually helpful to him, because the other bar associations would frequently tell him who they were hoping to get appointed as Judges.
By coordinating with local organizations (including the Philippine American Bar, Mexican American Bar, African American Bar, and more), Mr. Yamaki was able to help appoint an extremely diverse group of individuals to important positions within the state. Notably, during an era when it was extremely difficult to break into these spaces, Mr. Yamaki’s work helped advance various communities, all while building solidarity among them all.
Mr. Yamaki notes with pride just how much the landscape has changed for people of color since his time. He discusses how the Asian American community has grown significantly since the beginning of his career, enthusiastically saying, “In my time, in politics, there were only Japanese and Chinese. Today, you got Hmong legislators. You got Vietnamese people that are elected and pulled up in towns, places in Iowa, Indiana. There’s an East Asian, that’s the mayor of Cincinnati, that I just recently met. They’re all over. There are first time Korean Americans in New York who never ran for office and are elected.”
Looking Towards the Future
Appreciating Mr. Yamaki’s legacy is one thing, but protecting it is another. Mr. Yamaki encourages Asian Americans to remember that degrading stereotypes still play a huge role in our perception, and that there is a “responsibility on all of us to understand that.” The twenty-first century still has racist political cartoons, problematic portrayals of minorities, and unfortunate stereotypes. He emphasizes that we each have an opportunity to “change the narrative.” Mr. Yamaki smiles as he brings up several examples of Asian Americans who challenge the status quo—and who deserve our communities’ unqualified support—Vice President Kamala Harris, Sandra Morgan, and Collin Morikawa.
So, what can the next generation strive for? Build solidarity. Organize your community. Change the narrative. After all, the world that we inherited—thanks to the work of Mr. Yamaki—is a beautiful one, and it is our turn to answer the call.
All photos courtesy of Michael Yamaki.
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The Japanese American Bar Association (JABA) Legacy Project creates profiles of prominent jurists, legal legends and leaders in the Japanese American community through written articles and oral histories. In particular, these profiles pay special attention to these pioneering jurists’ reflections on JABA, their distinguished careers, and their involvement in the Japanese American community.
This is one of the main projects completed by The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern each summer, which the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum have co-hosted.
Check out other JABA Legacy Project articles published by past NCI interns:
- Series: Pioneering Jurists in the Nikkei Community by Lawrence Lan (2012)
- Series: Legal Legends in the Nikkei Community by Sean Hamamoto (2013)
- Series: Two Generations of Pioneering Judges in the Nikkei Community by Sakura Kato (2014)
- “Judge Holly J. Fujie—An Inspirational Woman Who Was Herself Inspired by Japanese American History and Community” by Kayla Tanaka (2019)
- “Mia Yamamoto—A Leader Who Defined the Nikkei Community” by Matthew Saito (2020)
- “Patricia Kinaga—Attorney, Activist, and Mother Who Has Given a Voice to Those Who Don’t Have One” by Laura Kato (2021)
- “Justice Sabrina McKenna—The First Openly LGBTQ Asian American to Serve on a State Court of Last Resort” by Lana Kobayashi (2022)
- “Don Tamaki—A Bridge Between Communities” by Drew Yamamura (2023)
© 2024 Sydney Haupt
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