Law Commons^™

Coolies, James Yen, And Rebellious Advocacy, Bill Hing

Bill Ong Hing

Those of us who engage in progressive legal work need to be constantly reminded that we do not know everything - that we are not knights in shining armor swooping in to save subordinated communities. We should be collaborating: working with rather than simply on behalf of clients and allies from whom we have much to learn. Though lawyering for social change is arduous work, there is much to gain in these battles against subordination, not simply from the potential outcome but from the collaborative process itself: as our clients gain strength and confidence, we too are renewed. Thus invigorated …

Rebellious Lawyering, Settlement, And Reconciliation: Soko Bukai V. Ywca, Bill Ong Hing

Bill Ong Hing

This article is part of a civil rights symposium issue.

Who was the rightful owner of the 1830 Sutter Street building in San Francisco: the San Francisco Young Women's Christian Association (SF YWCA) or the Japanese American community that had raised funds for its purchase in the 1920s and approached the SF YWCA to hold the property in trust for the community because Japanese immigrants were barred from owning property? When the legal dispute over the ownership of a building in the heart of San Francisco's Japantown ended with Japanese American community groups agreeing to purchase the building for $733,000 …