At the class dinner, I finally had the chance to ask Nakajima-san a question that had been on my mind since her discussion in class on Tuesday of that week.
She had mentioned that she had always empathized and supported groups like Women’s Lib and Zenkyoto, giving them legal help. But at the same time, she couldn’t join. For some reason, she felt a separation, and (like Makiko mentioned on her blog entry) felt a need for a middle-aged women’s lib. I wanted to ask why she felt such difference. Why didn’t she join in?
At the class dinner, she explained that groups like Zenkyoto only destroyed. They wanted to destroy their university, institutions, and even professors sympathetic to their cause. Nakajima-san, on the other hand, tried to envision concrete actions that would help the people she knew.
I think one reason this question was so important to me is because I feel like I resemble Zenkyoto a little too much. I don’t have the patience or the energy to use legitimate channels to deal with all of the world’s absurdities. But I don’t know if I’ll be very helpful at all with that attitude. I really admire Nakajima-san for her constant, realized, concrete activist actions. I think that’s what I recieved from her visit. Oh, the joy of class dinners!
