Gidra 1.1 (April 1969)
The editorial statement is worth including:
Truth is not always pretty, not in this world. We try hard to keep from hearing about the feelings, concerns, and problems of fellow human beings when it disturbs us, when it makes us feel uneasy. And too often it is position and power that determine who is heard. This is why GIDRA was created. GIDRA is dedicated to truth. The honest expression of feeling or opinion, be it profound or profane, innocuous or insulting, from wretched or well-off—that is GIDRA. GIDRA is TRUTH.
The staff are listed (irreverently) as follows:
Chester...Room Barfer
Colin...Caterpillar
Dinora...Human Being
James...Immigrant
Laura...Apprentice REvolutionary
Mike...Aquarius Dawning
Seigo...Everyday Person
Tracy...Kidwhoain'tdumb
Many of these correspond to the real names of editors and contributors. The founders of the magazine are understood to be Dinora Gil, Laura Ho, Tracy Okida, Colin Watanabe, and Mike Murase.
Its table of contents runs as follows:
- "The Third World: A Response to Oppression" by Kanji
- "Commentary on the Noguchi Firing" by S. Hayashi: A critique of the firing of Japanese American coroner Thomas Noguchi on racist grounds.
- "Yellow Prostitution" by Dinora Gil"
- "My Sad People" by Harumi (a poem)
- "Yellow Power!" by Larry Kubota: A substantial essay making the case for a militant Asian American rights movement modeled on the black civil rights movement -- and in particular, the black nationalist approach.
- "Center at UCLA": a short unsigned news article describing the creation of an institute for the study of American Cultures at UCLA (of which the Asian American Studies Center will be a part)
- Cartoon challenging stereotypes of Japanese people
The full issue can be accessed here:
http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-297-1/