Frank Seishi Emi was a Japanese American activist who played a significant role in the Japanese American community during World War II. He was born on January 6, 1916, in Los Angeles, California, to parents who had immigrated from Japan. He grew up in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles and attended Roosevelt High School.
During World War II, Emi was incarcerated along with thousands of other Japanese Americans in the Manzanar internment camp in California. While in camp, he became involved in organizing resistance to the government's unconstitutional policy of incarcerating Japanese Americans solely on the basis of their ethnicity.
In 1943, Emi joined with a group of fellow incarcerees to form the Fair Play Committee, which advocated for the right of Japanese Americans to serve in the military and for an end to the internment of Japanese Americans. The group also refused to comply with the government's forced conscription of Japanese American men into the military, as long as their families remained unjustly incarcerated in the camps.
Emi was one of the leaders of the Fair Play Committee and played a critical role in organizing and leading the resistance. He and 62 other members of the committee were arrested and put on trial for conspiracy to counsel, aid, and abet draft resistance. Emi was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison, but he and the other resisters were ultimately vindicated when the government's policy of internment was deemed unconstitutional and the convictions were vacated.
After the war, Emi continued his activism on behalf of Japanese Americans and other marginalized communities. He was a founding member of the Japanese American Citizens League's Human and Civil Rights Committee and worked to ensure that the government's incarceration of Japanese Americans was never forgotten.
In 1988, Emi was awarded the Distinguished American Award by the Japanese American Citizens League. He died on December 1, 2010, at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy of courageous activism and resistance.
Frank S. Emi's life and work serve as an inspiration to those who fight for justice and against oppression. He and his fellow resisters stood up against unconstitutional policies and racism, even in the face of imprisonment and persecution. Their legacy reminds us of the importance of fighting for our rights and the rights of others, no matter the personal cost.