For the Unknown Heroes in Our Midst

By Ryan Masaaki Yokota

While taking a short rest break after a long day's work, I sat and watched as the sun slowly drifted into the soft colors of twilight, and watched as the night mist slowly cooled and swept over the pale lines of the downtown area skyline. But yet as I watched the sky melting away into night I couldn't help but think about how precious such beautiful moments can be and how such moments need to be treasured in our lives, for such glimpses of beauty all too often sweep past us unappreciated and without notice.

And as I watched the night fall onto the city, I couldn't help but start thinking about the shortness of our lives and how easily death can visit us, by either a passing car, a stray bullet, or any of a number of events that could cut our lives short.
But mostly I thought about a friend of mine, who even now is dealing with the starkness of death in a very real way. You see, my friend, a twenty-something Asian Pacific Islander adult not much older than I, is waiting at this very moment for word on whether or not he will live or die.

I've only really known him a short period of time, but in that time he told me about the fight that he's been waging, ever since he was diagnosed with stomach cancer just a few months ago. He told me how he unexpectedly started having stomach pains and started spitting up blood from his belly, and how his doctor had confirmed that he was suffering from something much worse than an ulcer or a minor bodily instability, but was being attacked from within by the cold threat of cancer. He told me how he had been undergoing radiation treatment for the last few months to try to stop the cancer in its tracks, and of how he had reached a critical point in his life where the doctor would soon tell him whether the disease had gone into remission or would continue to progress through his system, and he relayed this knowledge to me with a certain amount of matter-of-factness, although I could sense the hidden questions that were waiting inside his mind.

And yet the interesting thing about this young man is where I met him. For some time now, me and other twentysomething Asian Pacific Islander youths have been working towards developing a political activist group that would also work towards "serving the people." To those ends we helped set up a tutorial project at Culver City High School, and had just the other day held our first real tutorial session with the high school youths there. Throughout the development of this program and this organization (named A.C.T.I.O.N.-The API Corps to Initiate Opportunities Now) this friend of mine has worked hard in making the program a reality and has shown his commitment towards social change and justice through his consistent attendance and dedication towards this group.

The amazing thing about him, however, is that he has worked so hard on this group regardless of the fact that he may very well die in the next few months. Instead of focusing on the personal difficulties of knowing about the very real death that is stalking him, he has put such concerns aside in order to express his care and desire to see real positive change for the community. And instead of dwelling on the fact that he may be dying, he has continued to work for the betterment of all APIs, People of Color, and all of society, for that matter.

In this moment of contemplation, as I watched the sunset fade away into the night, the pure selflessness of his actions really struck me, and made me see that this young man was working to make his life as meaningful to the world as possible, and was giving what could very well be some of his last few moments on this planet to help other people, through his tutoring, his smile, and his genial concern for other people. He has never bragged about the measure of his sacrifice, and chances are, the thought probably didn't even cross his mind. He just felt what was right, saw what he needed to do, and did it.

Mostly, in reflecting on the work of his life, it made me realize that my friend is special beyond words, for through his actions, he has proven himself a true hero, and has been there right under our noses all along. He has been working for what he saw was right without expectation of reward, and without a belief that his actions would be recognized.

There are many other people like him in the world. There are thousands of people that are working towards changing our society for the better without even thinking about the sacrifices that they make on a daily basis, full knowing that the vision and promise of a better society that they are trying to develop is a dream that may never even be realized in their lifetime.

This essay is a simple salute to those people that work towards the greater good without expectation of reward. This is a place to honor the best in our world. Most of all this is a place to show that despite all the mayhem that exists here in L.A., with the selfishness of education cuts, welfare roll-backs, and the dismantling of public health access, that there are still people with the heart and soul to envision a better world for all of us. This a place to show the best of humanity, and the highest heights to which the human spirit can soar. Most of all this is a place to show that heroes do exist, and walk among us in the twilight, quietly doing what needs to be done.

Postscript: My friend found out Friday that his cancer was in remission.

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