Shinagawa Takes Central N.Y. by Storm
November 25, 2005
At age 22, Nathan Shinagawa has become the youngest legislator in the history of Tompkins County in Central New York.
Shinagawa represents the Collegetown business district and the eastern part of the city of Ithaca. In three years at Cornell University, he became well known as a community activist, and after graduation was encouraged to run for the newly open seat on the Legislature. “People in the District are excited about Nathan because he represents the students, the community, and the many small ethnically owned businesses of the district,” says Michael Taylor, Alderman of the city of Ithaca.
It was a three-way Democratic primary, including a former City Council member, but Shinagawa won the nomination with a decisive 15-point lead. Turnout was 55 percent higher than past elections, attributed by Shinagawa to a highly organized GOTV effort by his campaign manager Diomedes Tsitouras, a second-generation Greek American grad student. Nathan also got family help with his mom frequently carrying “Vote for Shinagawa” placards, while his two little brothers and their dog urged voters to head to the polls.
Tompkins County has 9,000 Asian Americans, the fastest-growing segment of the 100,000-person population. About half of the dining establishments are Asian-owned or -operated. Shinagawa is the first Asian American ever to run for office in the county. “We’re proud of him,” said County Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera, one of Shinagawa’s mentors. “He made history by running; but monumentally and more significantly, by winning.”
“Nathan’s election has sent a message to the community that Asian Americans are not invisible and voiceless,” echoed Sivilay Somchanhmavong, president of the Ithaca Asian American Association (IAAA).
Shinagawa also pointed to IAAA’s role in the election.
“IAAA laid the groundwork for me; it allowed me to be more involved in the community, to build coalitions, and to outreach to the immigrant population,” said Shinagawa.
A 4th-generation Japanese and Korean American, Shinagawa was born in Berkeley, Calif. At an early age, he was raised by his grandparents, Roy and Fusako Shinagawa. Nathan’s grandfather, Roy, had spent part of his childhood in Tule Lake internment camp during World War II, and later served in the Marines and Air Force for more than 25 years. His grandmother, Fusako, was raised in Tokyo and witnessed firsthand the escalation of World War II, the bombing and subsequent reconstruction of Japan. Nathan attributes many of his ideals and beliefs to the rich oral history his grandparents passed on to him.
Later, Nathan moved back with his parents in Santa Rosa, Calif., where his father, Larry, was a professor and chair of American Multicultural Studies at Sonoma State University. His mother, Sun, a first-generation Korean American, was a community activist and banker in San Francisco Chinatown.
In Santa Rosa, Shinagawa saw how the city, despite its wealth, continued to disenfranchise and neglect the minority segments of the community. While open space and sustainable development were guiding policies for the wealthier parts of town, Nathan’s community was subject to rampant uncontrolled and unsustainable urban sprawl and gentrification. The 2,000-student high school he attended had a dropout rate of more than 25 percent, and a college-going rate of less than 10 percent. He formed the Interscholastic Council, a union of administrators and student leaders from over 15 schools, to lobby the school board for educational equity.
Shinagawa continued his activism at Cornell by forming a coalition of 25 organizations that lobbied the university on environment, socioeconomic and political issues. He interned at the Democratic National Convention, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Committee on House Administration in Congress. While attending Cornell, Nathan studied the Swahili language because of the rich East African history of multiculturalism, where even the language borrows its words from South Asia and the Middle East.
Someday, Nathan hopes to study multiculturalism in East Africa. For now though, he is unsure about how he wants to continue his career in the future — but to his friends, colleagues and supporters, the future is clear. “Nathan is someone to watch for in politics,” said Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera. “He will do great things.”
Editor’s Note: Sivilay Somchanhanvong is the partner of the writer.
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