SPEAK, OKINAWA : AN INTERVIEW

I had the wonderful experience to interview Elizabeth Miki Brina and her book Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir. Her book is rich with details of her childhood and important historical moments told from the perspective of someone who lived it. Raw and powerful at times. This memoir will leave you thinking long after you are done.

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO? 

 My name is Elizabeth Miki Brina. I’m the author of the book, Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir. I also teach at the University of New Orleans.

WHAT'S YOUR MEMOIR ABOUT?

The memoir is essentially about healing my relationship with my mother, a native of Okinawa, and my relationship with my heritage. It focuses on the complicated marriage between my mother and my father, a soldier who was stationed on Okinawa during the U.S. military occupation of Okinawa after he fought in Vietnam. It explores how the origins of their marriage – war and colonialism – manifested in the dynamics of our family, how they raised me and how I viewed myself.