Nobuko Miyamoto - Not Yo Butterfly: My Long Song of Relocation, Race, Love, and Revolution

While A Grain of Sand was an album about the struggle of Asians in America, it also contributed to the second half of the twentieth-century Black liberation movement, and the songs became the childhood lullabies of my son Tupac. Nobuko Miyamoto reminds me that culture is a political weapon, a liberation force for the spirit.

Dr. Mutulu Shakur, activist

In her life, Nobuko has lived and experienced a wide-breadth of history: World War II incarceration and its aftermath; artdancing and singing with American icons; and culturebeing mixed herself and mixing it up more with her son and husband. And in each area, she has been a leader of the best kindunintentionaltrailblazing pathways for generations whose own efforts would be rockier without her.

Karen L. Ishizuka, Chief Curator of the Japanese American National Museum and author of Serve the People

From a childhood thrown into turmoil by the wartime incarceration of her family, to dancing on Broadway, to pioneering Asian American music, to years spent in the pursuit of social and racial justice, Nobuko Miyamoto has lived a dozen lifetimes, all of them inspiring.

Oliver Wang, Professor of Sociology, California State University, Long Beach

A monumental contribution to the history of Asian American artists and their creative and political contributions to this country.

Martha Gonzalez, author of Chican@ Artivistas

Miyamoto is a master storyteller. The pages of her memoir are soaked with honesty and vivid recollection. This powerful, well-written story is also a tale of the struggles and triumphs within family, as well as personal self-discovery and transformation. The awakening of consciousness, the dance, the song, the social struggles, and the spirituality are all sculpted here into an amazing life.

Kamau Daood, poet, cofounder of The World Stage Performance Gallery in Los Angeles

Nobukos longest song rises from the cultural chasms of America to have us reckon with the undeniable interconnectedness of all relations and the hard-earned journey of realizing oneself through each other. This astounding collection of moments, lyrics, and memories is a beautiful memoir and celebration of radical inclusion on the path to finding ones song.

traci kato-kiriyama, interdisciplinary performing artist and principal writer of PULLproject Ensembles TALES OF CLAMOR

The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Constance and William Withey Endowment Fund in History and Music.

Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, George Snchez, Dana Takagi, Laura Briggs, and Nikhil Pal Singh

Not Yo Butterfly

MY LONG SONG OF RELOCATION, RACE, LOVE, AND REVOLUTION

Nobuko Miyamoto

Edited by Deborah Wong

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

University of California Press

Oakland, California

2021 by Nobuko Miyamoto

Permission to reprint has been sought from rights holders for images and text included in this volume, but in some cases it was impossible to clear formal permission because of coronavirus-related institution closures. The author and the publisher will be glad to do so if and when contacted by copyright holders of third-party material.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Miyamoto, Nobuko, 1939- author. | Wong, Deborah Anne, editor.

Title: Not yo butterfly : my long song of relocation, race, love, and revolution / Nobuko Miyamoto; edited by Deborah Wong.

Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020041533 (print) | LCCN 2020041534 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520380646 (cloth) | ISBN 9780520380653 (paperback) | ISBN 9780520380660 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH : Miyamoto, Nobuko, 1939- | Women dancersUnited States20th centuryBiography. | Women artistsUnited States20th centuryBiography.

Classification: LCC GV 1785. M