Is it possible? Did we
miss one? With all the Marxists dug out from the very public — yet
very opaque — story of President Barack Obama's life, could there be
room for one more, hiding in plain sight on page 24 of Dreams from My Father?
miss one? With all the Marxists dug out from the very public — yet
very opaque — story of President Barack Obama's life, could there be
room for one more, hiding in plain sight on page 24 of Dreams from My Father?
A
Japanese-American man who called himself Freddy and ran a small market
near our house would save us the choicest cuts of aku for sashimi and
give me rice candy with edible wrappers.
Who's Freddy?
I nominate the late Wilfred Mitsuji Oka, former proprietor of the Corner Liquor Store in Honolulu's Chinatown.
Friends may protest that the late Mr. Oka went by "Mits," not Freddy — but Obama disguised the names of many of the people depicted in his book. For instance, the "Frank" in Dreams from My Father
is card-carrying Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis, who
mentored the young Obama in Honolulu for several years after Obama's
return from Indonesia and until Obama left Hawaii to attend Occidental
College in Los Angeles.
is card-carrying Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis, who
mentored the young Obama in Honolulu for several years after Obama's
return from Indonesia and until Obama left Hawaii to attend Occidental
College in Los Angeles.
In addition to being "a Japanese-American man [who] ran a small market near [Obama's] house," Oka was sports editor of the Honolulu Record
— a weekly newspaper published by the ILWU (Longshoremen's Union) from
1948 to 1958. Frank Marshall Davis authored a column called "Frank-ly
Speaking." The Record's editor was Communist ex-spy Koji Ariyoshi.
— a weekly newspaper published by the ILWU (Longshoremen's Union) from
1948 to 1958. Frank Marshall Davis authored a column called "Frank-ly
Speaking." The Record's editor was Communist ex-spy Koji Ariyoshi.
Ariyoshi, ILWU President Jack Hall, and five other Communists charged with Smith Act violations became known as the "Honolulu Seven"– convicted in 1953 of advocating the overthrow of the United States government by force and violence. Mits Oka was identified, along with Davis, as a Communist,
and he was among the "reluctant 39" — individuals who refused to
testify before April, 1950 House Un-American Activities Committee
hearings on Communist influence in the ILWU in Hawaii.
and he was among the "reluctant 39" — individuals who refused to
testify before April, 1950 House Un-American Activities Committee
hearings on Communist influence in the ILWU in Hawaii.
Charged
with contempt of Congress, Mits Oka and the other reluctant witnesses
were acquitted in January, 1951 — but not before Oka's stance got him booted out of his position as Hawaii Democratic Party Central Committee Secretary and replaced by some guy named Dan Inouye.
with contempt of Congress, Mits Oka and the other reluctant witnesses
were acquitted in January, 1951 — but not before Oka's stance got him booted out of his position as Hawaii Democratic Party Central Committee Secretary and replaced by some guy named Dan Inouye.
The Honolulu Seven convictions were overturned in January 1958 after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1957 Yates decision
recognized the legality of "advocacy and teaching of forcible overthrow
as an abstract principle" and held that the Smith Act could prohibit
only "advocacy and teaching of concrete action for the forcible
overthrow of the Government." With its editor and his comrades safe,
the Honolulu Record folded just six months later.
recognized the legality of "advocacy and teaching of forcible overthrow
as an abstract principle" and held that the Smith Act could prohibit
only "advocacy and teaching of concrete action for the forcible
overthrow of the Government." With its editor and his comrades safe,
the Honolulu Record folded just six months later.
Because
the U.S. and Soviet Union were allies during WWII, Ariyoshi had been
able to join U.S. military intelligence from Manzanar War Relocation
Camp in 1942 as an open Communist. As an intelligence officer, Ariyoshi
was assigned as U.S. liaison to Mao Zedong's forces in Yenan, China
during 1944 and 1945. He worked personally with Mao, Chou En-lai, and
other top Chinese Communists — a story he recounts in his memoir, From Kona to Yenan.
the U.S. and Soviet Union were allies during WWII, Ariyoshi had been
able to join U.S. military intelligence from Manzanar War Relocation
Camp in 1942 as an open Communist. As an intelligence officer, Ariyoshi
was assigned as U.S. liaison to Mao Zedong's forces in Yenan, China
during 1944 and 1945. He worked personally with Mao, Chou En-lai, and
other top Chinese Communists — a story he recounts in his memoir, From Kona to Yenan.
Immediately after the war, Ariyoshi worked in China and then New York City with accused "Amerasia" spy John S. Service and Ed Rohrbough — who would become business manager of the Honolulu Record
— in an effort to steer U.S. policy towards the Reds and against the
Nationalists. Rohrbough had edited a U.S. Office of War Information
newspaper in Fukien, China during the war.
— in an effort to steer U.S. policy towards the Reds and against the
Nationalists. Rohrbough had edited a U.S. Office of War Information
newspaper in Fukien, China during the war.
As advertised in the Record, the Corner Liquor Store was located at 1042 Bethel Street, at the corner of Hotel Street. Oka's store stayed at that address until plans arose to redevelop his block into the Chinatown Gateway Plaza
apartment tower. But he didn't move far. In 1970, the Corner Liquor
Store relocated to 1024 Nuuanu — one block away from the Bethel
location. In 1977 — two years before Obama left Honolulu — Oka would
move around the corner to 15 N. King St. In addition to the business
listing for the Corner Liquor Store, the Oahu telephone books each year
carried personal telephone listings for Oka at his store's address.
apartment tower. But he didn't move far. In 1970, the Corner Liquor
Store relocated to 1024 Nuuanu — one block away from the Bethel
location. In 1977 — two years before Obama left Honolulu — Oka would
move around the corner to 15 N. King St. In addition to the business
listing for the Corner Liquor Store, the Oahu telephone books each year
carried personal telephone listings for Oka at his store's address.
All
of these locations are about one and a half miles from the Punahou
Circle apartment Obama shared with his grandparents Stanley and Madelyn
Dunham at 1617 S Beretania St.
of these locations are about one and a half miles from the Punahou
Circle apartment Obama shared with his grandparents Stanley and Madelyn
Dunham at 1617 S Beretania St.
Now it gets interesting.
Still "too young to know that I needed a race," as he describes himself in Dreams,
Obama was sent back from Indonesia in 1969 or '70. Gramps Stanley
Dunham began a bizarre project which involved introducing Obama to
Frank Marshall Davis and making secret visits to Chinatown's disreputable Smith Street bars — located one block away from Oka's Corner Liquor Store. Obama describes the "excitement" of these visits in Dreams, page 77-78:
Obama was sent back from Indonesia in 1969 or '70. Gramps Stanley
Dunham began a bizarre project which involved introducing Obama to
Frank Marshall Davis and making secret visits to Chinatown's disreputable Smith Street bars — located one block away from Oka's Corner Liquor Store. Obama describes the "excitement" of these visits in Dreams, page 77-78:
"Don't
tell your grandmother," he would say with a wink, and we'd walk past
hard-faced, soft-bodied streetwalkers into a small, dark bar with a
jukebox and a couple of pool tables. Nobody seemed to mind that Gramps
was the only white man in the place, or that I was the only eleven-or
twelve year old. Some of the men leaning across the bar would wave at
us, and the bartender, a big, light skinned woman with bare, fleshy
arms, would bring a Scotch for Gramps and a Coke for me. If nobody
else was playing at the tables, Gramps would spot me a few balls and
teach me the game, but usually I would sit at the bar, my legs dangling
from the high stool, blowing bubbles into my drink and looking at the
pornographic art on the walls — the phosphorescent women on animal
skins, the Disney characters in compromising positions. If he was
around, a man named Rodney with a wide-brimmed hat would stop by to say
hello. …"
Frank
Marshall Davis too, described adventures on Smith Street at "The Green
Goose," a bar "operated by one of my friends." Group sex and voyeurism
at the Green Goose fill two pages in his pseudonymous porno book, Sex Rebel: Black (Memoirs of a Gash Gourmet), published just before Obama returned from Indonesia.
Marshall Davis too, described adventures on Smith Street at "The Green
Goose," a bar "operated by one of my friends." Group sex and voyeurism
at the Green Goose fill two pages in his pseudonymous porno book, Sex Rebel: Black (Memoirs of a Gash Gourmet), published just before Obama returned from Indonesia.
Returning
from Hawaii in 1948, Communist Party leader Paul Robeson encouraged
Frank and his then-wife Helen Davis to relocate from Chicago. Historian
John Tidwell writes in Davis's memoir, Livin' the Blues:
from Hawaii in 1948, Communist Party leader Paul Robeson encouraged
Frank and his then-wife Helen Davis to relocate from Chicago. Historian
John Tidwell writes in Davis's memoir, Livin' the Blues:
For
[Robeson,] Hawaii contained a veritable "lesson in racial matters to be
learned[,]" one that could "speed democracy in the United States," if
Hawaii were to be admitted to the Union as a state."
In his Honolulu Record columns, Davis worked
to convince anybody who would listen that hapa Hawaii really was a
segregated society. He derided Hawaii's black "racial exiles" who
escaped the mainland and were able to forget about race while achieving
personal success.
to convince anybody who would listen that hapa Hawaii really was a
segregated society. He derided Hawaii's black "racial exiles" who
escaped the mainland and were able to forget about race while achieving
personal success.
The
Communist ex-spy Ariyoshi died of cancer in 1976 after helping found
the U.H. Manoa Ethnic Studies Department — the source of the Akaka Bill
and lesser efforts to divide Hawaii into dependent "communities" to be
"organized" in order to utilize artificially created divisions as an
excuse for Hawaiian political operators to grab power, land, and money.
Communist ex-spy Ariyoshi died of cancer in 1976 after helping found
the U.H. Manoa Ethnic Studies Department — the source of the Akaka Bill
and lesser efforts to divide Hawaii into dependent "communities" to be
"organized" in order to utilize artificially created divisions as an
excuse for Hawaiian political operators to grab power, land, and money.