He What?

Related Content

• Bouncer Talks Occupy with The Man at Sutter Station
  December 21, 2011
• Listen Whitey!: Music Historian Pat Thomas Explores the Sounds of Black Power
  February 28, 2012
• Ron Paul Says He Didn't Create Offensive "China Jon" YouTube Video
  January 18, 2012
• Shabazz Palaces Lets Its Hip-Hop Do the Talking
  June 8, 2011
• Bouncer: Probing the Origins of Mao Worship and MacBooks at Red's Place
  February 9, 2011

More About

• Richard Aoki
• Mike Cheng
• Mao Tse-tung
• Books and Literature
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Some guys got all the luck: Richard Aoki grew up in the Topaz, Utah internment camp in the early 1940s, was forcibly relocated to West Oakland, and served in Vietnam. Thus, you can't blame the guy for being angry, or for owning a lot of guns. It's also not surprising that he'd get Malcolm X, Che Guevara, and Mao Tse-Tung. The astonishing part of this American biography is that Aoki essentially armed and trained the Black Panther Party. Not too many people know that one of that group's earliest Field Marshalls was Japanese-American. Mike Cheng and Ben Wang made AOKI to shed some light on this incredibly interesting Bay Area activist.
Wed., March 17, 9:30 p.m., 2010