Chasing Cherry Blossoms
Reframing the American story through the multicultural experience:
An educational community storytelling podcast series featuring conversations with Japanese Americans and beyond.
As Americans grapple with increasing tension and division, what can we learn from the past to connect with each other? The series features conversations with Japanese Americans and beyond, and explores identity, culture, and history in a multicultural society.
Produced by an educator and students with diverse backgrounds, the series aims to embrace and empower local communities with multicultural experiences to share their stories and reimagine the future together.
Chasing Cherry Blossoms
Episode 5: Proud To Be Me
Guest: Cindi Kishiyama Harbottle at Japanese American Citizen League, Arizona Chapter
In the 1960s and ’70s, people used to travel long distances to see the Baseline Flower Fields in Phoenix, Arizona. Tin returns home and talks to Cindi Kishiyama-Harbottle at the Japanese American Citizen’s League Arizona Chapter. Cindi talks about how her family were early settlers in Arizona, and one of the first families to grow flowers at the legendary Japanese Flower Gardens on Baseline Road. Cindi tells stories of growing up at the flower shop her parents ran, as well as how she overcame struggles with finding her Asian-American identity.
Produced by Tinnley Sawan Subsin
* The pronunciation of “hapa” was pulled from the Cambridge Dictionary.
Check out other episodes and slide shows on our website.
