Golden Circle awardees
OCA-Greater Seattle hosted the Golden Circle Awards and Lunar New Year Celebration at Ding Feng Seafood Restaurant on Jan. 27, honoring outstanding individuals and institutions for their contributions to the community.
This year’s awardees included the University of Washington American Ethnic Studies Department, Alan Lau, Bea Kiyohara, and Lawrence Matsuda. During his acceptance speech, Matsuda emphasized the importance of taking action in the face of challenges, urging the audience to move beyond bystander status.
Matsuda highlighted the current societal divisions and called for collective efforts to safeguard democracy, drawing parallels to his personal experience of being born in an American concentration camp. Encouraging proactive measures for social justice, Matsuda concluded with a call to action, quoting Gandalf from “The Lord of the Rings” and urging individuals to contribute to positive change.
As the event marked the beginning of the Year of the Dragon, Matsuda urged everyone to embody the wisdom, energy, and passion of wizards in the pursuit of a brighter future.