On this episode, your host Taiji T. Miyagawa is a third-generation Japanese American with over four decades of experience as a grassroots empowerment activist and musician.  A California native, he comes from a lineage of U.S. citizens who were stripped of their constitutional rights and imprisoned during World War II for no crime other than being Japanese.  Taiji leads API for CalCare (http://APIforCalCare.com).

Taiji’s guest is Dara Yin of Khmer (Cambodian) descent who grew up in Long Beach, California.  He is a program specialist for API RISE (http://www.API-Rise.org) and works to empower the community to fight against racism, marginalization and separatism.

Dara was sent to prison at the age of 19 under a “Life Without Parole” sentence.  In 2022 his sentence was commuted to 18-years-to-life.  As he had been in prison for 20 years, the Board of Paroles determined Dara was suitable for re-entry.  He has been home since November 2022.  

Currently pursuing a Master of Education in Learning Design and Technology degree at University of Southern CA, Dara believes that education is the answer to ending poverty, systemic racism and violence.  

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Our Health Care for US show airs at our new time, EVERY FRIDAY MORNING at 7:30am (PST) on 90.7 KPFK (http://kpfk.org) in Los Angeles and 98.7 FM Santa Barbara.  Our radio show is also live streamed on http://kpfk.org and our website (http://hc4us.org), with recording made available here on SoundCloud (@HC4US).

For future HC4US shows, we want you to join the conversation by calling in live to the show at 818-985-5735.  You can also email your questions or tips to communications@hc4us.org.

03/21/2025 - HC4US show with host Taiji Miyagawa and guest Dara Yin (API RISE)

Health Care for US (HC4US) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization of volunteers championing California single-payer health care. HC4US advocates for comprehensive, high-quality universal health care through single-payer public financing. Our goal is to guarantee health care as a human right for ALL California residents, advancing the larger fight for health care justice and energizing the implementation of national Single Payer/Medicare for All.