An iconic figure of the Asian American movement, Richard Aoki (1938–2009) was also, as the most prominent non-Black member of the Black Panther Party, a key architect of Afro-Asian solidarity in the 1960s and ’70s. His life story exposes the personal side of political activism as it illuminates the history of ethnic nationalism and radical internationalism in America.

A reflection of this interconnection, Samurai among Panthers weaves together two narratives: Aoki’s dramatic first-person chronicle and an interpretive history by a leading scholar of the Asian American movement, Diane C. Fujino. Aoki’s candid account of himself takes us from his early years in Japanese American internment camps to his political education on the streets of Oakland, to his emergence in the Black Panther Party. As his story unfolds, we see how his parents’ separation inside the camps and his father’s illegal activities shaped the development of Aoki’s politics. Fujino situates his life within the context of twentieth-century history—World War II, the Cold War, and the protests of the 1960s. She demonstrates how activism is both an accidental and an intentional endeavor and how a militant activist practice can also promote participatory democracy and social service.

The result of these parallel voices and analysis in Samurai among Panthers is a complex—and sometimes contradictory—portrait of a singularly extraordinary activist and an expansion and deepening of our understanding of the history he lived.

Diane C. Fujino is associate professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her books about leading Asian American activist Yuri Kochiyama (Heartbeat of Struggle) and with Fred Ho (Wicked Theory, Naked Practice) are published by the University of Minnesota Press.

"My friend Richard Aoki was there when Huey P. Newton and I founded our Black Panther Party, discussing political analysis and seeking critique approval of our Ten Point Program. This book is a necessary kind of reading that illuminates my friend’s political revolutionary life’s meaning: Richard Aoki’s reverence."—Bobby Seale, founding Chairman and National Organizer of the Black Panther Party

"Richard Aoki straddled the worlds of ethnicity by the radical bridge he built through his engagement with an authentic, even saucy American radicalism. Diane C. Fujino unearths Richard’s story with sympathy and warmth, and in the process redeems the legacy of a remarkable American radical."—Vijay Prashad, author of The Darker Nations: A People's History Of The Third World

"Samurai among Panthers is a bracing, honest, and revealing biography. The book is a powerful reminder that although social movements operate collectively within social and political contexts, they are ultimately enacted by individuals who, like Richard Aoki, are flawed, complicated, dedicated, and visionary."—Daryl J. Maeda, author of Rethinking the Asian American Movement

"This book makes a significant contribution to the literature on this important period."—Libya 360

"From relative obscurity, the unusual life of Richard Aoki is finally being recovered and acknowledged for his integral roles in the Black Panther Party, the Asian American Movement and building Third World solidarity . . . Fujino’s analytical introduction and epilogue provide a strong context to Aoki’s voice. Her thorough endnotes and comprehensive bibliography are excellent guides for activists who seek to apply the past to present and future struggles."—International Examiner

"Samurai Among Panthers: Richard Aoki on Race, Resistance, and a Paradoxical Life by Diane C. Fujino is no conventional biography. Aoki was the most prominent non-African American member of the Black Panther Party, and his biography is fascinating, educational, inspiring — in short, hard to put down."—The Rafu Shimpo

"Diane C. Fujino’s biography on the iconic Asian American activist Richard Aoki is revealing, fascinating, and at times intensely moving."—Hyphen

"Breaks new ground... not only for focusing on an undertreated subject, but also for her decision to publish this work as both autobiography and historical scholarship. ... This important contribution highlights the role of the Asian American Movement in the 1960s and places the BPP itself in a new light."—Choice

"Diane Fujino’s Samurai among Panthers: Richard Aoki on Race, Resistance, and a Paradoxical Life is a timely biography that illuminates the life of an extraordinary man whose political activism spanned decades and influenced both ethnic nationalism and radical internationalism movements. "—Asian Affairs

"With her gripping study and oral history of the Japanese American radical Richard Aoki, Diane Fujino has further cemented herself as a premier scholar of the Vietnam War-era Asian American movement for community empowerment and social justice. "—Journal of Asian American Studies