Miya Dunets "A Good Life"

From Miya Dunets: “NEW SINGLE, “A Good Life” is now out!

I wrote it for my grandparents (Sherman “Sharky” Mikio and Harue/June Kishi - watch the video to see some extreme cuteness ) on their 70th anniversary (a lifetime ago, in 2016) and am releasing it during Asian & Pacific Islander American Heritage month, to celebrate their legacy of commitment, service, honor, and love. Thank you to Andrew Horowitz and Elliot Jacobson for production, guidance, and your excellent hearts. Thank you to the incomparable Marin Leong for the beautiful cover art!⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣Grandma and grandpa were in high school when they fell in love. Then, Pearl Harbor was bombed and 120,000 Japanese Americans were shipped off to and forcibly imprisoned in internment camps. At Amache, the camp where my grandparents were taken, the men’s and women’s showers were in one barracks, with a dividing wall that didn’t reach the ceiling. They would go to the showers at the same time, to sing Irving Berlin’s “Always” to each other over that wall. Grandpa later volunteered for and served in the US army, despite being unjustly interned and deemed un-American. In the face of darkness, they chose love; and they choose it now, in their mid-90s. When I feel deep anger and sadness about the racism and xenophobia that are still so present and ugly in our country and around the world, I think of their choice to truly and wholly belong to one another, to share that deep sense of belonging and open arms with those around them, to uphold and believe in the value of a life guided by virtue - a good life. They taught me that we always have the option to show up for our families and communities, to speak up for those who are silenced, to demonstrate the power of kindness and love in ways big and small.⁣⁣”