Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Let go ... but hold on to Joy!


As a peace activist, Steve Nakano has participated in two international peace walks: in 2007, with the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist sect (Hiroshima to Mount Aso, Japan); and in 2008, with the American Indian Movement Longest Walk 2 (San Francisco to Washington D.C.). He is also a member of the 500 mile American Indian Movement Spiritual Marathon Northern California Running Team that runs to spread the message that all life is sacred, to save Mother Earth, and to save Native American Indian Sacred Burial Sites.

Steve is a Congressional District Organizer for the National Peace Alliance that supports the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace, Nonviolence and Restorative Justice (H.R. 808). The bill will also create a U.S. Secretary of Peace in the Presidential Cabinet.

As a lawyer and community server, Steve has received the 2002 Santa Clara County Bar Association Minority Access Committee, Unsung Heroes Award for his work. He also helped initiate two residential alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs. Recently, Steve obtained the release and reversal of the conviction for a client who was convicted and who had served 11 years and 10 months of a 25 year to life sentence for a crime that he did not commit.