Amy Uyematsu

Growing up in Southern California, Uyematsu was torn between the Japanese culture of her family and the American culture of her environment, a conflict which has deeply influenced her writing and poetry. She penned the essay 'The Emergence of Yellow Power' in 1969 (for the Japanese-American journal Gidra), an assertion of Asian-American identity influenced by the consciousness-raising theories of Black Power.[2] Uyematsu has published four poetry books.[1][3][4]

In the 1970's and 1980's she was involved in what would become known as the Yellow Power movement. Modeled after the Black Power movement it too emphasized racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and cultural institutions but for Asian American people in the United States.[5][6]

She is a high school math teacher[7] and many of her poems reflect elements of math and quote mathematic equations. In 2012, she was recognized by the Friends of Little Tokyo Branch Library for her writing contributions to the Japanese-American community.

• 30 Miles from J-Town, (1992)
• Nights of Fire, Nights of Rain (1998)
• Stone, Bow, Prayer (2005)
• The Yellow Door (2015)

• Profile on Poetry Out Loud
• Amy Uyematsu's reading at Ave. 50 Studio, Los Angeles, September 27 2008
• Uyematsu's poem in 'August Green' in Literary Journal Cha
• Uyematsu's Poem 'Deliberate'
• The Emergence of Yellow Power