Sultan Shakir, Brian Bond and I attending the PFLAG National’s “Love Takes Pride” event.Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images for PFLAG. Today, I am proud to say that I am 89 years young. In my incredible life, I have experienced some of the best and worst chapters of American history. As a child, I was raised in a country that incarcerated me as a five-year-old alongside my family and my Japanese American community – simply for being who we are.