In memory of Daystar Chou, who passed away on October 26, 2020, after suffering a stroke.  Daystar was a lifelong community activist involved in many social justice issues.  

Daystar was a Renaissance woman. She was well-versed in local and international politics and spoke eloquently on issues that she was passionate about, especially on the rights of indigenous people and justice for political prisoners Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal.  She was a ‘Queens Green’ and a founding member of the Flushing Green Party with her husband, Evergreen Chou.  She was also active in promoting the October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality as well as the David Wong Support Committee (a justice initiative founded by Yuri Kochiyama, which, after many years, overturned a trumped-up prison murder charge against a vulnerable Chinese immigrant prisoner).  

Daystar’s deep interest in Native American culture and traditions was inspired by her genealogical research into her family background.  A member of the Mary Trail of Tears Longhouse in Brooklyn, Daystar also founded ‘Red Corn Harvest,’ a Cherokee Circle that held monthly meetings and ceremonies. She was the editor and publisher of ‘Back to the Blanket,’ a monthly Native American journal that was published from 1996 to 2007.  Daystar also had a keen interest in Chinese history, religion, and culture.  

Daystar attended public schools and studied writing and Women’s Studies at Brooklyn College.  Over the years, she worked as an actress, a writer, and a restaurateur.  The daughter of artists, she was a skilled craftswoman who could knit, sew, and do beadwork.  She designed unique jewelry and crafts with Native American designs.

Daystar is survived by her husband Evergreen Chou, several brothers and sisters, and sixteen nieces and nephews.