Whether it was speaking out against racial profiling or teaching students who needed extra help and support, Amy H. Mizuno always tried to fight for justice. That’s the way Mizuno’s daughter, Shanti, describes her mom.

Mizuno and her family recently celebrated a major milestone — her 100th birthday on Tuesday.

“It’s amazing. I’m used to saying my mom is in her 90s,” Shanti Mizuno said. “There’s this theme going through her life: justice for all.”

Mizuno, who grew up in Santa Maria, Calif., was interned with her mom and younger brother at Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona during World War II. She was 19 at the time, and her father and older brother were separated from them.

Those experiences in the internment camp led Mizuno to speak out against racial profiling of Muslims at a 2017 forum held at the Cathedral of St. Andrew with members of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and the Interfaith Alliance of Hawaii.

Shanti Mizuno said that’s just one example of her mom’s legacy. Mizuno moved to Hawaii from California and married more than 60 years ago. She began working as a special education teacher at the former Linekona School, as well as at the University Laboratory School, Olomana School and two other schools in Kalihi.

Even after Mizuno retired, she still kept busy by working as a substitute teacher and tutor. Shanti Mizuno said her mom enjoyed working with kids, particularly ones who needed additional help. At Olomana School, she remembers her mom telling her stories about how her students looked out for her.

“They kept an eye on her,” she said. “And she kept an eye on them.”

Shanti Mizuno said her mom also joined the Church of the Crossroads, and for the past 15 years, she’s been working to form a young adult group there.

“Mom really was a teacher always working to have people get together,” she said. “She was a good role model.”