Yoneda herself was arrested a number of times, including in Dolores Park, San Francisco, for participating in a rally against the Criminal Syndicalism laws in March 1935. Yoneda became known as the “Red Angel” for her work in defending union members and labor demonstrators in the San Francisco waterfront and General Strike of 1934. She was the only woman on the steering committee of the 1934 General Strike. Yoneda participated in many high-profile labor and civil rights activities such as the Salinas Lettuce Strike, National Scottsboro Week and Spanish Civil War relief. She ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1939 on a platform of free day care, low cost housing, and civil rights. She was defeated.