Dorothy Yumi Garcia

Dorothy Yumi Garcia, an artist, cultural worker, and educator, has taught and supervised in public and private schools and universities for forty years. Garcia has documented hundreds of stories through the use of persona dolls, a multimedia storytelling vehicle, in diverse settings including AIDS hospices, juvenile detention centers, Japanese universities, and South African townships. In 2003 Garcia co-founded Art Aids Art, a nonprofit organization promoting education and sustainable economic development through the arts. Based in South Africa, the organization has established a multipurpose community center in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, to serve as an oasis for women coping with the trauma of poverty, domestic violence and the HIV/AIDS crisis. To date, her daughter Chloe is her most satisfying work-in-progress.

Updated September 2013

Stories from This Author

Nikkei Chronicles #2—Nikkei+: Stories of Mixed Language, Traditions, Generations & Race

Sushi & Salsa, Cactus & Bamboo

Sept. 9, 2013 • Dorothy Yumi Garcia

During the war my father, Daniel Garcia (born Dec. 7, 1925 in Pasadena, CA), assembled shells onboard his ship to slam away at the Japanese installations. In Japan my mother, Yoshiko Fuchigami (born Feb. 2, 1930 in Atsugi), was assembling munitions to throw at the American invaders. Indirectly they were doing their damndest to kill each other. Having failed, the war over, they met, fell in love, and were married. Their meeting came about via my grandfather. As a member …