Speaking Up! Democracy, Justice, Dignity
For the 25th anniversary of the Japanese American Redress legislation, the Japanese American National Museum presented its fourth national conference “Speaking Up! Democracy, Justice, Dignity” in Seattle, Washington from July 4 to 7, 2013. This conference brought fresh insights, scholarly analysis, and community perspectives to bear on the issues of democracy, justice, and dignity.
These articles stem from the conference and detail the Japanese American experiences from different perspectives.
Visit the conference website for program details >>
Stories from this series
Excerpt from "Gently to Nagasaki" (a work in progress) - Chapter 46
Sept. 10, 2013 • Joy Kogawa
It was a quirky millisecond contact of eyes in the city of angels, city of strangers. In 2011, I was in Los Angeles, attending an Asian American symposium. During a break before supper, Ray Hsu, a poet from Vancouver and I were exploring an area called Japan town. My first time there. Gift shops, restaurants, tourists milling about. We were wandering back out of the plaza when from out of nowhere a voice called, “Joy!” I turned, looked up. “It’s …
Excerpt from "Gently to Nagasaki" (a work in progress) - Chapter 42
Sept. 5, 2013 • Joy Kogawa
My brother said the actions by a church that did not want us back were deliberate and intentional and had been concealed by a “code of silence” until Greg revealed them. The contrast between the companion churches in Vancouver and Seattle is a tale of two bishops, a good shepherd and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Bishop Huston tends his flock. Bishop Heathcotte rends them. Love was alive in the Seattle church. The personal belongings of his exiled parishioners were …
Climbing Out of the Well: My Impressions of the JANM 2013 National Conference in Seattle
Aug. 20, 2013 • Tim Asamen
If you have not taken in a Japanese American National Museum (JANM) event, be it a workshop, book reading, or some other special program, I highly recommend that you do so. The National Museum knows how to put on a good show, and everything is always meticulously planned down to the last detail. JANM’s 2013 National Conference “Speaking Up! Democracy, Justice, Dignity” held at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, July 4 through 7, 2013, was no exception. Some five hundred of …
Speaking Out in Seattle: The JANM Conference
Aug. 15, 2013 • Greg Robinson
I was privileged to attend the 2013 Japanese American National Museum conference in Seattle. It commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, granting surviving Japanese Americans redress for their wartime confinement. The conference was a concentrated and rather intense experience, for a number of reasons. I arrived at the conference on Friday, July 5. Sadly, I missed out on the morning planning session for Tule Lake, which I heard afterwards had been quite a lively session. …
Honoring My Issei and Nisei Ancestors
Aug. 1, 2013 • Wayne Nakata
The most important reminder that surfaced throughout each chapter in our family’s history was that it all happened on American soil. Despite setbacks, losses, hardships, and interruptions in their lives, they still found fertile ground in which to make a living, to raise children, and to enjoy life with friends in a community that offered opportunities for a good life. I am grateful that they chose to do it on Bainbridge Island! My grandparents, immigrants from Japan, were among many …
Tule Lake - Part 2 of 2
July 16, 2013 • Hiroshi Kashiwagi
Read Part 1 >>I was having the time of my life, working a few hours a day as a dishwasher in the mess hall and devoting the rest of my time to what I loved—acting, reading, writing, and meeting people with similar interests. Camp life was great. But it all came to an abrupt end in February 1943 with the so-called “loyalty registration,” which was a joint order by the Army and the WRA to facilitate the Army in recruiting …