January 2011

ksakai

Stuff contributed by ksakai

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identity
16 Sep 2011

The United States Vs. Takaichi Sakai

Read Part 2 >>After my grandparents answered “No No” to questions 27 and 28, the whole family was sent to Tule Lake, Northern California. A camp that was designated for “bad” Japanese Americans—in other words those who had answered the loyalty questionnaire negatively or had caused “trouble.”

identity
9 Sep 2011

The United States Vs. Takaichi Sakai

Part 2 of 5: No No

Koji Steven Sakai

In Part 1, my grandfather, Takaichi Sakai, was arrested and investigated by the FBI. An Internee Hearing Board in February 1943 ordered that he be “interned for the duration of the war.” A few weeks later, the Military Governor had him sent to a “relocation center” on the Mainland.

identity
2 Sep 2011

The United States Vs. Takaichi Sakai

Part 1 of 5: Crimes

Koji Steven Sakai

He burned sensitive files while working for a foreign government. He said that he was not willing to fight for the United States and would not give up his allegiance to a foreign power during a time of war. He renounced his American citizenship. Who was this enemy of the …

identity
9 Dec 2011

Koji's Column

Why Are Asians Yellow?

Koji Steven Sakai

African Americans are black. Caucasians are white. Latinos are brown. But why are Asians yellow? When I look at my skin, it doesn’t look yellow to me. If anything, it looks olive and if I’ve been in the sun at all, it’s brown. So if I’m not yellow-skinned, where does …

media
13 Oct 2011

APA Spotlight

Helen H. Ota, Artistic Director, Cold Tofu

Koji Steven Sakai

Helen H. Ota is the Artistic Director of COLD TOFU, the nation’s premier Asian American comedy improvisation group. A member since 1993, she has performed in and produced numerous COLD TOFU improv and sketch shows.

media
23 Aug 2011

APA Spotlight

SHOKORA's Junichi Hernandez Yoshikai

Koji Steven Sakai

Last year I was lucky enough to be invited to Japan and meet with other Nikkei (Japanese migrants and their descendants) from around the world. As an Asian American, I admit I sometimes forget that there are people of Asian ancestry who live in Mexico. In fact, there are strong …

media
21 Oct 2011

APA Spotlight

Sonia Sakamoto-Jog, Executive Director, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

Koji Steven Sakai

Sonia Sakamoto-Jog (pictured on the left) joined Reel Asian as Executive Director in May of 2009 after graduating from the MBA program at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.Prior to being hired at Reel Asian, she worked at Maximum Films International (now a division of Entertainment …

identity
19 Jul 2011

APA Spotlight

Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, George & Sakaye Aratani Chair, UCLA Asian American Studies Center

Koji Steven Sakai

Lane Ryo Hirabayashi is professor in the Asian American Studies Department, and affiliate of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA, where he is also the inaugural “George & Sakaye Aratani Chair in Japanese American Internment, Redress, and Community.”

identity
3 Aug 2011

APA Spotlight

Ellen Somekawa, Executive Director, Asian Americans United

Koji Steven Sakai

Ellen Somekawa is a third-generation Japanese American from Minneapolis. There she was an activist in the Asian American student movement, the anti-apartheid movement, the anti-nuclear movement and the movement against uranium mining and for indigenous land rights in the Black Hills.

identity
23 Jun 2011

APA Spotlight

Karen Narasaki, President and Executive Director of the Asian American Justice Center

Koji Steven Sakai

Karen K. Narasaki is the President and Executive Director of the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), one of the nation’s leading voices advocating for the rights and interests of Asian Americans.

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About

Koji Steven Sakai has written two feature films that have been produced; Haunted Highway and The People I’ve Slept With.

Koji is a graduate from the University of Southern California’s Masters of Professional Writing program. He has held several fellowships, starting with the most recent, which include: The Writers Boot Camp Fellowship (2009), The Producers Guild: Power of Diversity Workshop (2009), Film Independent’s Project: Involve (2007), Visual Communication’s Armed With a Camera (2006), and Screenwriting Expo 4: New Visions Fellowship award (2005).

In addition to his work in film, Koji is a regular contributor to Discover Nikkei (www.discovernikkei.org/en/) and 8Asians (www.8Asians.com). He also contributed a story (Meet Joe) to Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, the first graphic novel anthology written/drawn/and about Asian Americans. Secret Identities was released by New Press in April of 2009.

Koji is the manager of public programs at the Japanese American National Museum (www.janm.org). He is in charge of the concerts, lectures, workshops, family days, screenings, and other public events.