Vozes de Chicago
Os artigos dessa série foram originalmente publicados em “Vozes de Chicago (Voices of Chicago)”, o jornal online da Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, que é uma organização participante do Descubra Nikkei desde dezembro de 2004.
“Voices of Chicago” é uma coleção de narrativas em primeira pessoa sobre as experiências de pessoas de descendência japonesa que moram em Chicago. A comunidade é composta por três ondas de imigração e seus descendentes: a primeira, cerca de 300 pessoas, chegou a Chicago mais ou menos na época do Columbian Exposition em 1899. O segundo e maior grupo é descendente de 30.000 pessoas que vieram diretamente para Chicago a partir dos campos de concentração após a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Chamados de "reassentados", eles criaram uma comunidade construída em torno de organizações de serviços sociais, igrejas budistas e cristãs e pequenas empresas. O terceiro grupo, mais recente, é de cidadãos japoneses que vieram para Chicago, com início na década de 1980, como artistas e estudantes, e [ali] permaneceram. Um quarto grupo, não-imigrante, é de executivos japoneses e suas famílias que vivem em Chicago por longos períodos, às vezes permanentemente.
Chicago tem sido sempre um lugar onde as pessoas podem recriar a si mesmas e onde diversas comunidades étnicas vivem e trabalham juntas. O “Voices of Chicago” conta histórias de membros de cada um desses quatro grupos e como eles se encaixam no mosaico de uma grande cidade.
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Stories from this series
Do You Know Kung Fu? - Part 2
12 de Janeiro de 2011 • Larry Wiley
>> Part 1The summer after 4th grade, 1971, it was somehow decided that my older sister, my younger brother and I would become members of the local YMCA. We all took up swimming and judo. I really wanted to do Karate (in those days I don’t think there was any other martial art besides Judo and Karate) but those classes did not start until 8:00 pm. My grandfather dutifully walked us to and from the “Y”. I was not a …
Do You Know Kung Fu? - Part 1
11 de Janeiro de 2011 • Larry Wiley
I was born August 19th, 1961 at the University of Chicago Lying-in Hospital, on the south side of Chicago. My father, Joseph Earl Wiley, hails from a prominent family in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. His father, Joseph Elias, graduated from Tuskegee Institute, class of 1914, and served with distinction as an officer in the 92nd Infantry in WW I. My mother, Frances Sumiko Yoshida was interned with her family in Poston, AZ in WWII. She grew up in Lindsey California the …
My Life Between Two Cultures - Part 2
8 de Novembro de 2010 • Kyoko Inoue
>> Part 14. The Inoue Family Meets Their American RelativesIn 1942, my relatives, like all the West Coast Japanese and Japanese Americans, were shipped to a concentration camp. They were initially sent to Tanforan Race Track in California, and then, I believe, to Tule Lake. I know nothing about their lives in the camp because I do not recall my mother ever speaking about them. In 1946, my younger uncle was drafted into the United States Army and was sent …
My Life Between Two Cultures - Part 1
1 de Novembro de 2010 • Kyoko Inoue
I have lived in the United States since 1968. While I have adjusted well to life in America, I have also tried to maintain my Japanese identity. My upbringing and experience have led me to live a life between two cultures. 1. The Beginning: My Maternal Family in America My life between two cultures began when my maternal grandfather, born in 1867 in Kyushu, decided that he wanted to emigrate to the United States. In 1887 he arrived in San …
Hiroshima Story - Part 3
8 de Julho de 2010 • Sachiko Masuoka
This is a story told by Sachiko Masuoka about living through the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.>> Part 2We went to the fist aid station many times, but the scene was so terrible that I could not watch. I just covered my eyes. There was not enough help and it was humid and hot everyday. The flies were all over the burn patients. They planted eggs in their wounds, which, in a few days, turned into maggots. Soon they were covered …