Breaking the Fast with #VigilantLOVE

On May 24, 2018, the Japanese American National Museum was honored to support and participate in the #VigilantLOVE 3rd Annual Bridging Communities Iftar—the evening meal that breaks each day’s fast during Ramadan—held at the Centenary United Methodist Church. As a new staff member in the Education Unit at JANM, I was excited to attend the event with a few colleagues to learn more about #VigilantLOVE and the Little Tokyo community.

Place setting at the #VigilantLOVE iftar.

According to its website, #VigilantLOVE is a healing and arts-driven organization that counters mainstream narratives of insularity, building upon the legacy of Muslim American and Japanese American solidarity since 9/11. As someone new not only to JANM, but also to Los Angeles and the West Coast, this solidarity is one that I was not aware of until starting at the museum. But it is one that makes perfect sense when considering the shared commitments to fighting against hate, battling racism, and standing up for constitutional rights that again seem imperiled in our country.

Already in my short time at JANM, seemingly disparate aspects of my identity, both personal and professional, have converged in unexpected and exciting ways. I was raised Muslim, and by my own choice wore the hijab from grade three through my first semester of college. I have fasted for Ramadan in the past, but it has been many years since I have attended a community Iftar event. I never would have thought that my professional work, at a Japanese American organization no less, would have provided the opportunity for me to connect with this part of myself again.

The event itself was also a very unique mix of elements, from speakers to poetry reading to reflective breaths of gratitude to fundraising. In learning a little more about #VigilantLOVE, the confluence of these, again, seemingly disparate elements fit perfectly into their organizing model, which “integrates grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, political education, the arts, and healing practices within the culture of everything we do.”

Origami note containing words to make poetry.

My favorite part of the night was the short collective poetry activity attendees were invited to participate in. Since I’m an educator, perhaps this is not too surprising but I loved that everyone was invited to collaboratively create something with the others at their table. Each table had a small gold or silver origami envelope containing various cut-out words; our job was to create a haiku using words from our envelope. Our JANM table struggled a bit (we needed to make sure the number of syllables in each line was correct!), but eventually came up with this:

side by side building

wakeful unshakeable friends

create strengthen home

Our poem, and the night as a whole, reminded me of the importance of community—of friends —in building the world we want to see. Despite mainstream rhetoric of insularity and isolationism, where people focus on the issues that divide us, this event helped us to remember the beauty of the multicultural, multifaceted world in which we live.

Collaborative haiku.

 

Highlights from the 2014 Community Day of Remembrance at JANM

Aratani Central Hall

The annual Day of Remembrance commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which enabled the military to forcibly remove and incarcerate 120,000 Japanese American men, women, and children.

Kurt Kuniyoshi reading Nisei Poet, Hiroshi Kashiwagi's redress testimony. Photo by Russell Kitagawa.
Kurt Kuniyoshi reading Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s redress testimony. Photo by Russell Kitagawa.

This devastating experience to the Issei and Nisei continues to impact multigenerational communities today, which is why this year’s 72nd anniversary of DOR featured stories reflecting the impacts of E.O. 9066 on various generations of Japanese Americans.

Performances included Kurt Kuniyoshi reading pieces by Nisei poet Hiroshi Kashiwagi who was unable to attend; Nisei author Dr. Akemi Kikumura Yano; Shin-Nisei author Dr. Velina Hasu Houston; and Yonsei performance artist Sean Miura.

The program, which was emceed by riKu Matsuda and Traci Ishigo, led the audience through a special time of remembrance and reflection.

Here are some photos highlighting this important annual event:

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DOR was co-presented with the Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District, Japanese American National Museum, Manzanar Committee and Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress.

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