Irene Hirano Inouye Distinguished Lecture Series

On March 14, 2025, JANM’s Democracy Center welcomed the Smithsonian’s Lonnie G. Bunch III and Lisa Sasaki as special guest speakers for its inaugural Irene Hirano Inouye Distinguished Lecture Series. Bunch is the fourteenth secretary of the Smithsonian and is devoted to enhancing diversity in the museum field. Sasaki is the deputy under secretary for Special Projects at the Smithsonian. She elevates the stories of women and Asian American communities and their impact around the world. Their life work and careers embody the essence of leadership, collaboration, inclusivity, and diversity that Inouye represented. She was JANM’s inaugural executive director and its president and CEO.

“Irene understood the importance of the lessons of history and how relevant and urgent they are in contemporary America.”

— Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO

“It was that spring in her step that propelled the museum forward. She understood, before it was widely recognized, that memory and history are not static artifacts of the past but powerful contemporary lessons, acts of resilience, and acts of resistance which are now more important than ever before. Irene understood the importance of the lessons of history and how relevant and urgent they are in contemporary America,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO.

As Inouye steered JANM from a dream without funding or a site to an official affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, she led with the vision to empower communities, uplift women, and build bridges between the US and Japan. Bunch and Sasaki, both dear friends and colleagues of Inouye, reflected on Inouye’s leadership and insights into the museum field.

“Museums force people to engage with each other and encounter real learning and real barriers being broken.”

— Lonnie G. Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

“Irene made all of us believe that museums could be more than things that looked towards yesterday. They could be places that are central to today and tomorrow. In essence, what good museums are are really tools or weapons to fight for democracy, weapons to make a country better, weapons to make people understand that it’s important to give people not just what they want but what they need to know. Museums force people to engage with each other and encounter real learning and real barriers being broken. They remind us that America at its best is aspirational and that we must fight the good fight to make sure that those stories aren’t erased,” said Bunch.

Featured photograph: The Smithsonian’s Lonnie G. Bunch III speaks at the Democracy Center’s inaugural Irene Hirano Inouye Distinguished Lecture Series. Photo by Mike Palma.

Nikkei Progressives Community Press Conference

On March 18, 2025, JANM participated in a press conference organized by Nikkei Progressives condemning the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to enforce mass deportations of Venezuelan men accused of being Tren de Aragua gang members. The press conference was held in front of the Historic Building, the Museum’s oldest and largest artifact. Built in 1925, the former Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple was a site of grave injustice for the bustling Little Tokyo neighborhood.

“On the corner of First and Central behind me is where Japanese Americans boarded buses to be taken to camps. This place serves as a reminder that this dark chapter remains one of the most egregious violations of civil liberties in American history, later condemned by Congress and acknowledged as a grave mistake. We must not repeat it,” said Kenyon Mayeda of JANM.

Today, the Historic Building is hallowed ground—a site of conscience and a gathering place for civic engagement and social justice. The press conference also included speakers from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, the Manzanar Committee, National Japanese American Citizens League, Nikkei Progressives, and Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition.

“This place serves as a reminder that this dark chapter remains one of the most egregious violations of civil liberties in American history, later condemned by Congress and acknowledged as a grave mistake. We must not repeat it.”

— Kenyon Mayeda, JANM Chief Impact Officer

“Immigrants helped build this nation and contribute daily, not only to our economy, but to society at large. They are our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors, and our family members. Nikkei Progressives will continue to stand in support of immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and all people whose rights are being violated and who are under attack by the Trump administration,” said Hope Nakamura of Nikkei Progressives.

“The Tuna Canyon Coalition’s mission is to preserve the stories so it doesn’t happen again. We are here to uncover unknown diaries, letters, or like June Berk, interviewing the children and great grandchildren of the detained. Clearly the separation of the family was horrible then, and still [is] today,” said Kyoko Nancy Oda of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition.

“The Manzanar Committee will continue to challenge the lies being told about immigrants and refugees. We will not stand by and watch while other communities are attacked like we were. We will remind America of what can happen when our Constitution is tossed aside or where the rule of law no longer matters. Our story tells us our country is stronger, our democracy more vibrant, when the Constitutional rights of all people—immigrants and citizens alike—are protected and that the rule of law prevails,” said Bruce Embrey of the Manzanar Committee.

Photo of Kenyon Mayeda taken by Doug Mukai.

Smithsonian’s National Conversation on Race

On March 28, 2025, JANM and the Democracy Center once again hosted the Smithsonian’s National Conversation on Race. During the inaugural Conversation in December 2023, panelists and guests alike established a strong foundation around the intersection of race with issues of wealth, health, and the arts.

“Our work for the reckoning with our Racial Past initiative is to support and amplify the work of organizations like JANM, like the Chinese American Museum, like LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. These were the first institutions we reached out to to launch our national work, because they’re such exemplary models—not only in what they do and how they do it, but in collaborating with each other,” said Deborah Mack, associate director for strategic partnerships at the National African American Museum of History and Culture.

“How do we support young people? We listen. We trust, we act with urgency and not caution, and we get out of the way and make room and space for those coming behind.”

— Alex M. Johnson, California Wellness Foundation Vice President of Public Affairs

When the Los Angeles wildfires devastated the cities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades, this year’s Conversation examined the urgent contemporary forces shaping the issues. With a focus on youth empowerment and the role of creative practice in equitable natural disaster recovery, this year’s panels illuminated pathways toward systemic change.

“When people ask me the question, how do we support young people? Right now, my answer is clear. We listen. We trust, we act with urgency and not caution, and we get out of the way and make room and space for those coming behind,” said Alex M. Johnson, the vice president of Public Affairs for the California Wellness Foundation.

Johnson moderated a panel with Mario Fedelin, CEO of Changeist; Cielo Castro, chief officer of policy and programs at California Community Foundation; and James E. Herr, director of the Democracy Center. Together they explored ways to give young people opportunities to make the positive changes that they envision for the nation’s future.

“Hope is so important, especially for our young people right now. If we’re going to hold space, it’s one of the spaces we need to hold for them, because we need to find moments of joy in this world today.”

— James E. Herr, Democracy Center Director

“I’m glad that you talked about hope, because I think hope is so important, especially for our young people right now. If we’re going to hold space, it’s one of the spaces we need to hold for them, because we need to find moments of joy in this world today,” said Herr.

“It really is grounding myself in the long arc of moral history. The long arc of justice, remembering that we’ve been as a country through so much worse, how we have grit ourselves up, right, to make sure that we brace ourselves for the impact and protect young people from having to bear so much of it themselves,” said Castro.

“What I found to be some of the best strategies during this time is just holding space without prescription, holding space without some sort of mastery or some sort of intervention,” said Fedelin. “Give them the room to say whatever the hell they want. And then as the adult in the room, do the thing that I think my parents struggled to do for me, which was tell me it’s going to be okay and allow them to believe me. And then act in a way that shows them this is going to be okay because I got you.”

“Arts recovery projects can address the impacts of disasters on democracy by promoting empathy, connection, and agency in affected communities.”

— Anna Kennedy-Borissow, Keynote Speaker

The Democracy Center also welcomed Anna Kennedy-Borissow from the University of Melbourne as the keynote speaker. A leading voice on the intersection of creative practice and disaster recovery, Kennedy-Borissow talked about her extensive research on wildfires that have devastated Australia over the past two decades and how her research is transferable to the LA wildfires.

During her presentation, she discussed how arts recovery projects can contribute to a culture of democracy. Creative projects can be cathartic for disaster-affected individuals and communities. They promote partnerships, build trust, and strengthen connections. Most importantly, they can foster a sense of hope for the future and be calming places where individuals and communities can fully express themselves.

“Ultimately, arts recovery projects can address the impacts of disasters on democracy by promoting empathy, connection, and agency in affected communities. But for this to occur, it is essential that both the arts, emergency management, public and private sectors recognize the value of these initiatives and resource arts-based recovery projects, artists, community and cultural organizations accordingly,” said Kennedy-Borissow.

“I really see the fires as a metaphor for this opportunity that we have to move forward, to build the world that we want to live in.”

— Karen Mack, LA Commons Executive Director

She was then joined by a panel of local experts to explore how Los Angeles could adapt and implement these models to enhance its own recovery initiatives. The panel was moderated by Leticia Rhi Buckley, CEO of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, and also included Karen Mack, executive director of LA Commons, and Alvaro D. Marquez, program officer for Arts and Culture at the California Community Foundation.

“I really see the fires as a metaphor for this opportunity that we have to move forward, to build the world that we want to live in. One of the things that we were focused on is giving artists the resources to do what they do best, which is to imagine, dream, world build. And that’s the moment that we’re in. As painful as it is, we are building a new world for ourselves,” said Mack.

“The arts is every single funding area that we do. It is economic development. It is youth development, it is health, it is housing. It is all of those things,” said Marquez. “One of the things I want to invite us to think about is to get outside of Eurocentric conceptions of art, which involve a gallery and a white cube, and to think about cultural expression writ large and in an expansive sense. We need to learn from our indigenous neighbors and cousins that land stewardship is a form of cultural practice that can teach us how to respond to these crises and hopefully prevent the next one.”

Clockwise from top: Alvaro D. Marquez, Leticia Rhi Buckley, Anna Kennedy-Borissow and Karen Mack. Photos by Doug Mukai.