2016 Community Day of Remembrance

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of participating on the planning committee for the 2016 Los Angeles Day of Remembrance program. I joined representatives from the Japanese American Citizens League (Pacific Southwest District), the Manzanar Committee, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress, and others at JANM to organize the annual event which gathers members of the community to reflect on the enduring legacy of Executive Order 9066. That directive, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II.

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Maytha Alhassen addresses the audience at the 2016 Community Day of Remembrance. Photo by Ben Furuta.

 

The program was held last Saturday before a standing room only crowd at JANM’s Aratani Central Hall. Entitled Is It 1942 Again? Overcoming Our Fears and Upholding Constitutional Rights for All, the program honored the courage and perseverance of the women, men, and children who were incarcerated during World War II, while challenging the audience to apply the lessons of Japanese American history in today’s context. Following recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, American Muslims, Sikhs, South Asians, Arab Americans, and refugees attempting to enter the United States have been the target of hateful acts and caustic rhetoric—a chilling echo of the Japanese American experience during World War II.

A distinguished set of speakers eloquently addressed this year’s theme. They included: event emcees Bruce Embrey (Manzanar Committee) and traci ishigo (Japanese American Citizens League); JANM Vice President of Operations and Art Director Clement Hanami; Anthony Marsh of the American Friends Service Committee, an organization that courageously opposed the World War II incarceration; and Maytha Alhassen, a Syrian Muslim American Provost PhD Fellow in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Congresswoman Judy Chu warned the audience, “Because of the Japanese American camps, we know just how far the country can go if we let hysteria and scapegoating get their way.”  She continued, “Let us make sure that what happened to Japanese Americans never happens to anyone again in this country.”

Congresswoman Judy Chu speaking at the 2016 Community Day of Remembraance
Congresswoman Judy Chu. Photo by Ben Furuta.

 

But no voice was more essential to the program than that of longtime JANM docent and Heart Mountain camp survivor Bill Shishima. Bill recalled his early childhood years spent near Olvera Street in downtown LA, and the grocery store and hotel his father operated there before being forced to leave them behind during World War II. Bill’s vivid description of the years that followed transported the audience to the foul-smelling horse stables of Santa Anita Race Track, where Bill’s grandparents stayed, and to the incessant dust storms of Bill’s eventual home, Heart Mountain camp. One by one, Bill recounted the traumas and indignities of everyday camp life—the degrading lack of privacy, the barbed wire fences and armed guards, the confusing and ominous loyalty questionnaire, and the promising student body president who volunteered for military service to prove his patriotism and was then killed in Europe.

Bill concluded his remarks by reminding the audience of the “fragility of civil liberties in a time of crisis, and the importance of remaining vigilant in protecting the rights and freedoms of all.” He received a well-deserved standing ovation.

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Bill Shishima. Photo by Richard Murakami.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: “Reverberations of Executive Order 9066”

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 2013.docxWrite an original monologue or short performance piece for a chance to be included in the 2014 “Community Day of Remembrance” on February 15th at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

The 2014 Day of Remembrance (DOR) will mark the 72nd anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 which led to the unlawful forced removal of thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry and the unconstitutional mass incarceration of 120,000 individuals in domestic concentration camps. DOR is co-presented with the JACL Pacific Southwest District, Nikkei for Civil Rights Redress, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Manzanar Committee.

Japanese Americans near trains during Relocation.
Photo: National Archives

To commemorate the Community Day of Remembrance, we’re looking for YOU to submit monologues or short performance works that tell the story of how Executive Order 9066 (E.O. 9066) has affected you, your family, your generation, and/or your community. The pieces can be happy, sad, touching, funny, or all of the above! They can be fictional or non-fictional!

Winning pieces will be selected by the DOR committee; winning authors will receive a small honorarium and the opportunity to present their pieces at the Community Day of Remembrance on February 15, 2014.

Entries must be emailed to losangelesdor@gmail.com as file attachments (.DOC, .PDF, .TXT, or .RTF file types accepted; email above if alternate file type is preferred). Please include your name, your generation (if applicable), and a telephone number where you can be reached. There is NO FEE to enter. You will receive an emailed confirmation of your submission.

RULES:

  1. Entries must be received by no later than 5PM PST on November 22, 2013 to be considered.
  2. The competition is open to all individuals, amateur or professional.
  3. Entries when performed should be no more than five minutes long in total.
  4. All types and genres of work that can be performed live are eligible, including musical and solo performance pieces. Any instruments, props, or media utilized in a presentation must be provided by and are the sole responsibility of the submitter.
  5. Works will be judged on their originality and quality, as well as their complementarity with other selected works and their relevance to the E.O. 9066.
  6. Winning submitters will be responsible for casting, staging, and directing their own presentations. JANM will provide space for one dress rehearsal before the showcase.
  7. Authors retain all rights to their submissions. However, by submitting, selected authors agree to present their work at the Community Day of Remembrance on February 15, 2014, and to allow presentations to be taped for archival purposes.

For any inquiries, please email losangelesdor@gmail.com.