Barbara Takei « Manzanar Committee

Cast in Bronze: Terminology Symposium in San Francisco, October 22, 2011

January 30, 2012 8 Comments

By Soji Kashiwagi

The main reason for holding a day-long symposium on terminology and the use of U.S. government euphemisms during World War II was not, according to event organizers, to take on the role of the “word police” and tell members of the Japanese American community what they should or should not say regarding what happened some 69 years ago.

In fact, Mako Nakagawa, the Seattle-based author of the Power of Words Resolution which was passed by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) National Council in 2010, said that those who lived through the experience “…have earned the right to call it whatever they want.”

Instead, the event’s focus turned toward educating those in public institutions and museums who cast words in bronze that, as Lane Hirabayashi describes, “…are not strictly or historically accurate like ‘internment,’ or ‘relocation,’ on plaques, memorials, exhibits, and installations in Interpretive Learning Centers.” Read more of this post

Filed under News, Other Tagged with Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga, Barbara Takei, civil rights, Dave Kruse, David Kawamoto, discrimination, Don Hata, Greg Marutani, JACL, Japanese American, Japanese American Citizens League, Japanese American Cultural And Community Center of Northern California, Japanese American Incarceration, Japanese American Internment, Judy Shintani, Karen Ishizuka, Karen Kai, Lane Hirabayshi, Mako Nakagawa, National Park Service, racism Tule Lake, Roger Daniels, Satsuki Ina, Soji Kashiwagi, Tetsuden Kashima, Tule Lake National Monument

Deporting “Troublemakers” Redux

January 25, 2012 1 Comment

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Barbara Takei (left), shown here with Manzanar Committee member Joyce Okazaki (center), and Mako Nakagawa (right), during the
2011 Manzanar At Dusk program on April 28, 2011, at
Lone Pine High School in Lone Pine, California.
Photo: James To

Editor’s Note: Like Soji Kashiwagi, Tule Lake Committee leader Barbara Takei recently shared her thoughts on the National Defense Authorization Act that was recently signed by President Obama, more specifically, two companion bills. Her commentary piece is published here with permission.

Time of Remembrance observances are coming up in another few weeks, a good time to do something to assure, “never again.”

This year, in the context of the National Defense Authorization Act that provides for indefinite military detention of the accused, we need to be more vigilant than ever, especially with two companion pieces of legislation introduced this session of Congress. The two bills, S. 1698 and HR 3166, resurrect the spectre of the little-known government denationalization and deportation program that the Department of Justice used to strip nearly 6,000 Americans of their U.S. citizenship while they were imprisoned at the Tule Lake concentration camp during World War II. Read more of this post

Filed under News, Commentary Tagged with Japanese American, Japanese American Internment, civil rights, Tule Lake, Barbara Takei, Tule Lake Committee, racism, discrimination, Japanese American Incarceration, National Defense Authorization Act

Future Of The Nikkei Community, Not Just The Manzanar And Tule Lake Pilgrimages, Was The Topic Of JANM Event

October 12, 2011 2 Comments

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PILGRIMAGES: After talking about the origins, history, and the status of the present-day Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages, the focus of an October 8, 2011 event at the Japanese American National Museum turned to the future of both pilgrimages, along with that of Japanese American community organizations.

Tule Lake Committee members Barbara Takei (left) and Stan Shikuma (right)
were panelists during an event discussing the origins, history and
future of the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages at the
Japanese American National Museum on October 8, 2011.
Photo: Gann Matsuda

LOS ANGELES — Panelists representing the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages, along with students, primarily from the University of California, Los Angeles, discussed the origins, history and future of both pilgrimages during Community Builders: Japanese American Activism, 1960-1980 (Part 1), an event sponsored by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) on October 8. Read more of this post

Filed under Manzanar, News, Manzanar At Dusk, Manzanar Pilgrimage Tagged with Alyssa Matsuo, Barbara Takei, Bruce Embrey, Chris Komai, civil rights, discrimination, JANM, Japanese American, Japanese American Incarceration, Japanese American Internment, Japanese American National Museum, Koji Steven Sakai, Les Inafuku, Manzanar, Manzanar At Dusk, Manzanar Committee, Manzanar National Historic Site, Manzanar Pilgrimage, Matt Ichinose, racism, Stan Shikuma, Tule Lake, Tule Lake Committee, Tule Lake Pilgrimage, Tule Lake Segregation Center, UCLA Nikkei Student Union, Warren Furutani

Panel Looks At Past, Present And Future Of Manzanar And Tule Lake Pilgrimages During JANM Event

October 11, 2011 1 Comment

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PILGRIMAGES: The origins, the history, and the future of the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages was the focus of an October 8, 2011 event at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. The following is the first of two stories covering the event.

California Assemblymember Warren Furutani broke down
the origins and history of the Manzanar Pilgrimage during
an event at the Japanese American National Museum
on October 8, 2011.
Photo: Gann Matsuda

LOS ANGELES — The history and future of the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages, along with the different generations who participate in them, both young and not-so-young, were in the spotlight at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) on October 8.

During Community Builders: Japanese American Activism, 1960-1980 (Part 1), JANM brought together a diverse group of voices representing the past, the present and the future of both pilgrimages to discuss the origins, the history and what is on the horizon for both of the annual events.

Starting off the event was California Assemblymember Warren Furutani, who represents the 55th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Carson, Harbor City and Harbor Gateway, Lakewood, parts of Long Beach and Wilmington.

Furutani was one of the founders of the Manzanar Pilgrimage back in 1969. Read more of this post

Filed under Manzanar, News, Manzanar At Dusk, Manzanar Pilgrimage Tagged with Manzanar Pilgrimage, Manzanar Committee, Manzanar, Manzanar National Historic Site, Manzanar At Dusk, Bruce Embrey, Japanese American, Victor Shibata, Warren Furutani, Japanese American Internment, civil rights, Tule Lake, Tule Lake Segregation Center, Barbara Takei, Tule Lake Committee, Tule Lake Pilgrimage, JANM, Japanese American National Museum, racism, discrimination, UCLA Nikkei Student Union, Matt Ichinose, Japanese American Incarceration, Stan Shikuma

Origins, History Of Manzanar, Tule Lake Pilgrimages To Be Discussed At JANM Event

October 2, 2011 1 Comment

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Manzanar Committee Co-Chair Bruce Embrey, shown here at the 41st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 23, 2010.
Photo: Gann Matsuda

LOS ANGELES — Manzanar Committee Co-Chair Bruce Embrey, and California Assembly member Warren Furutani, one of the founders of the Manzanar Pilgrimage, will be panelists for Community Builders: Japanese American Activism 1960-1980 (Part 1), at 2:00 PM on Saturday, October 8, 2011, at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.

The program is the first in a three-part series that will deal with the origins, the history, and the future of the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages from the perspectives of those who were part of them.

The panel will also include Barbara Takei and Stan Shikuma, both active in the Tule Lake Committee. Read more of this post

Filed under Manzanar, News, Manzanar At Dusk, Manzanar Pilgrimage Tagged with Manzanar Pilgrimage, Manzanar Committee, Manzanar, Manzanar At Dusk, Bruce Embrey, Japanese American, Warren Furutani, Japanese American Internment, Tule Lake, Barbara Takei, Tule Lake Committee, Tule Lake Pilgrimage, JANM, Japanese American National Museum, UCLA Nikkei Student Union, Japanese American Incarceration, Stan Shikuma

Tule Lake Pilgrimage, July 2-5, 2010 – Register Now! Spaces Going Fast

March 12, 2010 1 Comment

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The Tule Lake Committee announced that registration forms for the 2010 Tule Lake Pilgrimage are available at http://www.tulelake.org. The pilgrimage will take place over the 4th of July weekend, beginning Friday, July 2 through Monday, July 5, 2010.

The 18th pilgrimage will continue the focus on the young adults who were segregated at Tule Lake, especially the “no-nos” and those who renounced their U.S. citizenship while incarcerated at Tule Lake.

To download a printable flyer about
the 2010 Tule Lake Pilgrimage,
click on the image above.

Over the past several Tule Lake pilgrimages, the Tule Lake Committee has welcomed the stories of Tule Lake’s dissidents, hoping to learn more about the life experiences that were marginalized and eliminated from the post-war Japanese American narrative.

Tule Lake has been stigmatized as the concentration camp for “troublemakers” and “bad” and “disloyal” people, a carryover of the government’s loyal/disloyal paradigm forced on Japanese Americans. This stigma contributed to the stories of protest at Tule Lake being buried, and helped promote a “model minority” stereotype of Japanese Americans that has been used to undermine other minority groups’ demands for equitable and just treatment.

“Stories about legitimate and courageous acts of grass roots civil disobedience were shunned in favor of stories that enhanced an image of Japanese American loyalty and cooperation,” said Hiroshi Shimizu, who chairs the pilgrimage committee. “Unfortunately, too many Japanese Americans have accepted and internalized the propaganda that labeled Japanese Americans as disloyal if they refused to give unqualified “yes” answers to the loyalty questions.”

“Tragically, the Nisei who refused to cooperate with the government’s incarceration program were stigmatized as disloyal, and silenced—by their own people.” Read more of this post

Filed under News Tagged with Barbara Takei, civil rights, Hiroshi Shimizu, Japanese American, Japanese American Internment, Tule Lake, Tule Lake Committee, Tule Lake Pilgrimage

40th Manzanar Pilgrimage – A Personal Reflection

April 27, 2009 7 Comments

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LOS ANGELES — Members of the Manzanar Committee have returned to Southern California after a long, hard weekend in the Owens Valley for the 40th Manzanar Pilgrimage and Manzanar At Dusk programs on Saturday, April 25.

We are all very tired and relieved that the events are over. But at the same time, at least in my case, I feel energized and inspired by the people who participated, the stories I heard, the new relationships I made and the ones I was able to renew. Read more of this post

Filed under Commentary, Manzanar At Dusk, Manzanar Pilgrimage Tagged with Baka Guts, Barbara Takei, Community Reads, Dan Sprague, Eastern California Museum, Florentine Films, Gann Matsuda, George Abe, Independence Chamber of Commerce, Inyo County, Jim To, Ken Burns, Kyodo Taiko, Les Inafuku, Lone Pine Film History Museum, Lone Pine High School, Manzanar, Manzanar - Never Again, Manzanar At Dusk, Manzanar Committee, Manzanar National Historic Site, Manzanar Pilgrimage, Owens Valley, Paul Nakamura, Ron Wakabayashi, Sue Kunitomi Embrey, Susan Shumaker, Tak Yamamoto, Tom Leatherman, Tule Lake Committee, UCLA Kyodo Taiko

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Manzanar Committee

Cast in Bronze: Terminology Symposium in San Francisco, October 22, 2011

Deporting “Troublemakers” Redux

Future Of The Nikkei Community, Not Just The Manzanar And Tule Lake Pilgrimages, Was The Topic Of JANM Event

Panel Looks At Past, Present And Future Of Manzanar And Tule Lake Pilgrimages During JANM Event

Origins, History Of Manzanar, Tule Lake Pilgrimages To Be Discussed At JANM Event

Tule Lake Pilgrimage, July 2-5, 2010 – Register Now! Spaces Going Fast

40th Manzanar Pilgrimage – A Personal Reflection

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