UPDATE: Deadline for submissions extended to April 24, 2020. For more details, please see Deadline Extended for Manzanar Committee’s Fifth Annual Student Awards Program.
LOS ANGELES — On February 3, the Manzanar Committee, sponsors of the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and Manzanar At Dusk program, along with the youth education project, Katari: Keeping Japanese American Stories Alive, announced their Fifth Annual Student Awards Program, a creative works program in which K-12 students may submit essays, short stories, poetry, works of art, including drawings, collages, posters, and works involving technology, including animation, podcasts, movies, or videos.
The awards program will recognize students who demonstrate an understanding of his/her guiding principles of social justice in today’s society. Winning entries will be eligible for prizes up to $100.00, and their works may be presented at the 51st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 25, 2020, and on the Committee’s web site (https://manzanarcommittee.org).
“The Manzanar Committee Student Awards Program provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the guiding principles of social justice of the past and how they relate to our society today,” said Manzanar Committee Co-Chair Jenny Chomori. “With 2020 being the 51st Anniversary of community organized camp pilgrimages, we need to take a look at the past and see what we have learned.”
“It’s hard to believe that in 2020, we are fighting against the building of concentration camps (detention centers) for immigrant children here in California, and the exclusion of refugees,” added Chomori. “We need to make sure the next generation is educated on social justice issues, and that they are able to fight for democratic rights of all peoples.”
“Our Student Awards Program is a vehicle for students to demonstrate their understanding of human and civil rights and to show how they will be able to help educate others on the current issues facing us today.”
Categories for submissions include short prose genres, art, and technology. The deadline for entries is March 20, 2020. Winners will be contacted shortly after this date so they may make plans, if they so choose, to attend the 51st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage.
The program brochure, application forms and further information, can be downloaded at:
https://manzanarcommittee.org/program-details-application
For more information, send e-mail to studentawardsprg@manzanarcommittee.org or call (323) 662-5102.
The Manzanar Committee is dedicated to educating and raising public awareness about the incarceration and violation of civil rights of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II and to the continuing struggle of all peoples when Constitutional rights are in danger. A non-profit organization that has sponsored the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since 1969, along with other educational programs, the Manzanar Committee has also played a key role in the establishment and continued development of the Manzanar National Historic Site. For more information, check out our web site at https://manzanarcommittee.org, call us at (323) 662-5102, and e-mail us at info@manzanarcommittee.org. You can also follow the Manzanar Committee on Facebook, on Twitter at @manzanarcomm, on Instagram at @manzanarcommittee, on Pinterest and on YouTube.
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LEAD PHOTO: Some of the winners of the Third Annual Manzanar Committee Student Awards Program. Gann Matsuda/Manzanar Committee.
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