Giving Tuesday: Support Manzanar Committee’s Katari Program

This Giving Tuesday we’re asking you to support our Katari program.

Katari, which means “to tell stories” in Japanese, is an intensive, educational program for college students culminating in a weekend of place-based learning at Manzanar National Historic Site. College students from Nikkei Student Unions across California learn about the history of the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans, focusing on the years of activism leading to redress and reparations and the protection and preservation of Manzanar National Historic Site.

The program examines the role Manzanar’s history plays in standing up to threats against democracy and attacks on civil and human rights in the United States. Students leave Katari with the tools to teach others these invaluable lessons and carry the stories forward for future generations.

Your support will help ensure the critical stories of those who were unjustly incarcerated in America’s concentration camps will live on. Make a donation to support this program and ensure the education of the next generation. Please send a check to the Manzanar Committee or give online.

In the words of our students:

“The Katari trip made me realize how little I knew, and it reaffirmed how important it is to educate ourselves and others about this history.”

“I came away from the weekend with a new level of understanding and empathy for what happened. I believe that anyone can benefit from going to Manzanar, regardless of their race or ethnicity.”

“To actually hear the stories straight from the ones who experienced them was truly an experience I will hold in my heart forever. There are no words to describe how grateful I am to those who were so open and willing to share this part of their lives… To say ‘this trip changed my life’ would be an understatement. But it is the clearest way I can verbalize what my experience was.”

“Katari is about community, compassion and legacy, in the context of the past, present, and future.”

“Just for giving me the ability to learn more about my grandparents’ story I will always be extremely grateful for Katari.”

“This weekend was one of the most rewarding, educational, and impactful times of my entire life… As we drove away from Manzanar under the colored sky and saw those mountains that towered over the camp disappear over the horizon, I realized that our lives are a product of our ancestors and we have a duty to them to keep their stories alive so that something like this will never, ever happen again.”

Thank you for supporting our Katari program with your donation today.