Official Web site of the Los Angeles-based Manzanar Committee, sponsor of the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since 1969 and the more recent Manzanar At Dusk program
Democracy is a fragile concept. Only as good as the people who practice it. — Sue Kunitomi Embrey LOS ANGELES — The Manzanar Committee condemns the Trump Administration and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) move to send federal agents into major cities around the country. It is a blatant attack on the movement for... Continue Reading →
LOS ANGELES — The Manzanar Committee condemns the current wave of racist violence directed against the African American community, especially the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. As survivors and descendants of America’s World War II concentration camps, we stand with the Black community and raise our voices and channel our... Continue Reading →
LOS ANGELES — On January 7, the Manzanar Committee, sponsors of the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and Manzanar At Dusk programs, along with the Katari youth education/engagement project, expressed grave concerns regarding reports that the United States Customs and Border Patrol agency has detained persons of Iranian ancestry, including American citizens, at our nation’s borders—singling them... Continue Reading →
by Bruce Embrey Last year, George Takei was appalled at what was happening on our southern border. He wrote: “...Unless we act now, we will have failed to learn at all from our past mistakes. Once again, we are flinging ourselves into a world of camps and fences and racist imagery—and lies just big enough... Continue Reading →
by Bruce Embrey I’ve been wondering what drove more than 2,000 people to this year’s Manzanar Pilgrimage. Why did they endure the blazing sun and the blistering heat to listen to speeches and taiko drums? Why did they come to pray at the Soul Consoling Tower so far from home? To be sure, it had... Continue Reading →
February 19, 2019 marks the 77th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, authorizing the forced removal and unjust incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans in ten American concentration camps, and other confinement sites, during World War II, one of the worst violations of civil rights in our nation’s history, and... Continue Reading →
LOS ANGELES — On December 8, the Manzanar Committee, sponsors of the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and Manzanar At Dusk events, denounced the publication of a letter to the editor in the Los Angeles Times that attempted to justify the forced removal and unjust incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese/Japanese Americans in American concentration camps and other... Continue Reading →
August 10, 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (download a PDF of the actual bill), the legislation that provided redress and reparations for the forced removal and unjust incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese/Japanese Americans in American concentration camps, and other confinement sites, during World War... Continue Reading →
I’ve been “forced” to recall how I got started as a community activist quite a bit lately. Indeed, back in June, when NCRR (Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress; originally the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations) held their event to launch their new book about their incredible, highly impactful history, it reminded me of... Continue Reading →
