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
The following is an official statement of the Manzanar Committee. At the end of World War II, our community was at a crossroads. Faced with the monumental task of rebuilding lives after the so-called “resettlement,” Japanese Americans had to navigate relating to a country that had just locked them away for no other reason than... Continue Reading →
The following is an official statement by the Manzanar Committee. LOS ANGELES — President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Representative Debra Haaland (D-New Mexico) to serve as the next Secretary of the Interior. The Japanese American community, especially all of us who are actively working to keep the story of “camp” and the forced removal alive,... Continue Reading →
Voting Rights: A Cornerstone of Our Democracy Voting is central to our democracy. The ability to have a voice in choosing who represents us, who makes decisions that impact our lives, our families, and communities, is a cornerstone of our democracy. Voting is key to the realization of the promise of the Constitution of the... Continue Reading →
by Glen Kitayama I met Lane back in 1989, when I was a young graduate student at UCLA, working with NCRR (at the time, the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations; now Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress) and researching the Redress Movement. At the time, Lane was a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. As... Continue Reading →
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 →
