by Bruce Embrey LOS ANGELES — President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on December 31, 2011, allowing indefinite detention without charge or trial to be codified into law. As a result, Americans citizens and others could be subjected to imprisonment without ever being charged or convicted of a crime. This provision of... Continue Reading →
43rd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, 2012 Manzanar At Dusk Program To Be Held On April 28, 2012
LOS ANGELES — The 43rd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Manzanar Committee, is scheduled for 12:00 PM PDT on Saturday, April 28, 2012, at the Manzanar National Historic Site, located on US Highway 395 in California’s Owens Valley, between the towns of Lone Pine and Independence, approximately 230 miles north of Los... Continue Reading →
Japanese Americans Respond To New York Times Review Of Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center
Editor’s Note: On December 9, 2011, the New York Times published a review of the new museum at the Heart Mountain National Historic Landmark, which opened on August 20, 2011. But it was clear that the author failed to do thorough research. In fact, he was careless, sloppy, and as a journalist, his work was... Continue Reading →
Manzanar Committee: Answering Questions From Schools
Editor’s Note: On occasion, the Manzanar Committee receives questions about Manzanar, along with the Japanese American Incarceration experience, from students and teachers from all levels, from K-12 schools, and from colleges and universities across the United States and even from other countries. The Manzanar Committee encourages those with questions to feel free to contact us.... Continue Reading →
Euphemistic Terms Used To Describe WWII Incarceration Of Japanese Americans Targeted At JANM Event
by Joyce OkazakiLOS ANGELES — Mako Nakagawa of Seattle, the primary author of the Power Of Words resolution that called for use of accurate, non-euphemistic language to be used to describe the wartime experience of Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents, along with the camps used to incarcerate them, spoke at an event entitled, Let’s... Continue Reading →
Mako Nakagawa Delivers Keynote Address At 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage
The following is the text of the keynote address delivered at the 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 30, 2011, by Mako Nakagawa. Good afternoon. I am very pleased to be able to join you on this wonderful occasion. We stand here today on sacred ground. If we listen, we can hear the cries of... Continue Reading →
Manzanar Committee Honors Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga At 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage
The following are remarks by Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, the recipient of the Manzanar Committee’s 2011 Sue Kunitomi Embrey Legacy Award, which was presented at the 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 30, 2011. Herzig-Yoshinaga could not attend, so she provided the following remarks for publication here. For more information on Herzig-Yoshinaga and this award, click on:... Continue Reading →
Lessons From Japanese American Internment Can Be Taught At Any Time
The following is a letter from Karen Korematsu, Co-Founder of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute For Civil Rights and Education. It was intended to be read during the 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, held on April 30, 2011, where her father was honored. However, the letter was not received in time. As such, we are publishing... Continue Reading →
Los Angeles Middle School Classes Make The Trek To 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage
by James To This past Saturday, I welcomed forty students and their teachers from Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles to the 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage. Seventy years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which established an exclusion zone and allowed the forced evacuation and incarceration of over 120,000 Americans... Continue Reading →
