In case you missed the 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, held on April 27, 2019, or if you just want to re-live the experience, we’ve got video of the entire program for you on our YouTube channel! If you just want to see video of the individual speakers, we’ve got you covered, too! We’ve got video... Continue Reading →
50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage – Official Photo Essay
Even though we published photographs of the 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage shortly after the event was held (April 27, 2019), we’re finally publishing our official photo essay from the event, featuring the stunning photographs by professional photographers Geri Ferguson and Mark Kirchner. Mark and Geri have generously provided photographs of the Manzanar Pilgrimage to us... Continue Reading →
As We Stand Here on Land That Was Once Behind Barbed Wire, There Are Other Communities Behind Wire Fences
The following is the text of one of the speeches delivered during the 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 27, 2019. by Lauren Matsumoto Hello everyone and good afternoon. My name is Lauren Matsumoto. I am the co-President of UC San Diego Nikkei Student Union and one of the student organizers for this year’s Manzanar... Continue Reading →
Manzanar Pilgrimage and the Search for Truth and Justice
The following was published in the printed program for the 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, April 27, 2019. by Bruce Embrey In 1969, a small group of students and a handful of Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans; the children of immigrants) who lived behind barbed wire, journeyed to Manzanar to search for answers about their history.... Continue Reading →
Do We Confront or Conciliate Xenophobia?
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 →
Media Coverage Wrap-Up: 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage
The 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage attracted considerably more media attention than usual, in part because it’s been 50 years since the first organized Manzanar Pilgrimage in 1969. But just as important is that people came in protest of the words and deeds of the Trump Administration—an obviously attractive and important angle for the media to... Continue Reading →
Manzanar Committee Co-Chair Bruce Embrey on the Significance of the 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage
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 →
50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage/2019 Manzanar At Dusk – In Photos
The 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage has come and gone. It was certainly a big one, both in numbers, with at least 2,500 in attendance, and in significance. After all, we commemorated the first organized Manzanar Pilgrimage 50 years ago (December 27, 1969). We had some of the people who participated and/organized that first Pilgrimage in... Continue Reading →