LOS ANGELES — On March 20, the Manzanar Committee denounced the racism, xenophobia and violent attacks targeting Asians/Asian Americans resulting from COVID-19 virus-related hysteria, much of it fueled by President Donald Trump referring to the virus as the “China Virus” or the “Chinese Virus,” and his staff referring to it as the “Kung Flu,” despite... Continue Reading →
Manzanar Committee Expresses Grave Concerns Regarding Reports of Persons of Iranian Ancestry Being Detained By CBP
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 →
50th Annual (2019) Manzanar Pilgrimage – Video
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 →
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 →
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 →
Manzanar Committee Decries Los Angeles Times’ Publication of Inaccurate Letter About Japanese American Incarceration…Again
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 →
Manzanar Committee Seeks Community Support for Phase II of Youth Education Project
LOS ANGELES — On September 3, the Manzanar Committee announced the launch of Phase II of their pilot project aimed at educating college-age youth about the unjust incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II, and providing them with tools to help them teach that critical history to others. The Committee... Continue Reading →
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 – A Long Time Coming
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 →
