SAN FRANCISCO — When Miya Iwataki and other Japanese Americans fought in the 1980s for the U.S. government to apologize to the families it imprisoned during World War II, Black politicians and civil rights leaders were integral to the movement. Thirty-five years after they won that apology — and survivors of prison camps received $20,000 […]
San Jose JA political icon remembered in hometown memorial
June 23, 2022 by Leave a Comment
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Stuart Mineta recounted as a child becoming frustrated with his attempt to draw a model airplane, so he asked his father to draw it for him. As he often did, Norman Mineta took the time to focus his attention on the task at hand. Family and political leaders shared memories and […]
Calif. Civil Liberties projects, relating to JA wartime incarceration, announced
July 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California State Library has awarded $694,000 for 26 projects through the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, which aims “to remind Californians of the civil liberties violations suffered by Japanese Americans during World War II so that no one else goes through the same suffering.” “Fear and bigotry were the root […]
Mineta legacy: Film on Japanese American icon makes its debut
May 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment
A documentary highlighting the life and career of Norman Yoshio Mineta, the legislator who achieved many firsts for Asians in American politics, will have its world premiere at the Center for Asian American Media’s annual festival Thursday, May 10 at 7 p.m. at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Co-producer and director Dianne Fukami stated […]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Time of remembrance
February 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last year, we commemorated the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, the order that authorized the incarceration of more than 110,000 American Japanese during World War II. This year, it is the 30th anniversary of the passing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the legislation that mandated the issuing of a […]
SEEKING PERSONAL JUSTICE: The little-known role of Aiko and Jack Herzig after the Redress Bill was passed
January 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga is best known for her work during the Japanese American Redress Movement on the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians; the class action lawsuit filed by the National Council on Japanese American Redress; and the coram nobis cases of Gordon Hirabayashi, Fred Korematsu and Minoru Yasui. Lesser known is the critical […]
Angus Macbeth, CWRIC special counsel, dies
February 2, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The Japanese American Citizens League issued a statement Jan. 23 “mourn(ing) the passing of Angus Macbeth, who served as special counsel to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) and headed its staff. The CWRIC report, “Personal Justice Denied,” and its recommendations formed the basis for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.” […]
‘Rare and enlightening addition’ to the ‘black hole’ of JA scholarship
January 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
THE LONG AFTERLIFE OF NIKKEI WARTIME INCARCERATION By Karen M. Inouye (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2016, 256 pp., $55, hardcover) Karen M. Inouye, a professor of American studies at the University of Indiana, has launched a new book that takes up a subject still relatively unknown, the long-term resonance of the wartime Japanese American […]
JA and Asian American organizations denounce Trump supporters’ references to a ‘Muslim registry’
December 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Japanese American and Asian American organizations quickly and unequivocally denounced President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters’ recent comments about implementing a registry for Muslims that enter the United States. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach “said in an interview that Trump’s policy advisers had also discussed drafting a proposal for his consideration to reinstate a registry for […]
Mike Honda is our Nikkei of the Year
Mike Honda has had a long and storied career in public service, which started with the Peace Corps in El Salvador to his steady rise up from a teacher, principal, member of the San Jose Planning Commission, San Jose Unified School Board and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. He was elected to the […]