I’ve been home for a while since the March 29 to April 1 Crystal City, Texas pilgrimage and demonstration at Dilley, the largest detention center for asylum seekers in the U.S. It is as though my head and my heart are so full of thoughts and feelings that I can’t “process†the experience with detachment. […]
YURI KOCHIYAMA: Remembering a legend
Hundreds gathered Aug. 3 at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland, Calif. to celebrate the life of Yuri Kochiyama, the Nisei human rights activist renown for her life-long passion and fervor for radical causes and boundless care and love she displayed to those around her. Kochiyama died June 1, 2014 at the age of 93. […]
Why all the fuss over language?
“At what point are we, as Americans of Japanese ancestry, going to resist having our history written for us by others?†Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, a Nisei survivor of the World War II incarceration, asked this question. She is revered as the researcher who found the document that proved the government claim of “military necessity†as the […]
Nationwide protests for religious freedom held at Japanese consulates
A small nationwide protest for religious freedom took place at various locations through the Consulates General of Japan by Stop Japan Abductions, a group formed by Dan Fefferman, president of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom (ICRF) and a prominent member of the Unification Church. Twenty or so protesters appeared Nov. 16 at the various […]
We will fight back in defense of our communities
As Donald Trump’s presidency barely passed its one-month mark, Trump has launched profound threats against immigrants and refugees, our human rights, and our climate. In the face of his hateful and destructive policies, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are rising up. Recently, 10 out of 14 members of the president’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans […]