More than seven decades after the Executive Order 9066 was issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on Feb. 19, 1942, the infamous action continues to affect generations of Japanese Americans. As an acknowledgement of this impact, the theme of the 2014 Los Angeles Day of Remembrance is “Generations Speak Out: Impacts of E.O. 9066.”
The Los Angeles DOR commemoration will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo, followed by a reception catered by Carrie Morita’s Community Caterers.
Central to this year’s program will be a performance by five community friends of original pieces representing their respective generations.
Tribute will be paid to the Issei with a reading by Dr. Akemi Kikumura Yano, who created this piece for the DOR program based on extensive interviews of her mother.
Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Bay Area Nisei author and actor, will share his testimony presented in 1981 to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians about the impact of the incarceration on his life.
Dr. Velina Houston, a Shin-Nisei playwright, will present her poetry about being multiracial.
Performance artists Jude Narita and Sean Miura, representing the Sansei and Yonsei, will share their connections to the camp experience and the impact on their lives by way of parents’ and grandparents’ influence and stories.
“The Day of Remembrance committee is grateful to the artists who have generously created works for this year’s DOR program,” commented Suzy Katsuda, NCRR representative. “We encourage the community to come out to support the artists and this very important annual commemoration.”
The DOR program is sponsored by JANM, Japanese American Citizens League/ Pacific Southwest District, Manzanar Committee, and Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress.
The event is co-sponsored by dozens of community organizations, including Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates, Little Tokyo Service Center, Pilipino Workers Center, and Shura Council of Southern California.
For more information, contact NCRR at (213) 284-0336 or JACL/PSW at (213) 626-4471.