GARDENA — The Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute’s 2018 Day of Remembrance will take place on Saturday, Feb. 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. at GVJCI’s Main Hall, 1964 W. 162nd St. in Gardena.
GVJCI’s annual Day of Remembrance (DOR) commemorates the anniversary of the Feb. 19, 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066, which caused the mass removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The GVJCI’s DOR honors and remembers the Japanese Americans who endured and surmounted the injustice of being imprisoned solely on the basis of race.
This year’s theme will be centered on women of the camps, and will feature Marlene Shigekawa’s documentary “For the Sake of the Children,” which captures the diverse voices of women who surmounted imprisonment, racial prejudice and displacement and resettlement, as well as mothers who gave birth to or raised children while incarcerated. They speak of putting aside their frustration and fear in order to provide for their children.
After the film, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Valerie Matsumoto, who holds the George and Sakaye Aratani Chair on the Japanese American Incarceration, Redress and Community at UCLA. The panel includes Shigekawa, several people featured in the film, a representative from the American Civil Liberties Union, and a representative from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
This event is free to the public, refreshments will be provided, and no registration is required. For more information, email info@jci-gardena.org or call (310) 324-6611.
Attendees should allow time to find parking.