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2010 Day of Remembrance:
Redress/Reparations: Unfinished Business
The 30th annual San Jose Day of Remembrance was held at San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin on February 14, 2010. For 30 years, Nihonmachi Outreach Committee has presented this special program commemorating the incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II. Traditionally held on or near February 19, the day in 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, Day of Remembrance competed with Valentine's Day and Lunar New Year and still attracted over 250 people to hear an array of speakers and cultural performances.
Emcee Will Kaku pointed out that the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 attributed the incarceration of Japanese Americans to "prejudice, war hysteria, and the failure of political leadership." "We need to hold all political leadership accountable for defending our civil liberties," he said. "Let us not forget the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who said 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' There is much unfinished business and work we have to do in this community."
Gary Jio delivered the NOC keynote address, highlighting his speech with excerpts from songs from the 60's to the present. His message was twofold: Day of Remembrance was a huge influence during the redress movement, keeping redress and reparations for Japanese Americans in the public mind. To keep Day of Remembrance relevant today, it must tell the stories of the camps vividly enough to be felt personally, and relate to current civil liberties issues, such as Japanese Latin American redress and reparations, equality for members of the Muslim American and LGBT communities.
Grace Shimizu of Campaign for Justice described the hardships her father suffered when he was abducted from his home in Peru, to forced labor in a prison camp in the Panama Canal Zone, and incarceration in the Department of Justice camp in Crystal City, Texas. She urged support for H.R. 42/S. 69 that will commission an investigation into the Japanese Latin American experience during World War II and make recommendations it deems appropriate.
The traditional candle lighting ceremony, accompanied by shakuhachi master Kanow Matsueda, was narrated by San Jose JACL President Leon Kimura and NOC Chair Reiko Nakayama. As they called the names of the camps, the Shibayama Family, Art, Betty, Brian and Becki, lit the candles for each of the ten camps. The following candlelight procession through the streets of Japantown was led by banner bearers from NOC and Silicon Valley JACL.
Two cultural performances rounded out the program: Kanow Matsueda, shakuhachi, and Julie Masazuki Sumida, koto, played pieces by classical and modern composers. San Jose Taiko performed a rousing medley of pieces including the original composition, "DoR."
by Reiko Nakayama
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