During WWII, more than 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans were forcibly removed from their homes, first to “Assembly Centers” like Tanforan and Santa Anita race tracks, and then to concentration camps around the United States. Many Japanese Americans, including Bay Area college students, were never to return to their homes.
This year, February 19 marks the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, the federal government’s order that forced the evacuation and incarceration for the duration of the war. Please save the date for two important events:
On February 16 at 6:00pm, faculty members Rika Yonemura-Fabian and Tadashi Tsuchida will represent Skyline College at a virtual screening and discussion of M. Matsuno’s First to Go, an intimate, inspirational, and emotional story of the wartime impact on the Kataoka family across generations. This event is hosted by the South San Francisco Public Library. Please register here: https://ssf-net.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_f97kI2uSS1qoxG4Wfyk3iw
Then at 3:00pm on February 25, please join us for Wartime Memories: Faculty Share Family Stories of Japanese Incarceration, also hosted by Skyline College faculty members of Japanese descent and Skyline College Intercultural Center and Library. You are invited to attend and connect for intergenerational sharing and discussion for racial solidarity at this link: https://smccd.zoom.us/J/4936699624, no registration is required.
Faculty interested in offering extra credit are encouraged to promote these events to their students. Please direct any questions to Prof. Yonemura-Fabian <fabianr@smccd.edu>. You’ll find more information here: https://guides.skylinecollege.edu/JapaneseAmericanIncarceration
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – G. Santayana
