A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists.
Tonight’s show Powerleegirls hosts Miko Lee & Jalena Keane-Lee highlight the annual Day of Remembrance. They speak with Chair Jeff Matsuoka and youth leader KC Mukai.
APEX Express is a proud member of Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality – AACRE.
APEX EXPRESS TRANSCRIPT 2/15/24 SHOW
Day of Remembrance 2024: Carrying the Light for Justice – Finding Our Way Home
Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It’s time to get on board the Apex Express.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:00:34] Good evening. You’re tuned in to Apex Express. We are bringing you an Asian and Asian American perspective from the Bay and around the world we’re your hosts, Miko Lee and Jalena Keane-Lee, the PowerLeeGirls, a mother daughter team. Tonight we’re focused on the annual Day of Remembrance. February 19th is a significant date for the Japanese American community. On this day in 1942, president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, which gave the United States army the authority to remove civilians from their homes during World War 2. Over 120,000 Japanese Americans and 3,000 Japanese Latin Americans were forced into concentration camps scattered in desolate, remote regions of the country. No Japanese Americans or Latin Americans wherever charged of espionage or sabotage against the United States. Yet they were targeted, rounded up and imprisoned for years. Every February, the Japanese American community commemorates Executive Order 9066 as a reminder of the impact the incarceration experience has had on our families, our community and our country. During this present time of genocide in Palestine, it is critical to educate others on the fragility of civil liberties in times of crisis and the importance of remaining vigilant in protecting the rights and freedoms of all. Never again, means never again for anyone.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:01:59] Next up, listen to “Kenji” by Fort minor, the band created by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. This is a song about Mike’s father and his family that was incarcerated at Manzanar.
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Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:05:42] That was Mike Shinoda’s “Kenji” based upon his family story at Manzanar.
Miko Lee: [00:05:47] Welcome Jeff Matsuoka, chair of the San Francisco Bay Area Organizing Committee of the Day of Remembrance. Welcome to Apex Express.
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:05:56] Thank you very much, Miko. It’s great to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
Miko Lee: [00:05:59] For people that don’t know, can you give an overview about what the Day of Remembrance is all about?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:06:07] Sure. Yes. The Day of Remembrance is an annual event that we’ve been holding actually now for 45 years. This would be our 45th Day of Remembrance event and really what it’s commemorating is the signing of EO9066. This is an executive order signed by President Franklin Dela Roosevelt on February 19th, 1942.
And essentially what this did was it essentially empowered the military authorities, the US Army authorities, to essentially evict all Japanese Americans living in what’s called the West Coast Evacuation Zones. So once again, this is right after Pearl Harbor, and what what was happening was the government feared basically Japanese Americans as collaborators with, of course, the Japanese and of course, there’s no evidence as it turns out that was true, but nonetheless what happened was all citizens are all really inhabitants of Japanese ancestry, whether they were citizens or not, were evicted from their homes on the West Coast and sent to concentration camps deep in the Midwest or certainly very far away from the coast. And they said it was for our own safety, but of course there are a lot of factors there that were probably beyond safety that caused all this to happen. Of course, there’s a lot of racism and a lot of also discrimination against Japanese Americans.
And the bombing of Pearl Harbor and, of course, the signing of Executive Order 9066 resulted in the evacuation of our community, and it served many different purposes. One of, one being that, of course, it created, it served economic purpose for the people who did not want to see Japanese workers, Japanese American workers, for instance, competing for jobs. So there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of factors behind that, but the end result was that the civil rights of Japanese Americans were trampled on and they were evicted from their homes and they essentially spent the rest of the war sitting in these concentration camps far away from home. And of course, is this injustice that we want to remember every year for the Day of Remembrance.
Of course, the other factor of the story as well is that, of course, we also celebrate redress. Of course redress didn’t happen until, the 70s and 80s, but eventually Japanese Americans gained redress through the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of [1988], and by that, time, of course, many of the evacuees had passed away, but nonetheless, for those who were still alive at the time, they were entitled to a, to monetary compensation and a apology, actually, from the government for their unjust incarceration during the war. So we also want to lift that up as well, in that it was a celebration, it’s a commemoration of the fact that we were in fact compensated by the government for that injustice.
Miko Lee: [00:08:46] Jeff, can you share a little bit about your personal connection with the incarceration?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:08:52] My mother’s family actually were Japanese Peruvians. They actually lived in Lima, Peru, which of course is the capital of Peru. And a little known, part of the whole sort of Japanese evacuation. I also reached down to South America and my mother’s family, I predict my grandfather was actually taken by by the FBI from Peru, and they, were interned in a, separate system of camps called the Department of Justice camps, and they ended up in Crystal City, Texas, which was a maximum security concentration camp run by The Immigration Naturalization service. So my connection is a little bit different from those whose ancestors were born or who lived here in the United States itself. Since my family actually were, From peru. And they only spoke Spanish and Japanese. They didn’t really speak English when they came here.
Miko Lee: [00:09:39] Jeff, thank you so much for sharing a piece of the story of Japanese Latin Americans that were incarcerated. I talked about that at the beginning of the episode, over 3,000 Japanese Latin Americans, and we actually have a whole episode and a curriculum that’s based on that in our series, Never Again. So I’ll put a link to that in the show notes. Jeff, can you also talk about your experience growing up with the Day of Remembrance? What was the first one you attended? Now you’re the chair and you’ve been the chair for a bit, but what was your first Day of Remembrance and how does that stick in with your family history?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:10:17] I actually attended what’s called the Peru Kai Reunions. These were reunions of many of the Peruvian Japanese who were kidnapped from their countries, and they had reunions, interestingly enough. But my first really day of remembrance didn’t really come until maybe around, 2010, our San Francisco Bay Area Day of Remembrance, the, one of the, one of the groups that are always represented is the Japanese Latin Americans, that’s how I got involved with learning more about the Bay Area Day of Remembrance. I got involved somewhat late but nonetheless, after I understood about what’s going on, what happened basically in the United States itself that really piqued my interest to see whether, we could tell the story, to the American public, because I think this is a really, very important, story that Japanese Americans and Japanese Latin Americans can tell to the American experience here.
Miko Lee: [00:11:06] Every year there’s a different theme, and in every area there’s a different theme. This year we’re focused on the Bay Area with you, and the theme for this year is Carrying the Light for Justice – Finding Our Way Home. Can you share a little bit about where that theme came from, and what does it mean to you?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:11:23] Yes. We want to actually talk about the injustices that were wrought on Japanese Americans, as well as, the redress which was a, which tried to correct those injustices. I think another part of DOR is, our experience as Japanese Americans having been, incarcerated unjustly and having also won redress from the government for those injustices gives us kind of a unique platform from which we can, also illuminate some of the struggles of our sisters and brothers, who have also suffered similar injustices in the United States. When October 7th happened, and the war in the Mideast between Israel and the Palestinian people flared up again, the committee members realized that this was something that our community had to come to grips with. So our sub theme this year, Finding Our Way Home you know, has to do with the fact that we need to try to understand a little bit more I feel about the plight of the Palestinian people who, in fact, had their homes essentially taken from them. There is a parallel there, obviously, with the Japanese American experience here, where many people lost their homes or had their properties expropriated taken over by the government or by other people. We feel that we need to have a better understanding, basically, and we need to also stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, because, and we also need to educate our, audience, which are mainly Japanese Americans, as to the, as to the parallels, between the plight of the Palestinian people that are, that they are undergoing right now, and plight of our people who, you know, who were definitely very much discriminated against and, had their human rights trampled on during the war. So this is another Aspect of DOR I believe that we need to also emphasize.
DOR is many things, but I think what it really is, it really is a commemorative and educational event, certainly, but also, it does have an advocacy function as well. The theme kind of embraces that idea of home. We all want to go home and that’s what certainly the people in the concentration camps felt during World War II and I’m sure that’s what the Palestinian people are feeling as well.
Miko Lee: [00:13:23] And how will this support and understanding of what’s going on in Palestine show up at the event this year?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:13:32] We’re very fortunate to have as our keynote speaker, Reverend Michael Yoshi. He’s a retired minister of the Buena Vista United Methodist Church. Michael, for many years he’s had a ministry with a village in the West Bank Wadi Fukin, and actually in past DORs, he has reported about his experiences there, and he’s also invited members of the villagers of Wadi Fukin to come and visit the United States. He, I believe, is uniquely positioned to speak about these parallels that I’m talking about between the JAA incarceration and what’s going on in Palestine, in Gaza and the West Bank today. And also he’s uniquely, I think, respected in our community, and he has, he’s worked very diligently, he’s very highly respected in our JAA community, and I believe that he will be a really great speaker to help us educate to fulfill our educational function of, trying to try to tell us what’s going on really there in Palestine.
We have, I think, in the United States, a very kind of blinkered view of what’s going on, and I think, I believe we need to rectify that view. And I believe, as I say, Reverend Yoshi, who has had, he’s been there, he has talked to people there. I believe he is really the best speaker that we could have imagined for our theme this year. So we’re really happy to have Reverend Michael Yoshi to be our keynote speaker.
Miko Lee: [00:14:53] That sounds great. One of the things I’ve been really Noticing is how young folks in our community are really vocal about their support for the Palestinians. I’m wondering if you’ve noticed a difference In the young people that are part of the movement and how they organize and how they utilize their activism versus folks of our generations.
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:15:15] Yeah, so of course it’s very interesting, of course, the younger generation, they certainly have a proficiency with technology, in particular, social media. And that’s something that I think our generation lacks, or we’re not as proficient at, using those tools, they’re actually able to amplify their message in a way that our generation really at least don’t think we really can do. Their reach is much more widespread, I believe, as a result. What really impresses me about the young people, though, is, how as you mentioned, how fervent their advocacy is. Thing is, they’re, some of them are really much more ardent, in my opinion, on this cause than people of my generation have shown. So I believe we can learn something from them and I’m really happy that we have some young people on our committee who are really helping us try to try as oldsters to try to understand how best we can bring out this message to the American community and to our community for that matter.
Miko Lee: [00:16:11] That’s great. And we’ll hear more about that later in the episode with KC Mukai, who actually developed a youth organizing committee that’s part of the work of JACL and DOR, I believe. So I’m excited to hear more about that. Can you tell us about this Year’s Clifford I. Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian Awardee?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:16:32] Yes, our awardee this year is Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, and, she is actually a professor at San Francisco State University, and, she has for many years actually been very supportive of our JA Advocacy. She’s been a candle lighter at our, at our, at previous, of Remembrance events. She is the Director of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State And she has won many awards. One thing that we really want to emphasize for this year’s award is the fact that, we are talking about, the situation in Palestine. The committee felt that it was appropriate to have Dr. Albdulhadi be the awardee given all the work that she’s been doing basically to promote Palestinian understanding, both in the educational aspects as well as in advocacy as well. So we feel that she’s very well deserving of the Clifford I. Uyeda. Peace and Humanitarian award. And we’re very happy that I understand that she will be there in person to accept the award. So we’re very, we’re looking forward to seeing her at our event.
Miko Lee: [00:17:37] Can you give us a little background about the award and what it represents?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:17:44] Yes, the Clifford I. Uyeda award is named after Dr. Clifford I. Uyeda, actually. He was a San Francisco pediatrician, he was also an activist, a lifelong really activist in the Japanese American community. He was active in the JACL. He was very instrumental in starting the, one of the, one of the founders of the redress movement when he was president, actually, the national JACL. Also Dr. Clifford was a man who, you know really was a person of tremendous, I think, courage in the sense that he was man of principle. He took positions, which I think, could have alienated him from even other Japanese or Japanese Americans.
For instance, he was very much an advocate for recognizing the Japanese government’s involvement or complicity in the rape of Nanking, for instance. And he was very, yes, he was definitely very courageous in taking positions that other people in our community really felt uncomfortable actually taking positions on. When he passed away in 2004, the Day of Remembrance Committee decided to create the Clifford I. Uyeda Award to honor his memory as well as to commemorate or to honor individuals who are activists in the same vein as Dr. Uyeda was. Courageous path breakers basically in our community and also outside of community for social justice and inclusion and yeah, we’re very happy that Dr. Albdulhadi is this year’s Clifford I. Uyeda award winner.
Miko Lee: [00:19:12] I hear what you’re saying about how important it is for our community, for Japanese Americans to understand this history and to recognize it and connect it with things that are happening today. Why is it important for non-Japanese Americans to understand about the Day of Remembrance?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:19:29] First of all, I’m sorry to say this, most non-Japanese don’t even know about EO966 or the internment of Japanese Americans. As time goes on the American public sort of forgets things, and this is one of those things that really can’t be forgotten because obviously what happens when you forget history is you repeat history, and that’s what’s happening.
I think, for the non Japanese community, the lessons that were learned from the incarceration of Japanese Americans, in the sense that, it was an unjust incarceration that civil rights were, in fact, trampled on, and that, in fact, the government apologized for those injustices and they actually compensated, our community. These are things that I think the American public needs to know because if they forget, and unfortunately I believe they are forgetting, then those same injustices will be perpetrated again among other, to other communities and the cycle will continue.
So this is a very valuable lesson and particularly now given the political atmosphere here in this country. This is a very important lesson that needs to be taught and understood as to what the implications of government actions like this have basically on people, if our, of our certainly has affected our community but we can look at other examples of other communities that have been similarly impacted. And I believe those lessons have been lost or forgotten in those cases. The Day of Remembrance is really more important than it ever has been.
Miko Lee: [00:20:56] Thank you so much Jeff Matsuoka for joining us. We will put a link in our website to the Day of Remembrance events that are happening all over the country. But Jeff, can you give us more details about the Bay Area Day of Remembrance that’s happening February 17th from 2 to 4? Where is it and what will people experience when they go to it?
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:21:14] Yes, thanks, Miko. Yes, the San Francisco Bay Area Day of Remembrance will take place as you mentioned on Saturday, February 17th from 2 to 4PM. It’s going to be at the AMC Kabuki 8 theaters. That’s 1881 Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown.
And we’ll have, of course, the keynote speaker, Reverend Yoshi, but, another important part, a very commemorative part of our, Day of Remembrance is the candle lighting ceremony, where we actually honor the internees of the ten War Relocation Authority camps, as well as the DOJ Department of Justice camp, with a candle lighting ceremony, and that’s always the highlight of the event. A very you know, commemorative and contemplative and very actually emotional, event where we commemorate the all the internees who were unjustly incarcerated and, following the event we’re actually going to have a procession through Japantown, going from the theater to a reception, which should be held at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California and that’s on Center street. So we hope you can join us. It should be should be a really, meaningful and important event
Miko Lee: [00:22:18] And that candlelight procession is quite beautiful. It is wheelchair accessible so people can leave the Kabuki theater and basically walk around the corner. And it’s a lovely commemoration and recognition of a horrible event that happened in these United States. But we’re working to remember them so that we can make sure that they don’t happen again. Thank you so much, Jeff, for joining us on Apex Express.
Jeff Matsuoka: [00:22:42] Thank you very much for having me.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:22:46] Next up listen to Nobuko Miyamoto’s “Gaman.”
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Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:29:07] That was “Gaman” from Nobuko Miyamoto’s Smithsonian Folkways album, 120,000 Stories. Nobuko was one of the many women’s stories that haven’t been highlighted until now.
Miko Lee: [00:29:19] You are listening to 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley, 88.1 KFCF in Fresno, 97.5 K248BR in Santa Cruz, 94.3 K232FZ in Monterey, and online worldwide at kpfa.org.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:29:48] All right. Welcome KC Mukai to Apex Express. I think this is the first time that we’ve had the reigning Cherry Blossom Queen on our show, so it’s so great to have you here. Thank you so much for joining us.
KC Mukai: [00:30:02] Oh my gosh, yes, thank you so much for having me. It’s an honor.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:30:07] So can you tell us a little bit about being the Cherry Blossom Queen, like what did it feel like to win that honor, and how did you find out about the pageant?
KC Mukai: [00:30:16] Well, I’ve always been involved in the Japanese American community growing up, going to Buddhist temples and participating in Girl Scouts. But when I came to the Bay for college, I was really searching for community. So I got involved with an internship program called Nikkei Community Internship in Japantown, and then that put me in contact with the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival. And from there, I decided to apply for the Queen Program, because it really valued female leadership, especially within the community. And it’s been an amazing, amazing year so far, and I’m actually almost rounding out the end of it for the next court to come in in April. But, yeah, it’s truly been such an amazing and beautiful journey with the court.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:31:02] That’s so wonderful. What are some of the highlights of your year with the court so far?
KC Mukai: [00:31:09] Yeah, I would definitely say some of the highlights have been me participating in, you know, events that I grew up with, such as Obon getting to go to San Jose Obon and also Concord. Really being a part of the community there. I would also say a highlight has been just going to different community organization fundraisers the JCCCNC and Japantown as well as Kamochi and other organizations that, you know, are really critical for keeping Japantown thriving. It’s been an honor to meet leaders from there and be able to see, you know, the blood, sweat and tears that really goes behind producing and helping the community thrive.
And then I think, of course, getting to meet just such wonderful, wonderful and amazing women in this community not only from my current core, but also Hawaii and Nisei Week have similar festivals and programs. And so getting to meet and bond with them and just really seeing that, you know, women are the cultural keepers of our community the Japanese American community and it’s really important to keep those ties close and really, really help them to grow.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:32:26] Oh, I love that. What are some of the things that sparked your interest in Japanese American community organizing and culture bearing?
KC Mukai: [00:32:39] Some of the things that inspired me, particularly in my organizing sense is definitely having, being part of the Japanese American community and I have grandparents and great grandparents and family that were among the 125,000 people of Japanese descent that were incarcerated during World War II because they were deemed a national security threat.
And so because of that tie to incarceration and injustice and the fact that, you know, my great grandparents lost their livelihood and my grandparents lost their youth and kind of that community sense lost a grasp of their identity and security I ground my organizing work in kind of a lot of making sure that that injustice doesn’t happen to other communities today or at least advocating for that.
And I think being a cultural keeper it’s growing up and being part of temples and community spaces. I got a chance to see how the women of my community and like the Obachans or the grandmas would come out and dedicate so much of their lives to keeping our temples and organizations afloat in terms of, you know, coming out early and bringing food staying till late hours cleaning up, leading the organizations on the board and stepping up for leadership positions. And it’s because of those role models and that ancestral history that I continue to feel today, like, it’s important to get involved in my community and also speak up for injustice.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:34:18] Thank you so much for sharing that. Tonight’s show is focused on the Day of Remembrance. Can you share a little bit about how the Day of Remembrance has been recognized in your family?
KC Mukai: [00:34:30] Yeah, so in my family I’m half Japanese and half Chinese, and my Japanese side, my family has always. recognized Day of Remembrance as an important holiday within our community, specifically because of its importance to recognizing incarceration and what happened to Japanese Americans during World War II. I grew up in the Central Valley in Fresno area and the surrounding towns and being able to recognize the Day of Remembrance and kind of tie it back to my own, personal tie with this, and then also connecting it to what is happening in the world today, that’s always been kind of an important keynote of, of the time. So my family, in particular, my Japanese side was incarcerated at Poston and Gila River and then they resettled back in the bay, but then my pod moved out to central California to live on a cherry farm. We always understood that despite this being kind of a historic event, the themes of injustice and exclusion, and human rights are still very much applicable to what we see happening in the world today.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:35:55] Can you talk with us about the theme of this year’s Bay Area event for Day of Remembrance, Carrying the Light for Justice – Finding Our Way Home?
KC Mukai: [00:36:04] Yeah, so the theme for this year’s Day of Remembrance has to do with Palestine and what we see happening in the Middle East. We chose Palestine to be your theme because we think that it’s an important moment to not only share and educate what is happening with our community, but also to bring our community in and raise consciousness.
We chose this topic because of course it’s very urgent and very timely as, as we speak, there is still not a ceasefire in Palestine and we wanted to do all we could to really highlight the issue and center the Palestinian community and really be an ally. Japanese Americans, we know from our own history, the importance of protecting human rights and civil rights and civil liberties, since these were, of course, stripped away from us during America’s World War II incarceration camps.
And so, seeing then the destruction of, you know, Palestinian communities really speaks to us as Japanese Americans because we also faced the destruction of our own communities, you know, in our homes and our businesses and our farms are taken away. And also we were denied our education, our health care, our cultural rights and of course, other infringements of civil rights and basic human rights. We very much see this, and recognize the same things happening in Palestine. However, with that being said, I think our DOR committee also recognizes that not all of our community is in the same place in terms of education and understanding of this work and we want to be cognizant of that.
So part of our programming is we’re inviting Reverend Michael Yoshi, who’s a very respected pastor within the United Methodist Church who has been doing work alongside an allyship with Palestine for a while. And we’re inviting him as a respected member of our community to come and speak and share a bit about why he sees the Japanese American experience aligning with the Palestinian experience.
On top of having Reverend Michael Yoshi, we’re also inviting a few of our Nikkei organizations in the community to come and table and just be there to help educate. There’s a growing collective called Nikkei for Palestine that has recently formed that has been trying to push our community to be more active and organized. So Nikkei for Palestine, alongside Tsuru for Solidarity is hoping to show up and also just help bring our community into the work.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:38:46] That’s so great. Thank you so much for doing that. And I feel like it really brings the phrase of never again into the present and also emphasizing that never again doesn’t just mean for our own community, but it means for anyone and everyone in the world. So thank you so much for making those intersectional connections. And I know you mentioned Nikkei for Palestine and Tsuru for Solidarity. And so I was just curious if you could talk a little bit about the different kind of community organizing groups that you’re a part of.
KC Mukai: [00:39:21] Yeah, sure I’d love to share. So I think importantly is probably Nikkei for Palestine collective that I have been doing work in and we are a growing collective that formed out of a kind of initial meeting held by Nikkei resistors in the Bay Area that sought to kind of gather others who were really seeing the destruction and loss of life happening in Palestine and really wanting to organize around that.And so Nikkei for Palestine has been doing several things, including trying to push the JACL or the Japanese American Citizens League to speak up. We’ve also been holding weekly power hours for our Nikkei community to call on our Japanese American representatives to speak up. We’ve also been doing educational work, and putting together packets and toolkits and so that’s Nikkei for Palestine. Other than Nikkei for Palestine, I’m of course involved as the Queen of the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival and on top of that, I also do work with Tsuru for Solidarity as their current fundraiser chair. And alongside doing my fundraising role in Tsuru, I’m also on the Police, Prisons, and Detention Working Group, and currently in Tsuru for Solidarity is actually planning for a big action in Tacoma, Washington. We’re organizing, to shut down the Northwest Detention Center, which, is a detention center, holding individuals that have been facing very bleak, human rights violations, in terms of not getting adequate food, having, water pipes burst in the detention center and they’ve actually been going on hunger strike, the individuals within this detention center have been trying to strike in their own way, and so we’re hoping to do a big protest upcoming on our Day of Remembrance, actually, for February 16th. And then past that, we’re also doing a big action at the end of April, in the last weekend of April. Yeah, those are some of the groups that I organize with today.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:41:32] That’s great. Thank you so much for sharing. And when it comes to, you know, growing up and becoming a woman in the world today and just everything that we’re faced with when it comes to genocide and mass incarceration, both in the present and in the past, I’m curious, what are some of the things that that bring you hope and that remind you that You know, there is so much to fight for and to work for.
KC Mukai: [00:42:03] I think some things that give me hope are intergenerational conversations. I think oftentimes within organizing work and can get. We tend to pigeonhole ourselves within like this one moment without realizing that we’re part of a larger landscape and in a larger history of people that have been doing this work for a long time. So it makes me very hopeful and grateful to see elders that have been in this work for a long time getting involved and sharing their knowledge as well as younger folk and children also sharing and being part of the movement today. Recently I went to a ceasefire banner drop at the Buddhist Church of Oakland and there they had some of their Dharma school students actually speak up and share why ceasefire is important to them and they were leading the chants. And, as you know, going out to protest today, we often see young children out there right there with us. And I think that is so inspiring that despite all of the violence and that we see in the world today, that we’re still able to have these moments of true community and true passing down of knowledge and being able to see that there is a future.
I think something else that also gives me hope is cultivating spaces like some of the community groups I’ve been a part of, I think, especially like Tsuru and Nikkei for Palestine. Being able to have honest conversations with each other — I think it can be hard to organize especially when you’re organizing against something that seems so insurmountable and then conflict often comes to that, but it’s been hopeful to see the ways in which my community is able to push past, I guess, the ties of what bounds us to punitive and carceral measures in terms of like, if I don’t agree with you, I’m going to shun you.
And it’s been encouraging to see spaces where this is rethought and how can we creatively work in and organize together in a space without and recognize that we may have differences, but that we’re all in this work together and push forward from that. And so I think those have definitely kept me going in these moments.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:44:34] And yes, we love intergenerational connections and organizing and activism, and I was wondering if you see any differences in organizing amongst our generation and our parents and our grandparents generations.
KC Mukai: [00:44:48] Wow, that’s a great question. Yeah, I would say something, like, I would definitely say something that I’ve noticed is different is that kind of abolitionist look at relationships in terms of, I feel like, in my parents and grandparents generation, there’s often, and especially within the community, there’s often this need to, like, disagreement is never completely dealt with, or it’s definitely like more shamed upon or kind of the ways that we treat each other are, you know, not as like creative as we want it to be. And so what I see in this future generation is this. It’s kind of, you know, hope to be more intentional with each other, especially under an understanding, like the work needs to be done and how can we get past this small moment of conflict and be able to see the larger picture. I would also say like in terms of organizing itself I think it’s been cool to see how, I guess social media plays a role in our organizing spaces. Especially I was just on a call with an elder last night and she was sharing about her work getting involved in the Vietnam War and how from their perspective, they weren’t able to get like the real time information about the atrocities happening during war like we are during this time, and being able to see, you know, the amount of destruction happening in Palestine. So I think that, you know, the social media part of it and how fast media can move is playing to our benefit, but also, you know, also our demise in some way. And so, yeah, I think those two things are definitely some differences I see in our generations.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:46:45] Thank you. If there’s someone out there listening who’s not sure how to get involved in community and community organizing, and maybe not sure that their voice matters or could make any sort of impact, what would you say to them?
KC Mukai: [00:47:04] Yeah, if there’s someone, I think if there’s someone out there listening that, you know, is maybe struggling with, seeing how their voice and their position in this matters, I would say to them that it’s important to think about yourself, not just as an individual, but as part of a whole. I lean on the practice of interdependence, which is a teaching in Buddhism, which teaches us that we are all connected to each other and what I say and what I do has an impact upon others around me. And I think it’s important to understand that movements get started because of a person and another person and another person joining and thinking about the, I guess, vastness of organizing work. It’s important to really, while as complicated as it is, it’s important to sometimes simplify it for yourselves and just say that, hey, like, I can start my own movement in my own way.
I recently heard or was reminded of the way that, redress or redress for the Japanese American community kind of got steam within our community and eventually got passed in Congress. And it started with, you know, one person just keeping standing up at these JACL meetings. And for 10 years, he came to JACL National Convention and he kept arguing that we as Japanese Americans need to bring redress into Congress and because of his work, it eventually passed as a national resolution in JACL and that’s when JACL got involved and really helped to push it with Congress, and that’s how we got redress and that was such a long timeline and I think it’s important to remember stories like that and stories of how movements are started to encourage us.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:49:15] Absolutely. And speaking of JACL, could you talk with us about your development of a district youth board for JACL?
KC Mukai: [00:49:26] Yeah, so I started the district youth board of the NCWNP district youth board, two years ago because I became the NCWNP, which is the Northern California, Western Nevada Pacific District, youth rep.And because of that position, my governor asked if I could, you know, really get a hold on this, this youth leadership. And so with her guidance, and my, I guess, ambition and drive, I brought together 6 of us, to form the 1st District Youth Board in the JACL, and we were able to build out programming and youth events and intergenerational events and get a grant to help send people to national convention as well as other projects all within our first year. And so it was very, very, very great especially for building the leadership pipeline within JACL we were able to help some of our youth members get on to leadership positions within our district council and also as chapter presidents and because of that, it helps to diversify, I guess, the outlook of of JACL in terms of what JACL is passionate about what it’s able to speak on.
And so I’m very, very proud of that district youth board. But since then, I have stepped off as one of the founders and so my co-founders Bruce Arao and Halle Sousa have been really, really doing such a great job with district youth board. And taking it to places I never thought I would go. So I think it’s all been great getting to watch them do that.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:51:27] That’s wonderful. Thank you. Is there anything else that you’d like to add about the Day of Remembrance or about anything else that you have going on?
KC Mukai: [00:51:38] Yeah. So I’d like to add, I’m also involved in a growing organization that we just founded called JAYA, which is the Japanese American Youth Alliance. And our goal is to connect all of the Nikkei youth organizations within the Bay and NorCal and Northern California together to help do like youth programming and also kind of serve as a bridge between collegiate organizations and then young adult organizations. And so because of that work with JAYA, we’re actually holding our own Day of Remembrance event, and it’s in conjunction with the Bay Area DOR. But it will be happening right before Bay Area DOR’s, which will be in the morning around 11 AM, and we’re holding it at the JCYC in San Francisco, Japantown, this event will, be more of an opportunity for youth to come together to talk about why Day of Remembrance is important. We’ll also be talking about Palestine and solidarity with Palestine and so if there’s any youth listening who are interested in coming, we definitely would like to see you there. And then afterwards, after our youth one, we’ll be joining the Bay Area DOR one at Kabuki Theater.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:52:26] That’s great. Thank you so much for sharing. And we will link to more information on that in our show notes too.
KC Mukai: [00:53:02] Okay. Wonderful.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:53:06] Is there anything else that you’d like to add or share?
KC Mukai: [00:53:08] Just thank you so much for having me. And this was such a great opportunity to share a little bit about my work, but also the larger work of the Japan town and Japanese American community. So thank you so much.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:53:19] Thank you so much. It was so lovely getting to talk with you and it’s really inspiring all the different work that you’re doing and, uh, Nikkei for Palestine sounds really awesome too.
KC Mukai: [00:53:29] Thank you, thank you.
Miko Lee: [00:53:31] There are events happening this weekend for Day of Remembrance, all over the country. So for the community calendar, I’m going to give you a little bit of an update. To find out more about what’s happening for Day of Remembrance in your community check out the Japanese American Citizen League’s website to look at the regional events at JACL.org.
In the Bay Area where many of us are located. This Friday night from 6 to 9:00 PM there’s going to be a day of remembrance student celebration at UC Berkeley’s Stephen’s Lounge. And then the next day on February 17th in the Bay Area will be the Bay Area Day of Remembrance that we talked to both of our guests tonight about. It’s called Carrying the Light for Justice – Finding Our Way Home to commemorate the Executive Order 9066.
It will be at AMC Kabuki 8 theater on 1881 Post St, and then a beautiful candlelight procession through the streets of Japantown to a reception at the Japanese Cultural [and Community Center] on 1840 Sutter. Everyone is welcome and it’s wheelchair accessible.
Also February 17th from 2 to 4, if you are in Los Angeles, the Day of Remembrance is called Rooted in Resistance: Fighting for Justice during World War II, reinforces the importance of standing up for justice in times of great moral crisis. From the draft resisters and the No-No Boys to those who protested through quiet hunger strikes or chanting crowds, resistance has taken many forms since World War II and we will hear truth and testimony from those who remember and honor these stories. Some of the speakers include Diana Tsuchida, Kyoko Oda, Tak Hoshizaki, and Soji Kashiwagi.
On Monday, February 19th from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM is the Day of Remembrance in San Jose. And then the following weekend, Saturday and Sunday, February 24 and 25, there will be films all about the Day of Remembrance at the Kabuki and San Francisco. And then in San Jose at the Betsuin Buddhist church. Again, to find out more what’s happening in your community check out JACL.org. And remember so that we don’t repeat the harms of the past. Thank you very much.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:55:54] Next up we hear “Summer of ’42” by Kishi Bashi from the album Omoiyari. Even though Kishi and his family immigrated to the US post-World War II, he created this album to address the current political climate. He felt that the talk of walls and bans on immigrants recalls the same sort of fears that sparked the internment camps after Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:56:18] That was “Summer of ’42” by Kishi Bashi.
Miko Lee: [00:59:14] Please check out our website, kpfa.org to find out more about the Day of Remembrance and the guests that we spoke to. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important.
Apex Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Hien Nguyen, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Nate Tan, Paige Chung, Preti Mangala-Shekar, and Swati Rayasam. Tonight’s show was produced by Miko Lee and edited by Ayame Keane-Lee. Have a great night.