The Day of Remembrance committee is giving a call out for volunteers for the event, especially if you have experience in copy editing/writing or graphics and desktop publishing experience. Skilled volunteers are needed to help put together the printed program for the event itself. If you or anyone else you know would be interested in helping directly with producing the program, contact us immediately at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Day of Remembrance (DoR), DoR is an annual observance of the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Executive Order 9066 authorized the relocation and internment of 120,000 Japanese and Americans of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast during WWII. Every year, several observances are held throughout the Japanese American community in memorial of the generations before us who experienced and endured the internment, and to reflect on the historical impact the internment has had on not only the Japanese American community, but the rest of the nation as well. The Day of Remembrance is also often an opportunity for the community to celebrate the success of the campaign for Redress as well as examine the lessons of internment and parallels that exist between the internment experience and the experiences and civil rights issues facing Muslim and Arab American communities in post-9/11 America.
This year marks the 30th year the Day of Remembrance has been observed in the Bay Area. The 2009 Bay Area Day of Remembrance, with the theme of “Carrying the Light for Justice,” takes place in San Francisco on Sunday, February 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sundance Kabuki Theater, 1881 Post St. (between Fillmore and Webster), with a reception at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St.
This year’s program will include a keynote speech by US Congressman Mike Honda, a poetry reading by SF Poet Laureate Janice Mirikitani, a short film, presentation of the Clifford Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian Award, as well as a candle lighting ceremony and an interfaith procession. The event is sponsored by the Bay Area DOR Consortium (of which Nakayoshi is a participating organization) and funded in part by the San Francisco Japantown Foundation. A free reception at the JCCCNC will follow the program and procession.
Nakayoshi will also be selling tickets as well as volunteering at the event itself. Tickets are available through us for $12 in advance or $15 at the door. We may have complimentary tickets available for the first few Nakayoshi members who request them, so let us know if you’re going! If you’d like to purchase tickets or help out, let us know by e-mailing us at nakayoshi.ncwnp@gmail.com.
For more information on the 2009 Bay Area Day of Remembrance, check out dayofremembrance.org, or call 415-921-5007.
We hope you can join us on February 22nd to pay our respects to the sacrifices of those before us and to the ongoing struggles of others.