Bay Area Day of Remembrance Set for Feb. 18

SAN FRANCISCO — “No Barbed Wire! No Walls!” is the theme of Bay Area Day of Remembrance 2018, to be held Sunday, Feb. 18, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the AMC Dine-in Kabuki, 1881 Post St. (at Fillmore) in San Francisco Japantown.

“The Journey,” a mural by Sheila Hamanaka

Day of Remembrance events are held on or around Feb. 19, the date in 1942 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Event organizers connect that experience with current civil rights issues, such as the treatment of immigrants under the Trump Administration.

Former KTVU reporter John Sasaki will serve as emcee.

The keynote speaker will be Sameena Usman of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) San Francisco Bay Area.

There will be performances by Lenora Lee (dance), Jerry Waki (spoken word) and Francis Wong (music).

Hiroshi Shimizu of the Tule Lake Committee will be recognized as the recipient of the Clifford I. Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian Award.

A candle-lighting ceremony and procession will be led by the Japanese American Religious Federation.

Reception will follow at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St.

All are welcome. Suggested donation is $8.

For more information, contact the National Japanese American Historical Society at (415) 921-5007 or njahs@njahs.org.

Presented by the Bay Area Day of Remembrance Consortium: Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, AMC Dine-in Kabuki, API Legal Outreach, Campaign for Justice: Redress NOW for Japanese Latin Americans, Fred T. Korematsu Institute, Japanese American Citizens League: San Francisco Chapter, Japanese American Religious Federation, Japanese Community Youth Council, Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project, Nakayoshi Young Professionals, National Japanese American Historical Society, Nichi Bei Foundation/Nichi Bei Weekly, Nikkei Resisters, Sansei Legacy Project, Tanforan Assembly Center Memorial Committee, Tule Lake Committee.