Day of Remembrance Program at OACC

OAKLAND — The Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th St., Suite 290 in Oakland Chinatown’s Pacific Renaissance Plaza, will hold a Day of Remembrance program in honor of the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 on Monday, Feb. 20, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Playwright Catherine Ladnier will recount her personal journey with Americans of Japanese ancestry. A native of East Los Angeles, she grew up unaware of the important contribution Japanese immigrants made to the community. One day, an awakening to this sad chapter in American history led her to tell the story of her fellow Americans.

A graduate of Mills College, Ladnier will chronicle the experience of Mills College students as they make the most of their new lives in internment camps far from home. Through their letters to the beloved president of the College, the Mills sisters vividly paint a picture of their lives behind barbed wired while affirming their faith in the future.

Special guest Ben Takeshita, a recipient of the Clifford I. Uyeda Peace & Humanitarian Award, will talk about his 3½ years of incarceration in Tanforan, Topaz and Tule Lake with his family. His presentation will include the well-known “loyalty questionnaire.”

The event will feature a performance by Emeryville Taiko and a preview of OACC’s upcoming art exhibition “Creativity Unconfined: Life in a Japanese Internment Camp,” courtesy of Sonoma State University’s Anthropological Studies Center.

Free admission. For more information, visit http://oacc.cc.