Korematsu Day Celebration at UC Berkeley

BERKELEY — The eighth annual Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution will be observed on Sunday, Jan. 28, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Wheeler Hall on the UC Berkeley campus.

The topic is “Forced Displacement from Home and Country,” which draws parallels between the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the plight of immigrants, Muslim Americans and others under the current administration.

The keynote speaker will be Daniel Ellsberg, an activist and former U.S. military analyst who precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War, to The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers, as depicted in the movie “The Post.”

Reyna Grande, an award-winning novelist and memoirist, will also speak. In her book “The Distance Between Us,” she writes about her life before and after illegally immigrating from Mexico to the U.S.

Jana Katsuyama, reporter for KTVU Fox2 News, will serve as emcee.

The program will include performances by Emeryville Taiko, Leung’s White Crane Lion Dance Group, and special guests.

Students with ID will be admitted free of charge thanks to sponsors Covington & Burling LLP, International Assignee Services, and MTYKL Foundation.

For student tickets, email info@korematsuinstitute.org. For general tickets, go to www.korematsuinstitute.org.

Fred Korematsu (1919-2005) challenged the constitutionality of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans. His birthday, Jan. 30, has been designated Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution in California and other states.