NCRR is opposed to any legislation that abrogates any person of their rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. These rights have been violated at Guantanamo Bay and continue today.
• The National Defense Authorization Act authorizes any future president to order the military to pick up individuals far from any battlefield and imprison them without charge or trial. As a result, the NDAA violates the Constitution, our international law obligations, and our nation's commitment to the rule of law.
• No president should be given the power to send our military around the globe, to places where there is no armed conflict, and imprison civilians based on suspicion alone (no matter how much we trust any president, this power is too great).
• The United States itself should be off-limits to military authority to imprison civilians without charge or trial.
• No president should ever be REQUIRED to put civilians into military custody without charge or trial.
Sample letters to use to send to Congressmen: Letter 1 | Letter 2
Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress reflects upon historic grassroots movement
STATEMENT FROM NIKKEI PROGRESSIVES & NCRR IN SUPPORT OF UPRISING FOR BLACK LIVES and friends of the Nikkei for
Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR) celebrated
the activist organization's achievements, especially its victorious campaign for redress, during its 30th anniversary
party on Sept. 25 in Little Tokyo.
The 45 celebrants at the Teramachi condominium complex were treated to
a potluck lunch, viewed a video about
NCRR's activities, toasted the anniversary with Champagne and heard several individuals speak of their experiences
as part ofthe civil rights organization.
As a prelude to the
February 21, 2004
Los Angeles Day of Remembrance, members
of the Ralph Lazo family and several old
friends of Ralph gathered together at a
luncheon sponsored by the Nikkei for Civil
Rights & Redre ss (NCRR) Education
Committee and Visual Communications,
coproducers of
Stand Up for Justice: the Ralph Lazo Story. Read the full story here.
NEW: Download the Stand Up For Justice
Curriculum Guide
Past Screenings of "Stand Up For Justice" - Click here
The Viewers Companion is now available for the Speak Out For
Justice collection of testimonials on the
hearings of the Commission on
Wartime Relocation and Internment
of Civilians (CWRIC) held in Los
Angeles on August 4-6, 1981.
The record consists of thirteen
videotapes, holding twenty-five hours
of dramatic testimony given by 153 witnesses.
• Changeover Celebration
honoring Judy and her impact on the nonprofit affordable housing sector.
March 26, 2023 at 2PM at Terasaki Budokan.
Registration information to come soon.
This free event will include food, music, salsa dancing (Judys Favorite)
and a tour of the San Pedro Firm Building (LTSC's first affordable housing project).
In July, I was honored to represent Nikkei Progressives and NCRR at a Global Convening on Reparations and Healing called together by Nikole Hannah- Jones of the "1619 Project." It was a three day convening at the Bellagio Center in Italy with mainly African American voices who are engaged in healing work and on reparations efforts in the US and in Africa and who wanted to learn how the movement for Japanese American reparations could inform their work. I was able to share what we learned and what we are continuing to learn about reparations as well as our support for Black reparations and the principles for that work today. What I gained was a broader view of reparations and the need to learn more about history, Africa and the importance of building connections to both the people and places where the harms of racism and anti-blackness have created so much harm. This slideshow was presented to NP, NCRR and the National Nikkei Reparations Coalition (NNRC).
July 23 Deadline
Aug 14 Winners and finalist announced
Detailed guidelines and information at:
bit.cwmemorialday2021bit.ly/cwmemorialday2021
• Long Overdue: Masaoka Testimony in Support of HR 40
Kathy Masaoka speaks during a Feb. 17 hearing of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
The following is the testimony as presented by Kathy Masaoka on behalf of NCRR and NP before the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on Feb. 17, 2021.
November, Alan and Ruth Kondo, along
with several members of Nikkei Progressives,
attended the first annual Crystal City
by the event.
Crystal City was the largest multinational
family concentration camp, holding not only
Japanese Americans, but thousands of
Japanese who were kidnapped by the U.S.
government from thirteen Latin American
countries. The pilgrimage linked this history
to the targeting and detention of minority
immigrant families by the federal
government today.
NCRR awarded the
"Champions of Justice Award" by the Organization
of Chinese Americans-
Greater Los Angeles
chapter.(OCA-GLA)
• Oct 20, 2019 Book Talk at JANM
The Grassroots Redress
Movement:
Conversations with
Activists,
Then and Now.
NCRR book reading and signing of
NCRR:
The Grassroots Struggle
For Japanese American
Redress &
Reparations,
Guy Aoki (1987 lobbying delegation),
Miya Iwataki (1981 CWRIC hearings),
and David Monkawa (art and activism)
speak about their participation in the
historic grassroots reparations movement.
A short video clip from &ldqu o;Tales of Clamor”
developed by traci kato kiriya ma and
Kennedy Kabasares will be shown and
Kristin Fukushima joins in conversation
with June Hibino, Sean Miura and Tony
Osumi to talk about the inter-generational
organization
Nikkei Progressives which
carries on the legacy of grassroots activism
today. Intro by Jim Matsuoka and
moderated by Richard Katsuda and Kathy
Masaoka. Sponsored by JANM, LTH, and
NCRR
"Tales of Clamor" is a theatrical
case-study that examines the sound
of silence, the echoes of a
little-known yet major moment of
American history, and its universal
reverberations in today’s landscape.
“Tales of Clamor” utilizes aerial
apparatuses, scenes based in the
present and past, and rarely
seen video footage from the
1981 CWRIC Hearings
(Commission of Wartime Relocation
and Internment of Civilians).
Its political texture calls on us to
recognize the Need for solidarity
and the power of a community
breaking silence in order to create
change.
In its emotional core, this show is
about people showing up for each
other at a critical moment of
individual and collective need.
The narrative anchor of this show is
the duo of traci and Kennedy- who
together explore concepts including
the science of sound, the Model
Minority
Myth, and, at the center,
the cathartic experience of
Commission Hearings that led to
Redress in the 1980s and creation
of lifelong, intergenerational activists
NCRR is collaborating with traci
kato kiriyama and Kennedy Kabasares
on a new project. They want
to highlight the voices of former
incarcerees who spoke at the 1981
Commission on Wartime Relocation
(CWRIC) hearings held here in Los
Angeles. The project will experiment
with unique presentations of these
testimonies in partnershipwith NCRR
and in collaboration with various artists/
experts in video arts, sound, stage
and aerial arts,
.
Below is a link to our participation
goals for the project which may take
up to 2 years to complete.
Kathy, Traci and Kay join Professor
Simeon Man and partner, Rudy, at lunch
after speaking to Simeon's Asian American
Studies class about the Asian American
movement, redress and solidarity work
today. The class of about 150 students
saw Steve Nagano's 8 minute video on
the Commission Hearings and were led
in a haiku writing exercise by traci.
• The 2018 DAY OF REMEMBRANCE was held February 17.
•“SPEAK OUT”
CWRIC Testimonies
Revisited
on Dec. 2 in
Little Tokyo
Landmark CWRIC Hearings Reissued by
Nikkei for Civil Rights Redress and Visual Communications videoscreening was held
at the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at JANM.
• "A Bridging Commu-
nities fundraising Iftar
was held on
June 15th, 2017 at the
JACCC. The event was sold out
with about 150 attending.
The hosts
were Vigilantlove, NCRR,
MSA West, C.A.I.R., and
JACL-PSW.....
After several thousand people were
killed in the attack on the Twin Towers on
9/11/2001,
over 300 Japanese Americans
gathered in Little Tokyo for a candlelight
vigil to show our support to the victims
and families of the 9/11 attacks.
Today, we again express our outrage
and sympathy to the people of
Paris, and now San Bernardino as well
as so many others victimized by
individuals acting out of hate and
intolerance. We also want to reach out
to the American Muslim, South Asian and
Arab American communities who are
being blamedfor these attacks just as
they were after 9/11 when they
immediately faced racial profiling and
physical assaults.
See a video of an introduction
on TCDS, Click here
• DOR 2013
25th Anniversary of the
Civil Liberties Act “Our Struggle,
Our Perseverance, Our Commitment”
The 13th Day of Remembrance took
place on Saturday, at the Japanese
American National
Museum in Little
Tokyo. The theme of this year’s
commemoration is
“The 25th Anniversary
of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988:
Our Commitment”.
As part of the 100th Anniversary of
Girl Scouts United States of America (GSUSA), Satomi Honjiyo and seven
other Girl Scouts from across the
nation were invited to meet President Obama in the Oval Office on
June 8, 2012.
All eight scouts were Gold Award
recipients, the highest achievement and awarded to only 5% of
all eligible scouts. Satomi is the daughter of Amy Utsunomiya Honjiyo and Reid Honjiyo of Monterey Park, California.
• Education Committee
Stays Busy in 2012 < activities began on a high
note on January 20
with a Phoenix, Arizona
screening of
Stand Up for Justice,
the Ralph Lazo Story.
Read more..
.
• Honored at the
Islamic Center
Robin Toma (2nd from left), Executive
Director of the Los Angeles County
Relations Commission; Rinban Noriyuki Ito
(far left) of Higashi Hongwanji Temple and
JACL were honored
in September for their
advocacy work for the Muslim/Arab-
Americans and South Asian communities.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council honored
the group at the Islamic Center of
Southern California in Los Angeles
.
• Their Victory is Our
Victory
In March 1945 five Mexican American
families sued for school districts in
Westminster, Orange County, California,
on behalf of an entire community whose
children were required to attend
segregated "Mexican schools." Their
class action lawsuitbecame known as
Mendez et al. v. Westminster School
District el al.
After two years of fighting, the families
won their case. At the time, this was the
most important legal victory in the
fight against segregation the nation had
ever known.
The connection between past and
present constitutional issues was
emphasized at the annual Day of
Remembranceprogram in Little Tokyo.
"70 Years After Executive Order 9066:
Defending Our Civil Liberties"
• Kathy Masaoka,co-chair
of NCRR, was awarded
the Dan B. Genung
Visionary Leadership bm
Award from All Peoples
Community Center on
October 6th, 2011.
Kathy credits growing up in multi-ethnic
Boyle Heights with helping her develop an
appreciation for peoplefrom diverse |
backgrounds. As a minority student at a
predominantly white high school, Kathy
explored questions of race, culture and
identity at an early age. Enrolling in
some ofthe first Asian American Studies
classes taught at UC Berkley in the late
1960s, she was determined to find
answers to her questions.
• UC Irvine 11- delivered
at the Santa Ana court-
house press conference
on Monday, Sept 19,2011 victims During World War II, 120,000 Japanese
Americans were incarcerated in camps simply
for being Japanese American and looking like
the enemy who had bombed Pearl Harbor so
we understand how it feels to be targeted.
We had committed no wrong and there was
no trial - our constitutional right to due
process was denied.
• A friend of NCRR has
been collecting for
Japan's March 11th,
Tsunami victims.
Dear all,
Sorry for the long silence. I'm getting
better and I think I got about 80% of
myself out of depression, but I'm}still
taking a mountain of medicine every
night. Doesn't sound good, does it?
But hey, with all of your support, I AM
getting better. Brian Kito came to Japan
about two weeks ago and went to
Sendai and Ishinomaki and was stunned
to see what's out there.
• DOR 2011:
Ten Years After 9/11 The main reception hall at the
Japanese American Museum in
Little Tokyo was filled to capacity
with participants and visitors
for DOR 2011.
