The 2013 Day of Remembrance (DOR) will take place on Saturday, February 16 from 2 to 4PM at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in Little Tokyo. The theme of this year’s commemoration is “The 25th Anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988: Our Struggle, Our Perseverance, Our Commitment.”
    
The program is a collaborative effort of NCRR, the Japanese American Citizens League/PSWD, the Manzanar Committee and JANM, and continues the over 30-year tradition in Los Angeles and across the nation of commemorating President Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066 and the impact on the entire Japanese American community of World War II and subsequent generations.
    
During the commemorative portion of the DOR, a memorial tribute will be made to the late Senator Daniel Inouye and other community members and friends who have passed away during the past year, including Toki Shiroishi, former Congressman Mervyn Dymally, James Hirabayashi, John Saito, Jimmy Mirikitani and others.
     
A panel of community activists will address key issues related to the Civil Liberties Act—what the Act accomplished, what it failed to address, the lessons learned and the legacy for the community. NCRR Co-Chair and long-time grassroots activist Richard Katsuda, Manzanar Committee founding member and Executive Director of the California Forensic Science Institute at Cal State LA Rose Ochi and JACL representative Dr. Mitch Maki will address the issues. Bruce Embrey, Manzanar Committee Co-Chair, will moderate.
   
Also invited to speak is Anan Ameri, the Executive Director of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Ms. Ameri will be in Los Angeles to help open JANM’s newest exhibit, “Patriots & Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to Our Country” that opens on Feb. 16. This exhibit was created to honor Arab Americans who have served this country in the US Armed Forces, the Peace Corps and the diplomatic corps, and reflects their contributions  and perspectives.
    
Students from the University of Southern California’s Nikkei Association, Brandon Uchimura and April Nishinaka, will present a “pechakucha” style slide show to recall the major events of the redress movement that led to the signing of the CLA. The pechakucha format includes approximately 20 slides with a maximum of 20 seconds of narration for each slide.
    
Serving as emcees for the DOR are the newly appointed Regional Director of the JACL/PSWD Stephanie Nitahara, and Soji Kashiwagi, Executive Producer of the Grateful Crane Ensemble.
    
The event will conclude with a reception catered by Carrie’s Community Caterers. ‘

For further information contact NCRR at (213) 284-0336.