In this Issue

30th Annual Day of Remembrance

30th Annual San Jose
Day of Remembrance

"Redress/Reparations: Unfinished Business"

Sunday, February 14, 2010
5:30pm-7:30pm
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin
640 North Fifth Street,
San Jose, CA

Free and open to the public

The San Jose Day of Remembrance commemorates the anniversary of  Executive Order 9066 that led to the forced incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were American citizens.

	Traditional candlelight procession through San Jose's historic Japantown. Photo courtesy of Andy Frazer.		A candle is lit in memory for each of the camps. Photo courtesy of Andy Frazer.

At the 30th annual San Jose Day of Remembrance event, Grace Shimizu, director of the Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project (JPOHP) and coordinator of the Campaign For Justice: Redress Now For Japanese Latin Americans! (CFJ), will be one of the featured speakers. Her father survived US rendition under the WWII Enemy Alien Program when he was kidnapped from his home in Peru. Ms. Shimizu's father was  forced into hard labor at a U.S. military camp in the Panama Canal Zone, and then was shipped off to be incarcerated in the U.S. for the purpose of hostage exchange.
 
Ms. Shimizu is a leading organizer for the documentation and preservation of the experiences of former Japanese Latin American internees and their redress struggle to secure US government accountability for WWII rendition and human rights violations.  She has also been instrumental in initiating collaborative projects with the Japanese, German, Italian, Arab, Muslim and South Asian American communities, focusing on the WWII Enemy Alien Program and lessons from the past which have significance for the challenges we face today.  She serves as coordinator of the groundbreaking traveling exhibit, The Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of World War II, a project of the Enemy Alien Files Consortium.
 
Ms. Shimizu has also worked with grassroots groups organizing around such issues as affirmative action, peace and international solidarity, human rights, racism, oppression of women and support for military troops and their families resisting illegal war.  She is a founding member of Tsukimi Kai, promoting oral history documentation and cultural exchange between Nikkei in the US and Cuba.  She is also a founding member of Asian Americans for Peace & Justice (formerly Lt. Ehren Watada Support Committee/Asian Pacific Islanders Resist).

		Listen to Grace Shimizu discuss the intertwined history of Japanese Americans and Japanese Latin Americans and their struggle for redress in the clip. Courtesy of DiscoverNikei.

San Jose Taiko will make their annual appearance at the Day of Remembrance.  Photo courtesy of Andy Frazer.		The Day of Remembrance is also an event that aims to bring different communities together in order to build trust, respect and understanding among all people  The event allows us to renew our pledge to fight for equality, justice and peace. This year's Day of Remembrance program also features special performances by San Jose Taiko and by shakuhachi master, Kanow Matsueda, accompanied by Julie Masazuki Sumida on koto, Congressman Mike Honda, speakers from the community and the traditional candlelight procession through historic San Jose Japantown.
		NOC is now on Facebook!
Provide feedback on "Day of Remembrance 2010" Help plan NOC Summer/Fall Events NOC General Meeting Sunday, March 28, 2010 Yu-Ai Kai Building 2-4pm website: www.sjnoc.org email: info@sjnoc.org
		28th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival March 11-21, 2010 Screenings in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose Festival Website NOC is once again proud to be a co-presenter for this wonderful film festival.
2010 Tule Lake Pilgrimage   Friday, July 2nd to Monday, July 5th Deadline to register: April 30, 2010 Space is limited to first 300 registrants More Info: http://www.tulelake.org   The Tule Lake Pilgrimage is a four-day journey to the former site of the Tule Lake Segregation Center, located near the California-Oregon border. The program includes: A bus tour of the former camp site location. An evening of cultural performances. A memorial service honoring those who died at Tule Lake. Intergenerational discussion groups. Panel discussion and other presentations to learn the history of Tule Lake and its relevance to the present day.
California Nisei College Diploma Project A project of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California   If you... Are an individual of Japanese descent,   Were unable to complete your college education in a public post secondary institution in California such as: University of California (UC) California State University (CSU) California Community College (CCC) because of forced removal and incarceration during World War II.   Were a member of the college graduating classes of 1942-1945, then, you are eligible to receive an honorary degree from the college you were enrolled prior to 1942.
To receive an application or for more information, contact CANiseiProject@jcccnc.org. You can also contact schools directly: University of California 510-987-0239, HonoraryDegree@ucop.edu California State University 562-951-4723, Nisei@calstate.edu California Community College 916-327-5361, lmichalo@cccco.edu
Asian Bone Marrow Donors Needed   This urgent call for Asian bone marrow donors was passed along by one of our members: Dear Nihonmachi Outreach Committee, My niece, who is half Japanese, was recently diagnosed with AML Leukemia and needs a bone marrow donor. My family is currently trying to get Asian Americans registered on the national bone marrow registry, in hopes of a possible match. Natalie is 8 years old. She has a little brother, Sean, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. After five difficult rounds of chemotherapy last year, Natalie's leukemia was in remission. Now it's back and we have just weeks to find the bone marrow donor match that Natalie needs to save her life.   Natalie's greatest chance for a match is from those of ASIAN descent. Please help us spread the word through the Asian community. Asians in particular are under-represented on the national registry, and being registered helps all Asian-American cancer patients in the U.S who are in search of a bone marrow donor. The Hope for Natalie website ( http://www.hopefornatalie.com/index.php) gives details on how you can register as a bone marrow donor.