Paper Mache
Today marks the day in 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which gave the Army the authority to remove civilians from military zones established on the West Coast during WWII. Each year, this Day of Remembrance remains significant not only for the Japanese American community, but for all
Americans who care about the preservation of civil liberties.
YSAC, in collaboration with the Marysville Japanese American Citizens League, created a virtual commemoration program that will be live streamed on Yuba Sutter Arts’ Facebook page and its Youtube channel today, February 19, at 6 p.m. The program will also be available for later viewing.
Every February, the Japanese American community commemorates the day as a reminder of the impact the incarceration experience has had on families, communities, and the country. It is an opportunity to educate others on the fragility of civil liberties in times of crisis, and the importance of remaining vigilant in protecting everyone’s rights and freedoms.
The program will feature guest appearances by Congressman
John Garamendi, Walter Masuda, Lon Hatamiya, Jessica Hougen, Stuart Gilchrist, Carolyn Sasaki, Dan Turner, and others along with a tour of the newly completed Arboga Assembly Center
Memorial Park. This location was a former migrant farm workers’ camp converted to a temporary assembly center in 1942 at which Japanese Americans were held while the permanent concentration camps were built. The site was designated a California State Historical Landmark many years ago. Grant funding from the California State Library made development of the park possible. A formal dedication ceremony is scheduled to take place in October.
In addition to the Day of Remembrance program, other highlights this week include a
Yuba Sutter Race Dialogues book discussion, February 21, featuring So You Want to Talk about Race, by Ijeoma Oluo. Our annual Scholastic Art & Writing Regional Award Ceremony will be held on February 22. Go to yubasutterarts. org for more on these and other upcoming events.
(Paper Mache is a weekly column about the arts community by David Read, director of Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture.)