REDRESS: The Inside Story of the Successful

Campaign for Japanese American Reparations

Author John Tateishi in dialogue with award-winning journalist Wendy Tokuda

Saturday, March 21, 2020  2-4pm —to be rescheduled

J-Sei, 1285 66th St, Emeryville

Co-presented by Berkeley JACL and J-Sei

Redress is the story of a community reckoning with what it means to be both culturally Japanese and American citizens; how to restore honor; and what duty it has to protect such harms from happening again. This book has powerful implications as the idea of reparations shapes our national conversation.

Redress is the unlikely but true story of the Japanese American Citizens League’s fight for an official government apology and compensation for the imprisonment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

Author John Tateishi, the leader of the JACL Redress Committee for many years, is the first to admit that the task was herculean in scale. The campaign was seeking an unprecedented admission of wrongdoing from Congress. It depended on a unified effort but began with an acutely divided community: for many, the shame of “camp” was so deep that they could not even speak of it; money was a taboo subject; the question of the value of liberty was insulting.

Book talk, sales, signing, and light refreshments.

RSVP requested to jill@j-sei.org.  Or call 510-654-4000.

John Tateishi, born in Los Angeles, was incarcerated from ages three to six at Manzanar, one of America’s ten World War II concentration camps. He studied English Lit at UC Berkeley and attended UC Davis for graduate studies. He played important roles in leading the campaign for Japanese American redress, and as the JACL director, used the lessons of the campaign to help ensure that the rights of this nation’s Arab and Muslim communities were protected after 9/11.

Wendy Tokuda  (Guest Moderator) is an award-winning journalist who worked as a primetime anchor in local TV news for almost 40 years, primarily in the Bay Area. Her signature series, “Students Rising Above” grew into a non-profit that is now helping send low-income students to college. it won both a Peabody and a National Emmy for Public Service. Wendy was the first prime time Asian American anchor in the bay area and reported widely on the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

 

 

Heyday is an independent, nonprofit publisher founded in 1974 in Berkeley, California. We are a diverse community of writers and readers, activists and thinkers. Heyday promotes civic engagement and social justice, celebrates nature’s beauty, supports California Indian cultural renewal, and explores the state’s rich history, culture, and influence. Heyday works to realize the California dream of equity and enfranchisement.  More on Heyday.