Join Densho for a virtual Lunch & Learn program on Tuesday, June 16, 12-1 pm PT exploring our oral history program and ongoing work. Densho’s oral history program has always evolved in response to the Japanese American community and its needs. This virtual event explores what our work looks like as we enter the post-witness era, in which former incarcerees are passing or no longer with us. In this moment, Densho remains committed to documenting firsthand accounts related to the WWII incarceration, recording the experiences of those who were children during the war as well as those who grew up in its aftermath.
This public program offers insight into Densho’s recent oral history work, including 25 new oral history interviews and recently-launched initiatives. We are excited to feature guests from our Los Angeles-based interview team, including Glen Kitayama and Evan Kodani, as well as scholar Michael Omi, who was himself interviewed by Densho. Our guest speakers will be joined by Densho Oral History Program Manager, Virginia Yamada, and the program will be moderated by Densho Senior Development & Communications Manager Jennifer Noji. This project and public program was made possible by the generous support of a California Civil Liberties Public Education grant.
About the panelists:
Michael Omi is professor emeritus of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. He is the co-author of Racial Formation in the United States (3rd Edition, 2015) and co-editor of Japanese American Millennials: Rethinking Generation, Community, and Diversity (2019). He was the inaugural chair of the Asian American Research Center (AARC) and a recipient of UC Berkeley’s prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award.
Glen Kitayama is a retired schoolteacher and is the Vice Chair of the Manzanar Committee. His MA thesis on the Redress Movement was the foundation of the book NCRR: The Grassroots Struggle for Japanese American Redress and Reparations.
Evan Kodani is a yonsei documentary filmmaker and the Manager of the Japanese American National Museum’s Watase Media Arts Center. Past film projects include the Emmy winning Masters of Modern Design, Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement, One Fighting Irishman, and most recently, Misadventures of a Nisei Week Queen.
Photo courtesy of Brad Shirakawa.
