Bridging Communities Program 2010
Anaheim, CA: To help instill an understanding of the magnitude of incarceration of Japanese Americans and broader civil rights movement in the US, CAIR-Los Angeles launched the high school Bridging Communities Program (BCP), now in its second year, in partnership with the Japanese American Citizens League and the Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress through funding from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
The Muslim students engaged with Japanese American students for five Saturday sessions over a five-month period.
Through workshops, students were challenged to define their identity, explore culture and religion, history and activism, as well as develop an understanding of how this knowledge of history can become the tools for leadership and activism in their own community.
The program culminates with the pilgrimage to Manzanar coordinated by the Manzanar Committee ( http://www.manzanarcommittee.org/) as well as a final animation project that narrates stories form their experience throughout the program.
A CAIR press release asks community members to read student experiences at http://bridgingcommunities09.wordpress.com/
The press release states: We encourage you to apply to the Bridging Communities Program 2010. BCP 2010 is an amazing opportunity to build new friendships, experience history outside of your classroom and have lasting memories that shape your American identity. This is your opportunity to toss the United States history book for live history in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo, Manzanar internment camp and interact with camp internees who were incarcerated at one of the 11 concentration camps across the US.
For applications, contact dsohn@jaclpsw.org, or visit Bridging Communities Program 2010
Affad Shaikh, Civil Rights Manager, writing in this regard, states:
Greetings of Peace,
In the past four years, CAIR-Greater Los Angeles Area has spearheaded efforts in Southern California to bring together Japanese American and Muslim American communities through an annual pilgrimage to the Manzanar internment camp (also commonly called ' concentration camp'), where more than 10,000 innocent Japanese men, women, and children were held against their will.
The goal of the pilgrimage is to relive the Japanese American incarceration experience by remembering the struggles of this minority during World War II, reflecting on the causes that led to the mass incarceration, and draw on the historical lessons which, in some aspects, were also shared by American Muslims after 9/11 attacks.
PLEASE SEE: Manzanar Documentary 2008
ALSO SEE: Lost Dream Restored to Japanese American Family ( Los Angeles Times)
To further instill an understanding, among the youth, of the horrors of the Japanese American incarceration and the broader civil rights movement, CAIR-Los Angeles launched the high school Bridging Communities Program (BCP), now in its second year, in partnership with the Japanese American Citizens League and the Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress. Funding came from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
I hope this message inspires you to actively engage with American history. I encourage you to join us on the 41st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, urge high school youth to participate in the Bridging Communities Program 2010, and additionally visit the Japanese American National Museum in February for the "Day of Remembrance" event -- an event that commemorates the day President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 to incarcerate 120,000 Japanese Americans.
