Weekly Digest
January 17, 2023

Batter Up: A Conversation about Asian American Representation at MLB

In partnership, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) are proud to present a panel discussion, "Batter Up: A Conversation About Asian American Representation at MLB". This event will feature celebrated leaders, who will discuss their own career paths, the importance of representation in leadership, and how to increase diversity among players, fans, and stakeholders in baseball. Viewers will also learn about JACL’s critical work in civil rights advocacy and how they partner with other organizations to achieve these goals.

This webinar will be moderated by Shane Barclay, Owner and President of Japan Ball.

Panelists Include: 

• CJ Widenhouse: Senior Director, Legal and Business Affairs at MLB
• Darrell Lampa: Director, Talent Acquisition at MLB
• Jane Son: Co-Head, Foundation & Community Engagement at New York Mets
• Katherine Cheng: Vice President, People & Culture and DEI at Seattle Mariners
• Stephen Nelson: Host/Play-by-Play at MLB Network & NHL Network

SoCal JACL Chapters Installation Luncheons

San Diego JACL February Monthly Community Dialogue 

Call to Action: Protect Minidoka National Historic Site!

From Friends of Minidoka: 

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project in south-central Idaho was released by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on January 13, 2023, and sent to the EPA for approval. It will be published in the Federal Register on January 20. The public comment period starts this Friday, January 20, and will end at 11:59 pm MDT on March 21, 2023. For more information about the Lava Ridge proposal, see additional posts on the Friends of Minidoka site linked below. 

• View the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) from BLM Here

• Submit your comments to the BLM. Click the link below for tips on submitting effective comments.

• When you submit your comments to BLM, please cc or email your comments to info@minidoka.org.

2023 JA Community Foundation Grants Due This Week!

2023 grant opportunities from the JA Community Foundation are available now through January 20th! Click below for grant guidelines and further details on how to apply. 

First Ever National Strategy to Advance Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for AANHPI Communities from the White House

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is releasing its first-ever National Strategy to Advance Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) Communities. The new strategy, which comprises action plans prepared by 32 federal agencies—including all 15 executive departments in the President’s Cabinet—builds on the Administration’s broader equity agenda and details much needed investments in AA and NHPI communities and priorities, including data disaggregation, language access, and combatting anti-Asian hate.

Asian American Law Journal at Berkeley Law 2022-23 Symposium 

On behalf of the Asian American Law Journal at Berkeley Law, we would like to invite you to attend our annual symposium, entitled "Let's Get Going!": Lessons from the Young Lawyers Who Overturned Korematsu, Hirabayashi, and Yasui.

The Symposium will be held on Saturday, January 28, 2023 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the coram nobis case overturning Korematsu v. United States, in which SCOTUS upheld the Japanese internment during World War II. In honor of this day, AALJ is hosting a panel of the original coram nobis attorneys including our keynote speaker, Lorraine Bannai (Korematsu), Dale Minami (Korematsu), Peggy Nagae (Yasui), and Rodney Kawakami (Hirabayashi). Other panelists include: the Hon. Judge Mary M. Schroeder, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, Quyen Ta, Eric Yamamoto, and our closing speaker, Karen Korematsu. The first panel will discuss the coram nobis cases, and the second panel will discuss their present-day relevance and political lawyering today. We look forward to a robust discussion about the historical context of these cases, the fragility of our modern civil rights, and the continued relevance of and parallels with Korematsu (i.e., Trump v. Hawaii). 

The symposium will take place in-person at the East Pauley Ballroom, University of California at Berkeley, on Saturday, January 28, 2023 and will include lunch at 12:00 PM. Coffee will be served throughout the event. 

Please RSVP individually before 12:00 PM on Saturday, January 21, 2023 if you plan to attend so that we have an accurate headcount for catering purposes. Additionally, please let us know of any dietary restrictions and/or preferences in the space below. If you plan on bringing another guest, please ensure they individually RSVP.

Call for Day Of Remembrance Events!

As we're coming up on Day of Remembrance, JACL is once again asking all of our chapters and supporters to send us information on any events that you know of so that we can share it with the wider membership and Japanese American community! 

Please send any information you have on your DOR events, including date(s), times, any website/social links, and images/flyers you might have! We'll continually update the listing so if you currently only have some information and are still waiting on more, send us what you have and we can update the event page. The event page and calendar will be made available later. 

Send any program information you have to Education and Communications Coordinator, Matthew Weisbly at mweisbly@jacl.org

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

Work with our friends at Heart Mountain

Heart Mountain is currently looking for a new Executive Director and a new Collections Manager. Full descriptions and application information for both roles can be found on the Heart Mountain website below.

Asian American Mental Health Website Study

2023 JACL National Scholarship Applications Available Now!

Scholarship Program guidelines, instructions, and applications have been posted on the JACL website, www.jacl.org, and can be accessed by clicking the “Youth” tab on the menu bar. You may also click the button below "To Learn More or Apply Click Here."

Following previous years, the application forms for the scholarship program will be completely online. Freshman applications must be submitted directly by the applicant to National JACL through the online form no later than March 6, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (HST).  

Applications for the non-freshman scholarship categories (undergraduate, graduate, law, creative/performing arts, and financial aid) are also to be sent directly by the applicant to National JACL through the online form no later than April 3, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (HST).  

All those applying to the National JACL Scholarship Program must be a youth/student or individual member of the JACL; a couple/family membership held by a parent does NOT meet this requirement. Applicants must be enrolled in school in Fall 2023 in order to be eligible for a scholarship. If a student has received two National scholarship awards previously, they are no longer eligible to apply as the limit is two national awards per person.

Manzanar Commitee Announces 8th Annual Sue Kunitomi Embrey Student Awards Program for K-12 Students

Photo: Some of the winners of the Fifth Annual Manzanar Committee Student Awards Program. Photo by Jason Fujii/Manzanar Committee

LOS ANGELES — On December 4, the Manzanar Committee announced their Eighth Annual Sue Kunitomi Embrey Student Awards Program, a creative works program in which K-12 students may submit essays, short stories, poetry, works of art, including drawings, collages, posters, and works involving technology, including animation, podcasts, movies, or videos.

Winning entrants will receive up to $100.00, and their work will be recognized during the Manzanar Pilgrimage and may be published in the Pilgrimage program, on the Manzanar Committee’s website (https://manzanarcommittee.org), in the Sue Kunitomi Embrey Student Awards printed program, and in the Manzanar Committee’s newsletter, the Manzanar Messenger. The Manzanar Committee will determine the final award amounts.

All submissions must be postmarked no later than February 23, 2023. Winners will be contacted shortly after that date.

Program information and application forms can be downloaded at:

https://manzanarcommittee.org/program-details-application

Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution

JACL Arizona Chapter - First Annual Essay Contest and Upcoming Korematsu Day

JACL-AZ held its 1st Annual Student Essay Challenge in 2021.  It was the vision of one of our board members to provide students with the opportunity to study and develop excellent writing skills while learning about their heritage.  HS topic: “What does it mean to be an American? Norm Mineta Legacy Project.”  Elementary/Middle School topic: Share a story about a family hero or the heroes in your life.  We are very proud of three students that won:  Erika Germinario was our first-place winner in the HS division; Josh Tominaga was our 2nd place winner in the HS division.  Ema Saliba was our first-prize winner in the 8th-grade division.  In addition to their cash prizes, they each enjoyed creating a wonderful video about their individual feelings of excitement as they studied and wrote about their experience.  (Videos available below to view)  A celebration was held during Golden Week at the Japanese Friendship Garden this past April. 

Erika Germinario 

 Watch Here

Joshua Tominaga

Watch Here

Ema Saliba

Watch Here

The families of each student are very proud and excited.  There was an expression of gratitude and appreciation to JACL - AZ for everything members and volunteers do for the community and for inspiring the next generation!

We were also happy to announce the 2nd Annual Essay Challenge recently.  In memory of Norm Mineta, we continue to honor him in our essay challenge.  High School students have the option of learning about the life of the distinguished career of Norm Mineta by visiting http://minetalegacyproject.com.  HS Students also have the option to choose to write about Fred Korematsu and visit the Korematsu Institute at: https://korematsuinstitute.org to learn about Fred Korematsu, who challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066. Arizona celebrates Fred Korematsu Day: Jan. 30, 2023.

Essays due Feb. 3, 2023.  Please note that essays must be anonymous for judging purposes.
Refer to https://bit.ly/JACL22Essay to apply and submit your essay. Deadline Feb 3, 2023, 11:59 PM
For more details, visit jaclaz.org.

JACL is Hiring!

JACL is hiring for a new position in the San Francisco National Headquarters Office! 

Director of Finance/CFO

• Regular - 32 hours/week 
• Location: San Francisco, CA (Hybrid/work from home schedule available)
• The Director of Finance/CFO is responsible for the financial health of the organization with an annual budget of $2 million and growing. JACL has a diverse source of revenues from membership dues, charitable contributions, corporate sponsorships and partners, annual convention, grants, and a newspaper with advertising revenue.

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