COVID-19 and JACL operations and resources |
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JACL's physical offices remain closed. Staff continue to do the work of the organization remotely. Please direct all phone calls to our Washington, D.C. Office at (202) 223-1240 and we will get back to you as quickly as possible. Otherwise, we will all be available via email. All staff emails can be found HERE. You can also check our website, jacl.org, for updates and COVID-19 resources. You can view our resources page here. Stay safe everyone and we hope to see you all in person again soon. - JACL National Staff |
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This Week! Support the Japanese American Confinement Education Act Hearing! |
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This Thursday, May 27th, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands will be holding a hearing on the Japanese American Confinement Education Act! The hearing will be at 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET and you can follow the button below to watch the hearing the day of. We're also asking our members to show their support for the bill by submitting their own testimony. Click the button below to visit our website to find a letter template and example letter for you to submit. When you've completed your letter, please send it to us at policy@jacl.org by June 3rd, at 5:00pm ET so we can compile the letters to send to Congress. |
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Tomorrow! Meet and Greet with Japanese Ambassador Koji Tomita - May 26, 2021 |
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73rd Annual Memorial Day Service |
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2021 Virtual Kakehashi Program Applications Due This Week! |
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Each year, between 100 and 200 participants are selected to participate in the JACL Kakehashi Program, coordinated by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE), and supported by funding from the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These participants travel to Japan in the spirit of cross country and cultural exchange, with the added component of connecting Japanese American young adults with their Japanese family's heritage. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this year's program will consist of a smaller Virtual Exchange of 92 participants with Japanese college students from the prefectures of Gifu, Okinawa, and Wakayama. If conditions permit, and a trip to Japan becomes possible during this current funding year, participants accepted to the virtual program will be automatically eligible to participate in the physical trip. If spaces remain or become available due to conflicts for selected individuals, additional participants may be selected from a waitlist, or applications may be accepted for further consideration to fill the opened slots. There is no guarantee of a physical trip and participants in a virtual-only program this year will remain eligible to apply to a future Kakehashi trip or similar program sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For answers to these questions, please refer to the Kakehashi Program information page and FAQs linked HERE. Submit your application no later than Thursday, May 27th at 11:59pm Hawaiian Standard Time for priority consideration for the 2021 Kakehashi Program. |
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Stamp Our Story Virtual Dedication of the Go For Broke Stamp on June 4! |
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A virtual dedication will happen on June 4th through Stamp Our Story’s YouTube Channel and involve cities nationwide. Follow Stamp Our Story on Facebook or their website to find more information for the virtual dedication. |
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Booktalk with Olympic Medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani! |
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Tuesday, June 8th at 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET Come join JACL and Politics and Prose Live for a discussion with Olympic medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani about the latest book in their KUDO KIDS series, THE MYSTERY IN MANHATTAN! Learn more and RSVP below! In this second installment of the Kudo Kids series, middle schoolers Mika and Andy head off to New York City with their parents for Spring Break. Plans of visiting historic landmarks, eating delicious food, and catching up with their Aunt Kei and cousin Jenny are on the agenda while their sports reporter mom covers March Madness at Madison Square Garden. But their Big Apple adventure turns rotten when a dress that their Aunt Kei designed goes missing on their watch right before her first fashion show. Told in alternating perspectives from puzzle-loving Andy to photography-focused Mika, this fast past and fun mystery will not only test the siblings’ power of observation but their ability to work together as a team. |
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2021 JACL National Convention Updates! |
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This year's convention theme is "Communities Forged Under Fire" representing the long history of not only the Japanese American community's struggles throughout our history but the struggles of many marginalized communities from immigration and colonization to the fight for civil rights and beyond. The 2021 Virtual National Convention will take place from July 15-18, 2021. The virtual convention will include National Council sessions, as well as the usual breakout sessions and workshops that are hosted during convention. More information around the virtual convention and registration will be announced soon! For Convention Committees, Chapters, and Members: Credentials, Resolution, and CBL Forms are now available on the JACL webpage! You can find them below along with the guidelines and due dates for each form! Here is our At a Glance Schedule for the 2021 National Convention! |
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"Healing Fractured Communities: Coming to Terms with Systemic Trauma" Webinar now on YouTube! |
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On behalf of the presenters, panelists, and JACL Staff we all wish to thank you for attending our "Healing Fractured Communities: Coming to Terms with Systemic Trauma" Webinar. We hope you all enjoyed the discussion as much as we did, and we too wish there was more time in the day to make the webinar even longer. We hope to continue these conversations in the future with our members and partner organizations. Please follow and subscribe to JACL on YouTube, social media, and our weekly digest, to stay up to date on what we have in store for the future. In the meantime, you can now watch the recording on YouTube! Check out the video description for links to other organizations mentioned in the webinar. |
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Legacies of Heart Mountain: Japanese American Origin Stories |
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Thursday, May 27th at 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET Join USJC for the first installment of “USJC Reads,” in which USJC President Suzanne Basalla will sit down with Friend of the Council Shirley Ann Higuchi, author of Setsuko’s Secret: Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration, and Council Leader David Ono, who produced the documentary film The Legacy of Heart Mountain. They will explore the personal stories that led them to produce an Emmy Award-winning film and write a book about the Japanese Americans imprisoned in Heart Mountain incarceration camp during WWII, the effects of intergenerational trauma and discovery, and the painful lessons that still resonate today. Kenichiro Mukai, Minister, Head of Chancery, Embassy of Japan in the United States, will offer special remarks. |
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"Our League of Dreams - Documentary of the JACL" Fundraiser |
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JACL National and film producer Lane Nishikawa have agreed to work together to produce the first educational documentary film about the 90-year history of the JACL.
OUR LEAGUE OF DREAMS received a $25,000 Japanese American Community Foundation Grant Award through the assistance of the San Diego Chapter JACL. This will cover the costs of shooting in the first five cities. We need your help to meet our production budget goals. Lane has mapped out seventeen cities that he would like to shoot interviews. Your individual donation or JACL Chapter donation will go a long way towards helping us achieve our goals. We will make sure that your names are prominently highlighted in the end credits of the film.
Once the film is completed, JACL National and Lane will work with any JACL Chapter that wants to hold a public film screening event in their city to fundraise for their chapter, to educate their youth, and network to new audiences for potential new members. |
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Congress Passes COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act |
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JACL applauds the bipartisan passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and, as with the Senate companion bill, the inclusion of the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act (Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act). This legislation will improve the process for reporting and responding to hate crimes both with the Federal government and through local law enforcement. It will also make available resources to impacted communities and for education to help prevent the prejudice that leads to hate crimes. We look forward to working with Attorney General Garland as the Department of Justice recommits to prioritizing the mitigation of hate crimes and in support of impacted Asian American communities. As community-based reporting sites have demonstrated an explosion of incidents in the past year, this legislation will help the Federal government to catch up with what many in our impacted communities already know, that hate crimes and incidents are far more widespread than existing reporting systems would indicate. We thank Congresswoman Meng, Senator Hirono, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus for their leadership in the passage of this bill and to President Biden for indicating his intent to sign it into law. We also recognize the 498 Representatives and Senators who voted in favor of this legislation providing an overwhelming majority in support of Asian and other communities that are targeted by hatred and bigotry. |
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AARP AAPI Heritage Month Events |
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"If Only We Dare” – From the Harada Story to Ending Asian Hate |
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What: “If Only We Dare” – From the Harada Story to Ending Asian Hate.
Panel discussion with 6 leaders about anti-Asian hatred, its history, and its exacerbation since the pandemic. Learn practical actions anyone can undertake to help end racial hatred and violence.
Who: Sponsored by the Museum of Riverside, Inlandia Institute, and the Harada House Foundation. Moderated by Dr. Robyn G. Peterson, Director, Museum of Riverside. Introductions by Al Zelinka, City Manager, City of Riverside.
When: Thursday, June 10, 2021, 6-7:30 pm.
Where: Online, via Zoom |
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Oregon Japanese American WWII Veteran's Stamp Dedication |
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JACL Anti-Hate and Hate Crime Resources For resources, toolkits, articles, and more about anti-hate programs and hate crimes, you can visit our page on JACL.org by clicking the link below. |
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Healthcare.gov Available through August 15! |
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There’s a new Special Enrollment Period that allows you to sign up for or change health insurance through August 15, 2021, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This Special Enrollment Period is available to residents of the 36 states that use HealthCare.gov. (If your state runs its own Marketplace, check their website. Most states are offering similar options to enroll.) After you fill out and submit your application at HealthCare.gov, you have 30 days to enroll in a plan. Coverage starts the first day of the month after you enroll. For example, if you enroll any time in March, your coverage starts on April 1. You may qualify to save money — most people do! In fact, 9 out of 10 people who enroll are eligible for savings. Millions more people can find plans for lower premiums due to the COVID relief law. In fact, 4 out of 5 can find a plan for $10 or less after savings. |
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JACL Young Professionals Caucus -Professional Development Contact List Survey |
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The Young Professionals Caucus (YPC) is an affinity group within the JACL for self-identifying young professionals and provides a space for sharing experiences, building and deepening relationships, and collective growth through monthly virtual community spaces, innovative inter-chapter programming, and open forums for uplifting advocacy, resources, and encouraging direct action and dialogue. We would appreciate you completing this survey about your current and past professional and individual experiences. We plan to compile an internal contact list for our members and potential/future members. Your participation in this survey will help YPC develop future programming. Providing information is voluntary and the information collected will only be used internally within JACL. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete. |
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H.R. 40 Updates and Join in Support |
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Last Wednesday, April 14, the House Judiciary Committee voted for the first time in the bill's 30 year history to advance H.R. 40 to the House floor for a full vote! This is a monumental step in bill's life and a start towards righting another wrong in our nation's history. JACL Executive Director, David Inoue, discusses JACL’s support of H.R. 40. H.R. 40 would create a commission to examine the institution of slavery, its legacy, and make recommendations to Congress for reparations, beginning a process of repairing and restoring after centuries of enslavement. Click the image above to watch the full video statement. |
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"Black + Japanese Reparations" Virtual Event Series and Book Club |
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Help find a Bone Marrow Match for Paul and Kazumi! |
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