NCRR has continued to sponsor the Bridging Communities (BC) program since its inception. In 2009 we partnered with JACL’s then-Regional Director to write a CCLPEP grant for a program that would bring Japanese American and American Muslim high school youth together to learn about each other”s history, culture, beliefs and communities.
    
NCRR had a history of work with the American Muslim community since 2001 and the idea for this program grew out of that work along with the participation of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage. Shakeel Syed of the Shura Council expressed the hope that the young people could continue to build connections throughout the year and not just at Manzanar. CAIR, JACL and NCRR were the early sponsors of the program which now also includes Kizuna, a new organization that has taken a lead in organizing programs for youth.
    
Last year we decided to work with youth who had either participated in BC before or one of Kizuna’s or CAIR’s youth programs to try to include an action-oriented part to the program where the youth could deepen their understanding of each other’s communities by working together. They created a video on stereotypes, planned a basketball clinic for younger children, participated in distributing food and health products to homeless in Orange County and shared what they learned by leading the parents and guests in some of the workshops.

This year we are going back to the original curriculum and invite high school aged youth to apply for the program. The program consists of seven very interactive sessions beginning on February 9 at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and culminates on June 8 at the Islamic Center of Orange County. All the sessions begin at 9AM and end at 1PM except for the trip to Manzanar in April. For more information and to apply, please visit:  http://www. kizuna-la.org/programs/bridging-communities/
    
Bridging Communities is not a program that most Japanese American youth would normally be exposed to but all have learned a lot by participating in it and have moved on to other programs offered by Kizuna and others groups in the community. Some of the participants were children of NCRR members. Both Keisho Maehara, son of Meg Imamoto and Aki Maehara as well as Alina Nakano, daughter of Erich and Sandra Nakano and granddaughter of Bert and Lillian Nakano, participated in both BC 1 and BC 2. Alina shared some of her thoughts about Bridging Communities: “My years in BC taught me a lot about both my culture as well as American Muslim culture. I also learned a lot about the daily struggles of American Muslims after 9/11. BC is special because I learned about these struggles and American Muslim culture from my American Muslim peers, so it was more real to me than it would have been otherwise. BC also taught me that we shouldnít try to ignore or differences, but appreciate them.”
    
Because the program runs on a shoestring with one part-time coordinator and representatives from each of the groups who help develop the curriculum and run the workshop, each organization is responsible to raise $1000. This year we hope to raise the funds with a new Bridging Communities T-shirt, designed by David Monkawa. We plan to have order forms available at the Day of Remembrance program on February 16.

If you would like to support the Bridging Communities program now, please send your donation to NCRR. We still have the DVD, “Passing Down the Legacy” made by Marissa Kitazawa and Alexandra Margolin.  You can request a copy of the DVD for a donation of $20.