 Dr. Maher Hathout wins LA Human Relations Commission’s Award.
Dr. Maher Hathout was awarded the LA County Human Relations Commission John Allen Buggs award on October 5th at the Biltmore Hotel. Click here to read more.
 Rei Osaki will be sorely missed.
Rei Osaki, a core NCRR member passed away in December after a brief illness. Rei had been an active member since NCRR’s Day of Protest march in 1989. Click here to read more.
 Education Committee to Conduct Teacher Training Workshops.
NCRR’s Education Committee had a very active 2006. In the first half of 2006 Stand Up For Justice, the Ralph Lazo docudrama... Click here to read more.
 Alan Nishio, a founding member of NCRR retires after 34 years at Cal State University, Long Beach. The event was held on September 22, 2006 at the Point in the Walter Pyramid. Click here to read more.
 A Victorious Day
The Orange County DA’s office dismisses Kurt Isobe’s case
At Saturday, September 16th/s fundraising event in Little Tokyo for Kurt Isobe and his impending retrial, the Isobes announced to over 100 supporters that the Orange county District Attorney’s office dismissed the case Friday. Click here to read more.
 Kurt Isobe, his father Craig Isobe, and NCRR member Evelyn Yoshimura attended NCRR’s June general meeting. Kurt, a personable, young student who was arrested at a rally against the Minutemen Project in Orange County, came to NCRR’s general meeting to talk about his arrest last year and the result of his recent trial. Click here to read more.
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The deadline for summer activist training has been reached and the SAT workshop will take place June 29th to July 2nd. More information here:
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 Day of Remembrance 2006 "Claiming History: Justice Along Color Lines". Click here for more info.
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 NCRR will miss Tom Hayashi
Tom Hayashi joined NCRR recently but with a great deal of energy. It seemed as if he just appeared out of nowhere but in reality, Tom had been speaking out for justice his whole life...read more.
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 James Yee is a third generation Chinese American and a 1990 graduate of West Point. In 2001, Captain Yee was commissioned to be a Muslim chaplain...read more.
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 NCRR's 25th Anniversary Luau
• NCRR worked tirelessly to build a grassroots movement in the Japanese American community to seek reparations for the incarceration during World War II....read more
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 Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress honored by LA County Human Relations Commission.
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Why it's Important to Remember Day of Remembrance, by Lillian Nakano. |
2005 Day of Remembrance;
When Loyalty is Questioned...from Tule Lake to Guantanamo by Kay Ochi. Click here for details.
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 Bruce Iwasaki Receives
State Bar’s Top Honor. Bruce Iwasaki, a longtime NCRR member, was awarded the 2004 Loren Miller Legal Services Award, the State Bar’s highest honor, on Oct. 5, 2004. Click here for details.
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 “Communities Under Siege: Keeping the Faith”
Fourth Break the Fast Event Working with the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, Centenary Methodist Church, Great Leap and Youth for City Arts, the NCRR 9/11 Committee organized this year’s Break the Fast in Little Tokyo. Click here for details.
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 NCRR Education Committee On the Road with Stand Up For Justice
2004 has been a busy year for the NCRR Education Committee. The film about Ralph Lazo premiered at the Los Angeles Day of Remembrance event in February. Click here for details.
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Reparations Sought by Deportees.
Unknown to most Americans, more than a million Mexican Americans in the United States were illegally deported to Mexico in the 1930s. Click here for details.
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 Campaign for Justice Gears Up for 2005 Campaign for Justice (CFJ) is still seeking to complete the mission of redress for Japanese Latin Americans (JLAs) and Japanese Americans who were denied redress during implementation of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (CLA). Click here for details.
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The Last Redress Court Case? Last December 8, in what may be the last redress court case, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard arguments in Los Angeles on Robert Murakami’s appeal of the government’s denial of his redress claim. Click here for details.
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Japanes e Americans in Pre-WWII Valley Are Focus of CSUN Exhibit
Tuesday, November 30th at Cal State Northridge. Click here for details.
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Black Reparations Modeling his bill after the Japanese American bill, Congressman John Conyers introduced HR 40 in 1989 to study the issue ofreparations for African Americans. Click here for details.
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Update on the Little Tokyo Recreation Center. Half of a Los Angeles City property has been purchased for the Recreation Center. The City needs to aquire the 2nd half of the proposed site, but it is a start.
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 On Friday, October 8th 2004, the film Stand Up For Justice was shown at Cal State University at Long Beach. Click here for details.
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 Little Tokyo Interfaith Event
With a Buddhist incense offering and Islamic call to prayer, more than 200 people gathered last week in Little Tokyo to break bread with Muslims during their holy season of Ramadan and strengthen bonds among diverse faith communities.
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The Future of Iraq - A Muslim American Perspective: When the American media covers the U.S. war in Iraq, it’s always from the American government’s perspective. We heard from a community whose views are often ignored, yet which plays a unique and important role in the discussion on the Middle East and in U.S. society. Click here for more info, and for photos of the event.
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 Manzanar Center Opens April 24th, 2004
More than 1,200 attended the opening of the historic interpretive center at the Manzanar National Historic Site. The dedication of the $5.1 million center was held in conjunction with the 35th annual Manzanar Pilgrimage. Read more...
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NCRR Legislative Positions
• Support for the Black reparations bill
• Support for the Mexican reparations bill
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 'Stand Up For Justice' Screens at DOR
A maximum capacity audience filled the seats of the Aratani Japan America Theater Saturday night for the screening of "Stand Up For Justice: The Raph Lazo Story," a 30-minute film detailing the story of a Mexican/Irish- American who volunteers to live with his Japanese Ameri- can friends in the Manzanar internment camp. Read more...
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Follow up on the "Stop the Erosion of Little Tokyo story".
The Little Tokyo Community Council consisting of over 50 businesses, churches, community organizations, neighborhood arts councils, local policing volunteers, libraries, banks, museums and theatre arts groups had been meeting since March, 2003 regarding a jail and other city facilities in Little Tokyo. The TLCC organized community meetings to notify the Little Tokyo community folks about the potential choices for the jail, Parker center, and other City Public safety facilities metro site. Read more here. |
 Break the Fast 2003
A third Breaking the Fast event was held at Senshin Buddhist Temple on November 15th, 2003. The event was presented by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Great Leap and Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress. Read more...
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 Stand up for Justice
It is a breathtakingly clear, crisp December morning at Manzanar, California, four and a half hours from Los Angeles, in the Eastern Sierras. Our hardy band of actors, crew, and volunteers — swaddled in down, thermals, mufflers and mittens — are arrayed around the historic white obelisk with the stark black Nagasa that is familiar to all who have seen photographs of this historic site. The wind is slight, but still biting cold. Read more...
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 In Memorium
After a long and hard battle with Parkinson's Disease, Bert Nakano passed away Saturday, Sept. 27, in Gardena. He is survived by his wife Lillian, son Erich and his wife Sandra and his two beloved grandchildren Alina & Gabriel, along with many relatives and good friends, all who will miss him deeply. Read more... |
Stop The Erosion Of Little Tokyo
At a hurriedly-called community meeting held at the Japan America Theater in Little Tokyo on May 12, 2003, officials of the City of Los Angeles, laid out their plans for a new Parker Center (police headquarter, detention center/jail, fire station and emergency center. Read more... |
 University Of Wyoming Hosts Heart Mountain Draft Resisters
Two members of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee (FPC) spoke at the University of Wyoming’s Organization of Active Students Interested in Sociology conference held on April 25-26, 2003. Read more... |
 Who was Ralph Lazo
Before Stand Up for Justice was filmed, members of the NCRR Education Committee, including director/scriptwriter John Esaki, interviewed some of Ralph’s friends. What was Ralph like? Why did he go to Manzanar? What were his feelings about the internment? Because Ralph died in 1992, the Read more...
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 Manzanar 2003
I am here as a member of the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR) which is made up of people who hold regular jobs and volunteer their time to work on redress and civil rights issues. I am also here as a schoolteacher with students from Central High/ All Peoples, so I would like to speak Read more... |
 2003 Day of Remembrance
The Day of Remembrance was commem-orated Saturday in Little Tokyo with a program entitled “Race Prejudice, War Hysteria, Failure of Political Leadership: Then & Now,” presented by Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR), Japanese American Citizens League/Pacific Southwest District (JACL), and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), at JANM’s George & Sakaye Read more... |
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 Catching up on the History of Little Tokyo
On February 8, 2003 members of the Nikkei Student Union of UC San Diego toured Little Tokyo with members of NCRR. The tour was led by Tony Osumi and Jim Matsuoka, who provided an in depth account of the many events that has shaped this historic community during the Read more... |
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| Legislative Alert |
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 Japanese Internee Denounces Racism and War
Interview with Frank Emi
Frank Emi is a Japanese American who was a leader of the Fair Play Committee, a group formed in the U.S. detention camp at Heart Mountain, Wyo. during World War II. He and 85 other Read more... |
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 PRESS CONFERENCE
Representative Mike Honda Questions why the Republican party has not criticized pro-internment statements. Community groups reiterated calls for Coble to step down. Read more...
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| Vote “No”on the Recall on October 7 & Don’t Throw Up Your Hands—Vote No on Prop 54 Read more... |
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2003 Fighting Spirit Award
 Janice Harumi Yen, community activist and founding member of NCRR, has been selected as the recipient of NCRR’s Fighting Spirit Award for 2003 based on her over 22-year commitment to redress and reparations, and her many contributions to NCRR and the community. Yen will be honored at the Day of Remembrance program Read more... |
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Historic Lazo Docu-Drama Begins Filming
 Stand Up for Justice, a docudrama about a young Latino who goes to Manzanar concentration camp with his Nisei friends, started filming with train sequences, at the train museum in Fillmore California on November 23, 2002. and continued with filming at Manzanar, the former camp Read more...
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 The NCRR 9/11 Committee Continues to Build Links
Over the past year the NCRR 9/11 Committee has continued to build links with the Arab American, American Muslim and South Asian communities. On September 9, the committee was recognized “for exemplary contribution towards promoting peace, justice a Read more... |
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NCRR OPPOSES PREEMPTIVE WAR IN IRAQ
Letter written to Senators Feinstein and Boxer:
Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR) is a Japanese American community organization that helped to lead the movement for redress for Japanese Americans (Nikkei) who were excluded from the West Coast and incarcerated during World War II. NCRR can speak to the greatness Read more... |
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 “Breaking the Fast” event held
Building Ties and Understanding
A Cultural Exchange between the Muslim American Community and Japanese American Community Read more... |
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 First Street North Still Only Viable Location for Rec Center
Despite the assurances of renowned architect Hayahiko Takase that the Little Tokyo Recreation Center could be built underground in such a way that it will not disrupt the planned Central Avenue Art Park or create additional noise for East West Players, elitist forces Read more... |
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 NCRR Supports Suspended Assi Supermarket Workers
NCRR sponsored a car wash on January 4 to support 56 workers who were suspended on August 1, 2002, from their jobs at Koreatown's Assi Supermarket. Assi Market owner Daniel Rhee claimed their "indefinite Read more...
Update: In August 2003, several of the fired workers found new jobs, but the picketing continues every Friday in front of the Assi market.
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Keeping Redress Alive!
 NCRR continues to work with Campaign for Justice, Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans! Efforts to push the Wartime Parity and Justice Act of 2001 have gotten bogged down, and Campaign for Justice (CFJ) is looking into how to reenergize our supporters in Congress. This legislation would Read more... |
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"Not in our name" Mr President!
 NCRR Speaks out at “Not in our Name Rally” Sunday,
October 6, 2002 in a speech given by NCRR’S Wilbur Sato
Japanese Americans have experienced the tragedy, the horror, and the pain of preemptive action by the military. We know how under the hysteria of war Read more... |
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THE USA PATRIOT ACT AND THE WORLD WAR II INTERNMENT CAMPS: “NEVER AGAIN!”
An Educational Forum sponsored by the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress 9/11 Committee
MARCH 1, 2003 - 2:00 PM
Japanese American Cultural Community Center, Room 410
244 South San Pedro Street Read more... |
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An NCRR Statement: Remembering August 10, 1988
August 10, 1988, was a historic day, for it symbolized hope that our country has perhaps learned a lesson about protecting the rights of its citizens and other residents during times of great crisis. It should be remembered by Japanese Americans and all Americans as much as February 19, 1942. August 10 was the date on which the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (CLA) was signed into law, which was our... Read more... |
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Redress and the Recreation Center
 Open Forum Commentary: An NCRR Statement.
The redress and reparations campaign and the current campaign to build a recreation center in Little Tokyo on First Street North have a lot in common. When the Rafu Shimpo surveyed the community on the question of whether people wanted individual compensation, an... Read more... |
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Why Little Tokyo Needs a Gymnasium (And Not Just an Art Park)
 Open Forum Commentary: By Bill Watanabe.
The battlelines for debate are drawn and are clear—does Little Tokyo need an Art Park (with no gym on it) or would Little Tokyo better be served by a smaller Art Park with a multi-court gymnasium on it? The Public Hearing called by Councilmember Jan Perry which took place on June 20, 2002 at the... Read more...
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Architect Unveils New Rec Center Plan
Hayahiko Takase, project architect for the Little Tokyo Recreation Center, unveiled a new concept that would place the gymnasium complex underground at First Street North at a meeting Tuesday of the Little Tokyo Community Council held at the Japanese American National Museum. Takase, whose projects include the Kajima Building, Higashi Hongwanji Temple and New Otani Hotel. said the new plans came... Read more... |
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27 Graduate From Summer Activist Training Another successful Summer Activist Training was held at the end of June with 27 young people who were eager to learn more about organizing and community work. Some of the youth came from as far away as Philadelphia, Penn. and were involved with an organization called Asian Americans United in the Chinatown area. More people applied for the training this year and we expect an equal number next year as activism among young people increases. The SAT was sponsored by five... Read more...
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NCRR 9-11 Committee - Remembers & Connects
Since the candlelight vigil in Little Tokyo, the NCRR 9/11 Committee has been actively developing closer relationships between Muslim and Arab American community organizations. Aside from the “Break the Fast” event at Senshin Buddhist Temple, in early December we joined the Burbank/Glendale chapters of MPAC at a picnic in Sierra Madre. Reverend Mas Kodani invited the attendees to the Senshin obon in July and a few were able to join the dancing. Read More...
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 Memorial Service For Fred Okrand
A memorial Service was held for Fred Okrand on April 21, 2002 from 1 to 4pm. The Service was held at the Japanese American National Museum at 369 East 1st Street in Los Angeles.
Phone: (213) 625 0414) - Read More...
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 2002 Day Of Remembrance Ceremony Links WWII Camps And September 11 Tragedy
The standing-room-only audience of young and old at Saturday’s Day of Re-membrance listened intently, almost sto-ically through the varied two-hour pro-gram at the Japanese American National Museum yet there was no mistaking the silent undercurrent - a deep, Read More... |
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 Liberties & National Security?
1942- 2002: What lessons can we learn from the WW2 Japanese American experience? Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR) 9/11 Committee and the American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee invite you to a thought-provoking discussion on the relationship between civil liberties and national security. Since the horrific ... Read More
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 "Breaking Fast" with Muslims
Set for Senshin Temple – Saturday, December 8th 2001. A "Breaking of the Fast" will be held at Senshin Buddhist temple, located that at 1311 West 37th Street, Los Angeles, on Saturday, December 8th, from 4:00 p.m.. This program is part of a series of the events being organized by the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR) September...Read More
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 Little Tokyo Honors Terrorist Victims With Candlelight Vigil
An estimated 250 people participated in a candlelight vigil and memorial ceremony Friday night in Little Tokyo to pay tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackers in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the passengers and crew aboard the plane that crashed in western Pennsylvania. Read More...
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 Japanese American Delegation to Cuba Reports Back to Community
For 10 days this past August, 17 Asian Americans from Los Angeles went somewhere few Americans have seen first hand: Cuba. The recently returned delegation sponsored by Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR) will share their impressions of Cuba and details of exchanges with the Cuban Japanese community on Sunday, Read More...
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 32nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage
The 32nd annual pilgrimage to the Manzanar National Historic Site, held on April 4th, at the site of the former World War ll U.S. concentration camp for American residents of Japanese ancestry, saluted Topax (Utah) and Gila River (Arizona), two of the 10 War Relocation Authority camps.
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 NCRR’s Ayako Honored At Kiwa Dinner
NCRR members filled two tables at the 9th annual Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates (KIWA) dinner to applaud Ayako Hagihara as she received a KIWA Solidarity Award. Ayako, co-chair of NCRR, was honored for her work in support of KIWA and for her organizing work in the Japanese American community.
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 Victory At Elephant Snack Corner Benefits All Workers In Koreatown
For what seemed like forever, NCRR members received Tuesday e-mails from KIWA’s Liz Sunwoo stating something to the effect, "Come to the Elephant Snack picket this Friday at 6pm—umbrellas provided if it rains!" The reminders also included news about the owner’s desperate tactics to avoid paying eight former workers of Korean and of Latino descent their back wages.
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 Alan Nishio Honored With NCRR’s Fighting Spirit Award!
Alan Nishio, a founding member of NCRR, was honored at the 2001 Day of Remembrance program on Saturday, February 17, at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. |
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 2001 Day of Remembrance Commemorated in Los Angeles
Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR), the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) held a Day of Remembrance on Saturday, February 17, to commemorate the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942.
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 NCRR Joins Tokyo Group to Report on Landmark Settlement
On Dec. 17, NCRR members Kathy Masaoka and Ayako Hagihara joined the Hanaoka Support Committee in Tokyo at a public forum, attended by over 100 supporters and the former workers’ family members from Beijing.
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 The Struggle for Redress Continues
Over the last few years NCRR has been working with members of the Japanese American Bar Association to develop strategies and file redress cases.
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 Bratt Deserves a Legal Defense Fund
Imagine being the target of an intense three-and-a-half year investigation by the Department of Justice’s inspector general into every aspect of your work and personal life. How would it feel to be interrogated by the IG for an entire week and to have your name and good reputation smeared in the national press by the unsubstantiated accusations of a disgruntled former employee?
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