“Contested Narratives: History, Politics & Community Action” featured moderator Cherstin M. Lyon (far right) and panelists (from left) Erica Naito-Campbell, Frank So, Kevin Hatfield and Eliza E. Canty-Jones.
Portland marks the 10th anniversary of Minoru Yasui Day.
By Kurt Ikeda, Director of Programs and Engagement for Go For Broke National Education Center
When I received the invitation to perform poetry at the 10th anniversary of Minoru Yasui Day at the Oregon Historical Society in downtown Portland on March 28, I sat with it for a moment.
Portland is a city I carry with me. About six years ago, I served as education manager at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon, and that experience continues to inform the community member I am today.
JAMO’s Elissa Dingus presents the first place award to student Katharine Abbott.
I owe deep gratitude to Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong and Elissa Dingus for their leadership in expanding our community partnerships at JAMO. Portland’s Japanese American community raised me up in ways I’m still discovering.
Standing in the very city where Min Yasui deliberately walked into the streets on March 28, 1942, to defy an unjust military curfew, as someone who has spent years interpreting the legacy of incarceration, first as a park ranger at Minidoka National Historic Site and now as director of programs and engagement at Go For Broke National Education Center — I felt the weight of the moment.
Minoru Yasui Day
Attorney Peggy Nagae, who represented Min Yasui, speaks.
Pacific Citizen readers know Yasui’s story. The Hood River native who became the first Japanese American member of the Oregon Bar. The man who challenged Executive Order 9066 and paid for it with solitary confinement and incarceration at Minidoka. The lifelong civil rights champion who became the first and only Oregonian to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. In 2016, the Oregon Legislature unanimously designated March 28 as Minoru Yasui Day in perpetuity. This year marked the10th anniversary of the observance, and it landed alongside the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The timing was not lost on anyone in the room. Being back in Portland also meant feeling the absence of those no longer with us. Notably, my heart goes to Holly Yasui, Min’s daughter, who taught me with her fiery passion for preserving her father’s legacy.
I carried the memory of community members like artist Valerie Ohtani and Minidoka survivor George Nakata, people whose lives embodied the spirit of service and resilience that Min championed. Their legacies were very much alive in that room.
‘Contested Narratives’
The program, co-hosted by the Minoru Yasui Legacy Project, JAMO and OHS, centered on a keynote and panel titled “Contested Narratives: History, Politics & Community Action.”
Southern Oregon University Professor Cherstin M. Lyon delivered the keynote before moderating a panel with Eliza E. Canty-Jones, Kevin Hatfield, Erica Naito-Campbell and Frank So.
The conversation was urgent, examining how federal policies continue to determine which American stories survive and which are quietly removed.For our community, the discussion was personal.
Winners of the annual Minoru Yasui Student Art Contest were also recognized, and following the program, attendees joined Yasui family members in OHS’s exhibition “The Yasui Family: An American Story.”
Poetry and Reflections
Kurt Ikeda presents his poetry during the Minoru Yasui Day event.
I was honored to close the program with two original poems. My writing for this performance borrowed a poetry style from Portland poet Ken Yoshikawa, whom I had the privilege of sharing the stage with years earlier in a production depicting Portland’s historic Japantown, written and directed by renowned artist Chisao Hata.
The first piece was written in real-time during the hourlong panel discussion and borrows many phrases by the panelists themselves.
The second piece, titled, “Cross Examination — State of our Nation vs. Yasui,” was written in the style of a crossword puzzle’s prompts. Attendees got to see the crossword fill itself on the screen asI recited the poem.
A Survivor’s Reflection
I’ll leave you with the words of Minidoka survivor Joni Kimoto, who attended the event.
“Uncle Min, I called him that, when he came to visit my parents in Chicago in ’46-’47. As a kid, I didn’t realize his impact on me as a woman who would follow his immense courage, bravery, moral conviction and champion of democratic ideals of justice for the JapaneseAmericans!”
What would Min Yasui do? I think he’d tell us the answer has always been the same: Show up, speak up and never stop.
The link to view the event by the Minoru Yasui Legacy Project is available at https://www.youtube.com/live/WwY8LzrUwfI.
