TOM IKEDA, FOUNDING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DENSHO
The World War II Japanese American Incarceration and Why it Matters Today
Co-sponsored by JAA-NY and JACL-NY
Please join us for a special evening with Tom Ikeda of DENSHO, the most comprehensive educational resource and online data base on the the Japanese American Incarceration during World War II. For this talk, Tom Ikeda will discuss his work with Densho, as well as how immigration bans and discriminatory laws affected his family and the relevance of that history in today’s political climate..
“The World War II Japanese American Incarceration and Why it Matters Today” 2018 marks the 76th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans. Densho executive director Tom Ikeda will discuss how this injustice happened during a time of fear and how we are seeing similar fears appearing in America today. Tom will also describe how forced removal from their home and incarceration in an American Incarceration Camp affected his Gold Star Japanese immigrant grandparents.
Tom Ikeda is a third generation Japanese American who was born and raised in Seattle. Tom’s parents and grand-parents were incarcerated during World War II at Minidoka, Idaho. In addition to leading the organization of Densho over the last 21 years, Tom has conducted over 250 video-recorded, oral history interviews with Japanese Americans.
He has received numerous awards for his historical contributions, including the Humanities Washington Award foroutstanding achievement in the public humanities, the National JACL Japanese American of the Biennium award for Education, and the Microsoft Alumni Integral Fellows Award.
Densho is a Seattle-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, educating, and sharing the story of World War II-era incarceration of Japanese Americans in order to deepen understandings of American history and inspire action for equity. Densho is a Japanese term meaning “to pass on to the next generation,” or to leave a legacy.