Fourth annual Day of Remembrance at SJSU emphasizes activism and solidarity

"What we found was just shocking, heart (and) gut-wrenching, just to see, wow, what our students did or what our university did to our own neighbors, our own people. In 1942, Yoshihiro Uchida Hall, which used to be the university's men's gymnasium, was used as a registration center for Japanese Americans in Santa Clara County before they were sent to the incarceration camps."

"Feb. 19 nationally commemorates the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, a 1942 decree that ordered the removal of all people of Japanese descent from the West Coast to camps in remote areas of California, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Arkansas. San Jose State held an event on that day to acknowledge the Japanese American experience and the campus' connection to it."

"The discovery of this history led Nina Chuang, then a San Jose State student, to lead the "Never Again Is Now" project, which aims to commemorate the history of Japanese American incarceration by establishing the annual Day of Remembrance at the university and acknowledging institutional responsibility with a mural on one of the walls of Uchida Hall and a monument."

San Jose State University held a Day of Remembrance event on February 19 to commemorate Executive Order 9066, which forced Japanese Americans from the West Coast to incarceration camps in 1942. The university's former men's gymnasium, Yoshihiro Uchida Hall, served as a registration center where nearly 3,000 people of Japanese ancestry were processed, including approximately 125 SJSU students. The discovery of this history prompted the "Never Again Is Now" project, led by former student Nina Chuang, which established the annual Day of Remembrance and created institutional acknowledgment through a mural and monument. A panel featuring Gordon Yamate, Yvonne Kwan, and Vanessa Hatakeyama discussed community work, interracial solidarity, and activism under the theme "Neighbors, Not Enemies."

Read at The Mercury News