On Saturday, June 25 at 7:00 p.m., Part I of the documentary film-in-progress, Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice will be screened at the Wing Luke Museum, 719 So. King Street. Following that, a distinguished, multicultural panel will take up some of the civil rights issues raised by the film in terms of issues we face today in the wake of tragedies in Orlando and Boston: Lori Bannai, the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality; Tom Ikeda, founder and Executive Director of Densho; Eddie Rye, Washington State Civil Rights Coalition; Fé López, OneAmerica; and Tarek Dawoud, the Interfaith and Outreach Committee at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound. There will be an opportunity for the audience to participate with questions and comments after the panel.
As Minoru Yasui himself explained, in regard to his work on redress for the World War incarceration of over 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry:
From the standpoint of history I think I’d like to have the American people realize that when you subjugate, when you suppress or oppress any group of people. You are really derogating the rights of all people because if you could do it to the least of us then you can indeed do it to all of us and it is not in our advantage. If there is suffering or pain that is unfairly imposed upon anyone it’s my duty, it’s is your duty to try to alleviate it because that’s the way in which we gain a better life for all of us. I go back to the fundamental rights of all American citizens. I should be just as eager to defend your rights as I am my own because your rights impinges upon mine. They take away your rights they could take away mine so I will fight to preserve yours …
Seating is limited for this special event, so please contact organizers in order to make a reservation: [email protected] or [email protected].
