Dear JACL Members, Friends and Supporters, The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) announces the appointment of Stephanie Nitahara as Interim Executive Director, effective as of Monday, April 3, 2017. We are grateful for her commitment to the community and willingness to step up in a variety of roles over the…
The Japanese American Citizens League will host the 48th Annual National Convention, “Our Story: Resilience, Remembrance, Resolve,” in Washington D.C. from July 6 -9. In remembrance of the 75th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, which forced 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry into incarceration camps…
Dear JACL Members, Friends and Supporters, The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) announces that Mr. William Yoshino will be retiring at the end of this month after 38 years of distinguished service. We thank him for his incredible dedication and humble leadership of the JACL and the Asian Pacific American…
Contact: Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org William Yoshino, JACL Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) continues to oppose executive orders that are based on racism and xenophobia. Yesterday, the White House issued an “Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry…
Press Release Contact: Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org William Yoshino, JACL Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) condemns the recent threats to the Jewish community, including threats targeting community centers and the vandalism of cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia. Over 100…
Join us for the 48th National JACL Convention July 6–9, 2017 Omni Shoreham Hotel 2500 Calvert St, Washington, DC 20008 Getting Ready Links will be added as documents become available View the schedule [updated June 22, 2017] Register online Online registration will close 5:00 pm PDT on Friday, June 30. Reserve your…
Contact: Bill Yoshino, JACL Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org As we pause to remember the significance of the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, we recall the personal injustice and personal hardship it imposed on the 120,000 men, women, and…
Contact: Bill Yoshino, JACL Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) vehemently objects to the recent executive orders related to immigration. Whether they concern building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, threatening to increase deportations by the granting…
Press Release: Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org Bill Yoshino, JACL Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is concerned by the recent Executive Order that confirms the Administration’s policy “to seek the prompt repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” The…
Press Release: Bill Yoshino, Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org JACL mourns the passing of Angus Macbeth who served as Special Counsel to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) and headed its staff. The CWRIC report, Personal Justice Denied, and its recommendations formed the basis for the Civil…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Bill Yoshino, Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org During an interview on FOX News, Carl Higbie, co-chair and spokesperson for the Great America PAC for Donald Trump, discussed the possibility of creating a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries by saying “…We did it in World War II with…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Bill Yoshino, Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org JACL fully understands the protests of despair that have arisen in the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump as president. We especially understand the voices that denounce the unabashed racism that was evident during the campaign, and we add our…
Press Release Contact: Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org Bill Yoshino, Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org Washington, D.C. – The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is disturbed by a recent segment during The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News that employed a number of offensive stereotypes regarding Asian Pacific Americans. In…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Bill Yoshino, Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org JACL mourns the passing of Congressman Mark Takai. We are grateful for Rep. Takai’s support for issues affecting the Asian American Pacific Islander communities. In 2015, during the 50th anniversary commemoration of…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Bill Yoshino, Interim Executive Director, byoshino@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org In 1982, a federal commission issued its report on the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. The report was titled Personal Justice Denied to…
Application Deadline extended to Monday, August 1, 2016. Daniel K. Inouye and Norman Y. Mineta Fellowships Inouye and Mineta Fellows will work out of the JACL National office in Washington D.C. and be responsible for the following: Staff and monitor key legislative initiatives and issues relevant to the AAPI community.…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Jeffrey Moy, Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org Dear JACL Members, Friends and Supporters, The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) announces the appointment of Bill Yoshino as Interim Executive Director as well as the appointment of Stephanie Nitahara as Interim Associate Director, effective as of Thursday, June…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President of Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org Dear JACL Members, Friends and Supporters, The Japanese American Citizens League announces that Ms. Priscilla Ouchida has resigned as Executive Director effective as of yesterday, Tuesday, June 14, 2016. We thank her for her service and for leading…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Jeffrey Moy, JACL Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League mourns the loss of innocent lives in the horrific attack on a nightclub serving the LGBTQ community in Orlando, Florida. In a larger sense, this was not an attack solely on the LGBTQ community, but…
Apply now for the 2016-2017 JACL Kakehashi Program! Up to 200 participants will be selected to participate in this year’s JACL Kakehashi Program, coordinated by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE), and supported by funding from the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal of the JACL Kakehashi Program…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) condemns the proposal by a prominent presidential candidate where it was stated that law enforcement should “patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.” The deadly and heinous attacks in Brussels clearly demonstrate the concern…
March 21, 2016 Press Release Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org The National Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) joins with its affiliates, the JACL Northern California Western Nevada Pacific District Council and the JACL Florin Chapter as well as the Coalition to Support McClatchy Students Against Racism and Bullying in…
Join us for the 47th National JACL Convention Monday, July 11, 2016–Thursday, July 14, 2016 Monte Carlo Hotel 3770 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109 Sponsored by: Getting Ready Online registration is closed (or by mail). For each person registered, $25 will go towards funding the National Student Youth Council!…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization, has always stood with those working to create institutional change. In the case of the tragic death of Akai…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org Washington, D.C. – Manzanar. Tule Lake. Topaz. Granada. Rohwer. Jerome. Most people would see these words and not know their meaning. For Japanese Americans, these places are seared into their collective consciousness. These are the places where my family was imprisoned during…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org Washington, D.C. – Over sixty leaders from the Asian American community gathered today at the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, D.C., to counter recent political rhetoric and express support for Muslim, Sikh, Arab, and South Asian American communities. The…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org Jeff Moy, Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) condemns the dangerous and irresponsible Islamophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric being used to vilify and demonize Muslim and Arab communities. Several public figures have stoked simmering fears around national…
Earlier today, Roanoke, VA Mayor David Bowers cited the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans as justification for refusing aid to Syrian refugees. JACL Executive Director Priscilla Ouchida condemned Mayor Bowers’ comments in a statement released by the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director,…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director pouchida@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) applauds President Obama for awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the late Minoru “Min” Yasui for his dedication in fighting for civil and human rights. Yasui challenged the constitutionality of a military curfew order during…
Savannah, GA – The “Good Luck Soup Interactive,” an interactive documentary and participatory storytelling project, documents the experience of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians before, during and after WWII Internment Camps, launches October 6th. The virtual community and interactive website will allow Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians the ability to…
PRESS RELEASE: Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org As the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is proud of our legacy, the important contributions of our leaders, and the unique opportunity we have to…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director pouchida@jacl.org September 22nd is National Voter Registration Day! At a time when most Americans can register to vote with the click of a mouse, the Japanese American Citizens League remembers the past and present generations of JACLers that fought discrimination at the polls…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director pouchida@jacl.org Craig Shimizu, Inouye Fellow japanprogram@jacl.org Apply now for the 2015-2016 Kakehashi Project! Up to 185 students will be selected to participate in this year’s Kakehashi Project, coordinated by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE), and…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org Bill Yoshino, Midwest Regional Director, byoshino@jacl.org During the early 1990s, Japanese Americans and Asian Americans were targeted and became unwitting victims in the wake of a spate of “Japan-bashing,” resulting from an economic downturn coupled with a strengthening Japanese economy and their…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director pouchida@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, Vice President for Public Affairs jmoy@jacl.org General Wesley Clark’s call for internment camps for “radicalized” Muslims is troubling. In 1988, the United States apologized to Japanese Americans for the injustice of summarily incarcerating our community during World War II. It…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director pouchida@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) expresses outrage at Justice Clarence Thomas’ comments in his dissenting opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, the same-sex marriage decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court last Friday. In his opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “The…
In 1994, JACL became the first non-LGBTQ organization after the ACLU to support marriage equality. JACL Regional Director Bill Yoshino was featured in an NBC News article chronicling JACL’s early support of LGBTQ rights. Click here to read the article on NBCNews.com!
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director pouchida@jacl.org Jeffrey Moy, Vice President for Public Affairs jmoy@jacl.org The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) renews its call on the Department of Homeland Security to end its family detention program that has led to the building of detention facilities for women and children in…
JACL is currently accepting applications for the Norman Y. Mineta Fellowship, Daniel K. Inouye Fellowship and Mike M. Masaoka Congressional Fellowship. Each paid Fellowship will last for a period of at least one year and is located in Washington, D.C. For questions, please email policy@jacl.org, or call 202-223-1240. JACL is seeking one Mineta Fellow…
As the nation’s oldest and largest Asian Pacific American civil rights organization, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is deeply disturbed by recent attempts to dismantle affirmative action policies in higher education and opposes anti-affirmative action movements that use Asian Pacific Americans as their mascot. Last November, an organization called…
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, JACL Executive Director policy@jacl.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The Japanese American Citizens League is pleased that over 450 artifacts crafted by Japanese Americans while unjustly incarcerated during World War II have been withdrawn from public auction. Priscilla Ouchida, JACL Executive Director, stated: “We sincerely hope…
The 46th National JACL Convention will be held July 13–15, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
JACL is in Selma, Alabama this weekend to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 voting rights demonstrations and marches that led to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act. The JACL delegation is attending the events with Todd Endo, a longtime JACLer who participated in the demonstrations in…
Honouliuli, located in a gulch in central Oahu, was used during World War II to imprison Japanese community leaders and their families. The monument will preserve a forgotten but important part of American history about the treatment of thousands of Americans living in Hawaii.
Houston, TX – The Art of Gaman exhibit continues its nationwide tour and will be on display at the Houston Holocaust Museum from January 29th to September 20th, 2015. AARP and JACL members who show their membership cards will receive $4 off general admission tickets. Viewed by nearly half a…
In 1965, JACL members joined fellow activists in Selma, Alabama to participate in the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches that led to the passage of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. This act, which outlaws various forms of discrimination in voter registration and at the polls, was prompted in…
Washington D.C. – Pending the President’s signature, over $2.9 million for Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) Grants have been approved for Fiscal Year 2015 with the passage of the 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Bill through Congress. The bill, which packages many of the smaller appropriations bills into a single larger bill,…
Washington D.C. – On Saturday November 8th, a number of students and young professionals took part in a youth summit hosted by the JACL National Youth/Student Council (JACL NY/SC) held at George Washington University in Washington D.C. Themed “A Seat at the Table: Having a Voice in the Discussion on Racism…
Featured in this week’s digest: 2017 JACL National Convention Highlights! JACL NY/SC Mentorship Program at National Convention Apply Now for JACL Fellowships in Washington, D.C. National Park Service Announces Recipients of 2017 Japanese American Confinement Site Grant Apply Now for Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Spoken Word/Video Workshops! Local Spotlight: JACL…
JACL is currently accepting applications for the Norman Y. Mineta Fellowship, Daniel K. Inouye Fellowship and Mike M. Masaoka Congressional Fellowship. Each paid Fellowship will last for a period of at least one year and is located in Washington, D.C. For questions, please email policy@jacl.org, or call 202-223-1240. JACL is seeking one Mineta Fellow…
In this week’s digest: Register Now for JACL National Convention! JACL Mourns the Loss of Mike Lowry JACL NY/SC Youth Delegate Campaign Register now for Family 2.0: An API LGBTQ Gathering Local Spotlight: JACL D.C. Co-president Interviewed by Comcast Makers Local Spotlight: Join JACL on May 24th, 6:45-9:00pm in D.C.…
In this week’s edition of the Weekly Digest: JACL Legacy Project Deadline Extension May 8th Deadline for Legacy Grant is May 1st JACL and OCA Hosts Successful Leadership Summit JACL Joins 24 Civil Rights Groups Denouncing Bannon Action Alert: Urge the Office of Management and Budget to Support the Collection…
