Short Film Screening of Lil Tokyo Reporter and SF Book Launch of A Rebel's Outcry: Biography of Issei Civil Rights Pioneer Sei Fujii
Community Co-Sponsor: Little Tokyo Historical Society
In collaborative support with USC APAA Bay Area, in honor of 1911 USC Law alumnus Sei Fujii, and APAA Scholar Jeffrey Gee Chin’s collaboration with Fumiko Carole Fujita
Thursday, December 2, 2021
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Doors open at 6:15pm
In person at the Center
$5 Center Members / $10 General Public
Pre-order your copy of A Rebel's Outcry for pickup!
All book proceeds donated to the Little Tokyo Historical Society
$50 - Hard Copy
$60 - Signed Copy of Book and Bonus J. Marion Wright Biography
Please note that in order to protect the health and safety of all of our guests, staff and volunteers, we will be observing the Center’s COVID-19 safety protocols and will be requiring ID and proof of full vaccination for all attendees. Masks must be worn indoors at all times with the exception of when eating or drinking. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation to help make tonight’s public gathering possible.
Panelists: Director and Publisher Jeffrey Gee Chin; Dr. Karen Korematsu, Founder and Executive Director, Fred T. Korematsu Institute; and Kenji Taguma, Editor, Nichi Bei Weekly
Moderator: Miya Iwataki, Vice President, Little Tokyo Historical Society
Celebrate the Book Launch of the Biography of Issei Civil Rights Leader Sei Fujii with a screening of Lil Tokyo Reporter
Special guests include director/publisher Jeffrey Gee Chin, Little Tokyo Historical Society Board Members, and community activists
The Center is pleased to welcome publisher and director Jeffrey Gee Chin to present the new book, A Rebel's Outcry: Biography of Issei Civil Rights Leader Sei Fujii (1882-1954), published by the Little Tokyo Historical Society. The book presentation will be accompanied by a screening of Chin's short film on Sei Fujii, Lil Tokyo Reporter.
A Rebel's Outcry recounts the life and legacy of Sei Fujii, Issei civil rights activist and founder of the bilingual Kashu Mainichi (The Japan California Daily News). Fujii was a man who fought to build unions, led campaigns for racial unity, and overturned two major supreme court cases, despite being targeted as an “Enemy Alien” during WWII. The book includes historical photographs, documents, and original artwork.
In 2013, Jeffrey screened his first narrative short film "Lil Tokyo Reporter" which stars Academy Award-Winner Chris Tashima as Civil Rights Leader Sei Fujii. The film breathes life into the world of 1930’s Los Angeles and the Fujii's journey as a Japanese newspaperman who must fight the corruption within his own community. The film won over 21 awards and screened with the U.S. State Department in South Korea, China, and Japan. Jeffrey has also led many projects to honor Fujii’s legacy through Historic Designation, building a Memorial Lantern, publishing of a Graphic Novel and Biography, and successfully petitioning for his Posthumous Law License.
Pre-Order Your Copy of A Rebel's Outcry for Pick Up!
In addition to your tickets to the film screening, place your order to pick up your copy of A Rebel's Outcry at the Center! All proceeds from book orders will be donated to the Little Tokyo Historical Society.
Prices:
$50 - Hard Copy
$60 - Signed Copy and Bonus Biography "J. Marion Wright: Los Angeles' Patient Crusader (1890-1970)" on the decades-long advocacy by J. Marion Wright, Los Angeles attorney, for equal rights for the Japanese community. His persistence and ability to work effectively with the community led to significant change and eventually the repeal of the Alien Land Law in 1952. Written by his daughter Janice Marion Wright LaMoree.
About Jeffrey Gee Chin
Jeffrey Gee Chin grew up in Marin County and is an Honors Graduate of UC Berkeley's Film Studies and MFA Alumnus of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. His mission is to share the untold stories of immigrant pioneers who have changed the fabric of the United States.
In 2005, Jeffrey traveled to China with the Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco’s In Search of Roots Program. Eleven Chinese-Americans were chosen to visit their ancestral villages in Guangdong Province. Jeffrey produced a documentary on the journey; excerpts were screened on ABC's Good Morning America.
In 2009-2013, Jeffrey directed the flagship new media documentaries for Angel Island Immigration Station, the "Ellis Island of the West" promoting the narratives of immigrants from China, Russia, Philippines, and India. His documentaries screened on San Francisco Government Television and at the Walt Disney Family Museum.
Commercially, Jeffrey directed Sam’s Club and AECOM National spots, edited an Emmy Nominated SFGovTV episode, VFX Supervised a Student Academy Award Finalist “Drone” (VFX Supervisor), and directed a Hite Jinro sponsored short.
From 2016-2019, Jeffrey assisted and 2nd-Unit directed for Director John Singleton, working on commercials, and television shows “Billions” (Showtime) and “Snowfall” (FX). Singleton mentored Jeffrey in his process to bring under-represented communities to the forefront of media.
Jeffrey’s first feature film "Mosagallu", a heist film that traces two siblings who scam America for over $381 million dollars – based on true events. This production is one of the first U.S.-Tollywood Co-Productions and stars some of the most celebrated talent in South India.
About Karen Korematsu
Dr. Karen Korematsu is the Founder and Executive Director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute and the daughter of the late civil rights icon, Fred Korematsu. Since her father’s passing in 2005, Karen has carried on his legacy as a public speaker, educator and civil rights advocate. She shares her father’s passion for social justice and education and in 2009 established the Fred T. Korematsu Institute to advance racial equity, social justice and human rights for all. The Institute’s work has expanded from K-12 civic education to promoting Public civic engagement and participation. Karen crisscrosses the country speaking to audiences from Kindergarten to Judges and inspiring and promoting Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution of January 30.
Karen’s work extends to advocating civil liberties and social justice for all communities and addresses current issues that draws upon lessons of the past. She has presented to Teachers College Columbia University, NY, New York and since 2012, the National and State Councils for the Social Studies and was Co-chair of the Annual National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, 2017.
She has signed on to amicus briefs in several cases opposing violations of constitutional rights arising after 9/11, including Odah v. United States, Turkman v. Ashcroft, Hedges v. Obama, and Hassan v. City of New York and Hawaii v. Trump in 2018.
In 2015, Karen was inducted as the first non-lawyer member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She serves on the board of directors of Advancing Justice-AAJC and NAPABA Law Foundation. Karen has been interviewed on radio, podcasts and TV. Her Op/Ed’s have appeared in the NY Times and Washington Post. Karen has received numerous awards and honors including GMNY 2015 Isidore Starr Award, Muslim Advocates-Voice of Freedom Award; the “Key to the City of Dearborn, Michigan”; and the ACLU-Chief Justice Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. In May 2019, Karen received the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) Community Leadership Award, Washington, DC.
Karen received her first honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont in May 2019. By invitation: University of CA, Berkeley, School of Law for CA Law Review- Published essay: Karen Korematsu, L.H.D., Carrying on Korematsu: Reflections on my Father’s Legacy, WOMEN & LAW, page 95, (2020) (joint publication of the top sixteen law reviews).
About Kenji Taguma
Award-winning journalist Kenji G. Taguma, a native of Sacramento, Calif., is the founding president of the Nichi Bei Foundation and Editor-in-Chief of its community newspaper, the Nichi Bei Weekly.
As the Nichi Bei Times closed in the summer of 2009, Kenji led the movement to create the Nichi Bei Foundation, an educational and charitable nonprofit organization which launched the first nonprofit ethnic newspaper of its kind in the country, the Nichi Bei Weekly.
Kenji also serves as the Executive Producer of the Foundation’s Films of Remembrance, an annual showcase of films related to the Japanese American incarceration during World War II, which has been held in San Francisco and San Jose Japantowns, Sacramento and New York City. He also led the launching of the Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage and a pilgrimage to the former Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, the first large settlement of Japanese in America. In 2011, he helped launch the Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival, an annual fundraiser for the Nichi Bei Foundation with an eye on community-building and leadership development.
Prior to his work at the Nichi Bei Times, Kenji was the Community Information Officer at the Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission of the City and County of Sacramento. While at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), Kenji also published his own Asian American newspaper, the AsiAmerican Journal. He also organized numerous forums dealing with issues such as hate crimes, affirmative action, an anti-immigrant ballot initiative and ethnic studies. In October of 1998, Kenji received the distinguished Alumni Honors Award from CSUS.
In 1999 Kenji received the Community Service Award from New California Media for an article that documented the struggle for redress by Japanese American railroad and mine worker families, whose family heads were fired from their jobs during World War II at the hands of the U.S. government. Less than two months after the story ran, the victims were granted redress from the U.S. government.
In May 2013, he was awarded a Consul General Award from Consul General of Japan in San Francisco Hiroshi Inomata, for his distinguished achievements in contributing to mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and California.
About Miya Iwataki
Miya Iwataki helped build Serve the People programs inspired by the Black Panther Party with JACS Asian Involvement in Little Tokyo, the first Asian movement center in the 60s-70s, and lived in a political collective in Boyle Heights. She was director of the first Asian Women’s Center; was sponsored by the United Nations NGO to the UN Decade for Women Convention in Nairobi, Kenya; and fought for Redress/Reparations with NCRR. Poet, writer, KPFK-FM Radio host; Rafu Shimpo columnist - her life experiences have informed her cultural and political activism. She is currently Vice President of Little Tokyo Historical Society, working to preserve the legacy and cultural soul of Little Tokyo in the face of gentrification.
About Little Tokyo Historical Society
LITTLE TOKYO HISTORICAL SOCIETY was launched in 2006 by members of the Little Tokyo community including nonprofit organizations, business owners, activists, residents, researchers and history buffs. LTHS is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit all-volunteer organization committed to documenting Japanese American and Japanese history and heritage through various means such as discovered archival collections, vintage photos, and advocating for Historical-Cultural monument designations, and dedicated naming sites. LTHS shares its findings through exhibits, publications, video, programs and workshops.
Today, LTHS provides a place for those who want to learn more, share family histories, and defend the legacy of LT. Join LTHS and become a part of the living narrative ensuring the existence of Little Tokyo as the cultural soul of the Japanese American community.
For more information on LTHS programs and activities, visit their website at: https://www.littletokyohs.org/
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The USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association (USC APAA) connects and supports USC alumni of Asian Pacific origin/descent, encompassing ethnicities from Asia and the Pacific Rim, with the university and one another lifelong and worldwide through meaningful and relevant programs.
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With more than 437,000 members worldwide, the USC Alumni Association (USCAA) supports more than 100 affiliated alumni clubs, alumnae support groups and multicultural and generational alumni communities. The USC Alumni Association has a full-time staff headed by the Associate Senior VP for Alumni Relations and is advised by the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors.
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