They Called Us Enemy: Special Book Event with Illustrator Harmony Becker
Friday, March 27, 2020
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. @ the Center
Free and open to the public. Donations welcome!
Purchase your copy in advance to pick up at the event for $25(Sales tax included)
RSVP: programsevents@jcccnc.org
We are excited to present to you a special book event and speaker panel featuring illustrator Harmony Becker on George Takei’s New York Times best selling graphic novel memoir, They Called Us Enemy. The book chronicles actor George Takei’s childhood experience being forcibly removed with his family during WWII and placed in a horse stall at Santa Anita Racetrack. They were later taken to Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas and then to the segregation center at Tule Lake in Northern California. Takei, known for his role as Hikaru Sulu on the original “Star Trek” series, conveys his experiences during four years spent behind barbed wire in a graphic novel format accessible to younger generations and those beyond the Japanese American community who experienced the wartime incarceration firsthand. “They Called Us Enemy” is a work that invokes themes of family, identity, displacement and political issues that have shaped Takei and the United States from the 1940s to the present day.
Illustrator Harmony Becker will speak on her work on George Takei’s memoir, and the process of visually portraying such a profoundly impactful experience in her illustrations. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask Harmony about her own connection to the subject matter in the memoir, as well as her work as a comic artist and illustrator.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. Do not miss this opportunity to hear firsthand from the artist who worked directly to portray the life experiences of one of the Japanese American community’s most recognizable figures! Space is limited, so please RSVP to programsevents@jcccnc.org.
Praise and Awards for They Called Us Enemy
- New York Times bestseller list
- Winner, 2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature
- Named one of the Best Books of the Year by Amazon, NPR, New York Public Library, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, IGN and Forbes
- Selected byt he LA Times Book Club
About Harmony Becker:
Harmony Becker is an artist and illustrator from Columbus, Ohio and is currently based in Mexico City. She is the creator of teh comics Love Potion, and Anemone and Catharus. She is a member of a multicultrual family and has spent time living in South Korea and Japan. Her second graphic novel, Himawari House, will be released in 2021 by First Second Books.