The US Imprisoned California Kids in World War II. Heart Mountain Bears the Scars
This week marks the anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 in 1942. The presidential order led to the forced evacuation and incarceration of more 120,000 people of Japanese descent on the West Coast during WWII. Japanese Americans were forced into ten different camps, from California to Arkansas. Many people from LA, Santa Clara, and San Francisco were sent to Heart Mountain in Wyoming. We speak with Anna Sale, who recently traveled to Heart Mountain to talk with former incarcerees and their family members, for an episode of her podcast Death, Sex & Money.
‘Swingposium’ Celebrates Music in Japanese American Incarceration Camps...With Taiko
We talk to Franco Imperial, Artistic Director of San Jose Taiko, which has a unique touring show that tells the hidden history of one way Japanese Americans maintained morale in the camps: through swing dancing. “Swingposium” is an interactive performance that merges live big band swing music with taiko drumming.
DACA Mom’s Uncertain Future
Guadalupe Garcia is a teenager who’s waiting on the U.S. Supreme Court to decide her mother’s future – and her own. Guadalupe’s mom has DACA. The program offers temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the U.S. as kids. Many DACA recipients, like Guadalupe’s mom Gabriela, have been here for so long that now they have their own children – more than 70,000 in California. Some time between now and June, the Supreme Court will rule on whether the Trump administration can end DACA. Reporter Zaidee Stavely met up with Guadalupe and Gabriela in the Central Valley, and brings us their story.