Teachers joined historian Tracy Lai and art historian Melanie King for an exploration of Japanese American Incarceration through an examination of first person accounts, visual culture, and literary expressions. Taking place over three sessions, this program centered around Traci Chee’s We Are Not Free and included the work of other Japanese American artists, authors, poets, and activists as we interrogated the effects of Executive Order 9066. In solidarity with the National Day of Remembrance (February 19), we began with the period leading up to World War II and the diverse wartime experiences of Japanese America and the legacy of this history through the present day.
About the book
* NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * PRINTZ HONOR BOOK * WALTER HONOR BOOK * ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE HONOR BOOK *
From New York Times best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II. Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco. Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted. Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps. In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.
Dates and Time
Thursday, February 6, 2025; 4:00 to 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Thursday, February 13, 2025; 4:00 to 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Thursday, February 20, 2025; 4:00 to 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
This program took place on Zoom.
Program benefits
- A physical copy of the book We Are Not Free by Traci Chee.
- Online Resources.
- Free Washington State OSPI clock hours.
Program Resources
Click here for the Padlet site (compiled by program leader Melanie King) with the links and the resources for the program.
This program was sponsored by the East Asia Resource Center at the University of Washington and funded by a Freeman Foundation grant in support of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA).