Bridging Communities Mini-Session #2: Access California Services, Anaheim

On February 22nd, 2014, the Bridging Communities will be at Access California Services! We’ll be publicizing the program as well as co-facilitating a workshop on identity with Access youth coordinator, Zeena Aljawad, for the Arab Youth Collective, a youth group for Arab Americans aged 13-18.

Access California Services is an Arab American nonprofit organization in Anaheim, California that provides various services including enrollment in Covered California, free tax filing, ESL classes, and other counseling, employment and immigration services for immigrant and refugee populations in the region.

A Look at Manzanar: Past & Present

A Look at Manzanar: Past & Present

What is Manzanar?

Manzanar National Historic Site is a US National Landmark and a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. The site is in Inyo County, California near Owens Valley. Prior to WWII, Manzanar was home to several indigenous tribes for over 10,00 years, including the Paiute which the the US federal government recognizes today as the Big Pine Paite Tribe of the Owens Valley.

During World War II, Manzanar was the site of an incarceration camp for those of Japanese heritage. During WWII, around 10,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and in to what the US government referred to as “Relocation Camps.” After WWII, the site came under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service which works to preserve the area and its legacy.  In 2013, the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power proposed to build a solar farm near Manzanar National Historic Site.

A Moment of Inter-Community Solidarity: NCRR, CAIR, MPAC, JACL,…

From video description: “Nine years after 9/11/2001, Japanese American religious leaders, community groups, and individuals of many faiths and ethnicities gathered together to decry the increased hatred directed against Muslims in the United States. Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II and understand how fear and hysteria can lead to the unjust persecution of a minority group. The candlelight vigil and the formation of a human peace symbol represents the solidarity of participants with Muslim Americans. Muslim Americans from MPAC and CAIR also addressed the crowd.”