Berkeley Japanese American Citizens League

The philosophy of KINTSUKUROI shows us that something shattered can be restored and made stronger and more beautiful. The term is an apt metaphor for the Japanese American experience of WWII.

Forced from their homes, farms and businesses, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly imprisoned simply because of their race. Our new feature-length film KINTSUKUROI follows the Ito family from pre-war San Francisco to the concentration camps of the American West to the battlefields of Europe as it endures one of the most shameful periods in American History.

Applications for the Berkeley Chapter Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Scholarship Program are available for high school students entering their freshman year in any accredited institution of higher learning in the Fall 2024.

All 2024 applications must be filled out online (JACL.org) and submitted through National JACL.  National JACL will receive each application and forward the application back to the appropriate local JACL chapter for evaluation and awarding of a scholarship at the local chapter level.  To apply, please do the following:

• Go to www.jacl.org/scholarships
• Enter “Berkeley” as the local chapter on the application
• All applicants must be a current JACL member
• Contact Berkeley Chapter Scholarship Chair, Ron Tanaka, ron_tanaka@yahoo.com,

Applicants must be planning to attend a college, university, community college, trade school, business school, or any other accredited institution of higher learning in the Fall 2024.  Students deferring enrollment will not qualify for the 2024 program.

DUE DATE – March 1, 2024

Applications must be submitted online to National JACL by Friday March 1, 2024.  Berkeley Chapter anticipates awarding multiple local chapter scholarships.  

 Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement, community involvement, school activities, work history, letter of recommendation, personal statement, Japanese cultural activities, and a group interview.   Special consideration will be given to applicants who are the first in their family to attend college and/or to those who qualify as low income.

 JACL MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED  

While JACL involvement is not required to apply for this scholarship, every applicant must be a Berkeley JACL member.  You can register to become a JACL member online. You can also contact the scholarship chair, Ron Tanaka for a membership application.  Please submit your completed application and $35.00 membership fee by January 31, 2024.  A limited number of memberships are available at no cost to the applicant if the $35.00 fee creates a hardship.

SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION 

All Berkeley Chapter scholarships will be awarded to recipients at a scholarship awards event scheduled for early May 2024.  All recipients are expected to attend this awards event (as guests of the Berkeley JACL) to receive their scholarship.

The Berkeley Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is committed to upholding the human and civil rights of all people, strengthening community ties, and fostering coalitions with groups which align with these values. As such, the Berkeley JACL strongly condemns the violence and oppression the Israeli state has forced upon Palestinians, the violence Hamas has enacted upon Israeli civilians, and Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism happening here in the United States and around the world. Furthermore, we call on the release of all those who are being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas as well as those being unjustly incarcerated in Israel without a formal charge nor trial.

During these times of hate, violence, and injustice, it is crucial that all oppressed communities come together to support each other. As Japanese Americans, we have experienced first hand the deep wounds caused when the United States government and its people discriminated against the Japanese American community during World War II, due to the actions of a country many had no or little connection to. We continue to see throughout history to today, these same injustices and violent and discriminatory actions negatively impact so many people and so many communities.

Countless lives have been killed and even more impacted due to Israel’s military occupation of Palestine both for Palestinians and for Israelis. At the time of publication, over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including more than 10,000 children, and over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel. Furthermore, the living conditions – water, electricity, food, health care – are devastating, putting many more lives at risk (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).

We also would like to call attention to the alarming increase in hate crimes in the United States. Over the past few months, we have seen horrifying violence committed against those of Palestinian descent, such as the murder of Wadea al-Fayoume (6) in Illinois and the attempted murder of three students in Vermont. At the same time, we also want to warn against those who use the criticism of the Israeli state as an excuse to spread anti-Semitic messaging. It is critical that we remain vigilant and pushback on the use of stereotypes that have perpetuated violence against Jewish communities throughout history.

Therefore, it is with great urgency that the Berkeley JACL calls for a permanent ceasefire now and for the United States to end its support of the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. Furthermore, we must continue to support each other and be in solidarity to stop all hate, violence, discrimination, and injustices, including the current rise in Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism.

Applications for the Berkeley Chapter Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Scholarship Program are available for high school students entering their freshman year in any accredited institution of higher learning in the Fall 2023.

All 2023 applications must be filled out online (JACL.org) and submitted through National JACL.  National JACL will receive each application and forward the application back to the appropriate local JACL chapter for evaluation and awarding of a scholarship at the local chapter level.  To apply, please do the following:

• Go to www.jacl.org/scholarships
• Enter “Berkeley” as the local chapter on the application
• All applicants must be a JACL member
• Contact Berkeley Chapter Scholarship Chair, Ron Tanaka, ron_tanaka@yahoo.com,

Applicants must be planning to attend a college, university, community college, trade school, business school, or any other accredited institution of higher learning in the Fall 2023.  Students deferring enrollment will not qualify for the 2023 program.

DUE DATE – March 6, 2023

Applications must be submitted online to National JACL by Monday, March 6, 2023.  Berkeley Chapter anticipates awarding multiple local chapter scholarships.  Each scholarship may be up to $3,000.

 Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement, community involvement, school activities, work history, letter of recommendation, personal statement, Japanese cultural activities, and a group interview.   Special consideration will be given to applicants who are the first in their family to attend college and/or to those who qualify as low income.

 JACL MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED  

While JACL involvement is not required to apply for this scholarship, every applicant must be a Berkeley JACL member.  Please contact the scholarship chair, Ron Tanaka for a membership application.  Please submit your completed application and $35.00 membership fee by January 31, 2023.  A limited number of memberships are available at no cost to the applicant if the $35.00 fee creates a hardship

SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION & NATIONAL JACL AWARDS PROGRAM

All Berkeley Chapter scholarships will be awarded to recipients at a scholarship awards event scheduled for early May 2023.  All recipients are expected to attend this awards event (as guests of the Berkeley JACL) to receive their scholarship.  Because of the pandemic, this event was held virtually via zoom in 2022.

By April 3, 2023, Berkeley will forward “outstanding” application(s) for further consideration to the JACL’s National Scholarship and Awards Program for 9 National Scholarships ranging in award amounts from $1,000 to $5,000 per scholarship.  Recipients of these national scholarships will be announced in the third quarter 2023.

We must fight all forms of oppression and fight for all human rights including the violence and oppression the Israeli state has forced upon Palestinians, including the hate and violence that Jewish people are experiencing here in the United States, and including the small but vocal faction of persons engaged in unacceptable threatening and violent behavior about the political situation in the Middle East. Such threats, harassment, and violence have no place in this or any country. They are an affront to our founding principles and should not be tolerated.

Click here to download the Statement

The Berkeley chapter of the JACL protests the vandalism to the bust of former Oakland City Councilman Frank Ogawa by unknown persons, but stand — as we believe Frank Ogawa would have done — in solidarity with the rights of citizens who exercise their rights to protest injustice, with the movement for Black Lives, and against federal unmarked troops forcibly brought into our communities.

Frank Ogawa was the first Japanese American to serve on the Oakland City Council and experienced state racism when he was shipped to the Topaz concentration camp in Utah without due process during World War II. Berkeley JACL will always remember and honor Frank Ogawa’s great contributions to our community and will continue his work by supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and all efforts to end racism.

For more information, see Maina Chen’s article on NextShark about the incident.

The Berkeley JACL stands with Phuc Bui Diem Nguyen in her complaint against Mr. Hubbard, who asked her to change her Vietnamese birth name because he said it was offensive “in my language.” Professor Hubbard’s actions in requesting Phuc Bui to “Anglicize” her name were unacceptable, insensitive, and racist.

Today the Berkeley JACL sent a Letter to Laney College President Gilkerson regarding Mr. Hubbard’s offensive request.

Every person should feel included and welcome in this beautifully diverse nation, and especially in a city as diverse as Oakland. Our diversity and different intersecting identities should be celebrated, not taunted or changed for the convenience of others.

We call on Laney College to enact sensitivity training for all staff and to take the appropriate disciplinary actions against Mr. Hubbard.

For more information, you can read ABC 7’s coverage about the incident here.

The Berkeley chapter of the JACL, the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization, is deeply disturbed by the most recent spate of killings and threats leveled at African Americans, most recently:

George Floyd, 46, Minneapolis, MN; Breonna Taylor, 26, Louisville KY; Ahmaud Arbery, 25, Brunswick GA.

More than any other minority group, African Americans continue to bear the burden of contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence. This is abhorrent to our founding principles of equal justice under the law, and it must end.