Category Archives: “We Hereby Refuse”

First public panel for forthcoming graphic novel

September 5, 2020 Frank Abe Leave a comment

Our graphic novel on Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration, WE HEREBY REFUSE, is not due for publication until February — but when doing a project like this, you can’t pass up the opportunity when asked to be part of a panel titled, “Japanese American Voices in Graphic Novels.”

We’re glad to be part of the online panel on Tuesday, October 27, at 3:00 pm Pacific Time. The Pop Culture Panel Series is sponsored by the Escondido Public Library in support of the “One Book, One San Diego” program. You can register for free via Eventbrite, and add the Facebook Event to your timeline.

The program will be broadcast live on Facebook @escondidolibrary. The recording will be available for viewing after the event on Facebook (@escondidolibrary), YouTube (@EscondidoLibrary), and Instagram IGTV (@escondidolibrary).

In the meantime, the drawings by Ross Ishikawa and Matt Sasaki are taking shape and we’re now doing the painstaking work to reshape the words to better match the drawings. Join us next month to hear how it worked out and get your first peek at the story.

"John Okada:" the book, "No-No Boy", Jim Akutsu, John Okada, Minidoka, News, Tak Hoshizaki, Teachers

Sharing “NO-NO BOY” with teachers in six cities

July 14, 2020 Frank Abe Leave a comment

The story of No-No Boy and John Okada is being shared this summer with middle and secondary teachers of history and the humanities in six cities across the nation, as part of a series of place-based online workshops sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society of San Francisco and the National Park Service. Continue reading Sharing “NO-NO BOY” with teachers in six cities →

"John Okada:" the book, "No-No Boy", "We Hereby Refuse", John Okada, News

In the pandemic of 2020, echoes of 1942

March 22, 2020 Frank Abe Leave a comment

Greetings from the social distance of Seattle, ground zero for COVID-19 in the U.S. Thanks to those who have checked in to see how we’re doing. We’re all fine, and I certainly hope you and those you know are well — like you, continually checking the phone for the latest domino to fall, unable for these first ten days or so to focus on much of anything besides the massive disruption that has upended our world.

closeup of president's remarks — photo: Jabin Botsford, Washington Post

And in this moment, as we wait for the peak of infections to crest, we are starting to see echoes of 1942 in the great pandemic of 2020. We have a nation under attack from a threat which originated in Asia, and which hit America on the Pacific Coast. Anyone with an Asian face becomes a target for racial retaliation. The occupant of the White House belatedly declares himself to be a “wartime president,” and tries to deflect responsibility for his early disease-denial by inflaming the xenophobia of his base and deliberately branding COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.” Continue reading In the pandemic of 2020, echoes of 1942 →

"We Hereby Refuse", Hiroshi Kashiwagi, News, No-no boys, Obituaries, Tule Lake

In Memoriam: Hiroshi Kashiwagi — poet, playwright, no-no, and renunciant

November 8, 2019 Frank Abe 1 Comment

Hiroshi Kashiwagi once confided that when he was young he felt his real calling was as an actor. He had the soul of a poet, modest and soft-spoken, until he got on stage. Then he could command a voice that was measured and determined, almost Shakespearean in tone. He held a strong sense of right and wrong, and pushed himself to write and to study public speaking in order to be heard. Continue reading In Memoriam: Hiroshi Kashiwagi — poet, playwright, no-no, and renunciant →

"John Okada:" the book, "No-No Boy", Hiroshi Kashiwagi, John Okada, News, No-no boys

“NO-NO BOY” and “JOHN OKADA” in NY Times and American Book Awards

November 4, 2019 Frank Abe Leave a comment

You’d never expect John Okada and the entire literature of Japanese American incarceration to be featured in the Style magazine of the New York Times … but thanks to the passionate interest of Thessaly La Force, features director for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, her deeply felt essay is now online. It will appear in print in the Sunday Times edition on November 17th.

Many thanks to Thessaly for reaching out to Shawn Wong and myself to learn more about this history, and the life and work of John Okada in particular. The literature of Japanese American incarceration is a field that JOHN OKADA co-editor Floyd Cheung and I are researching for a new anthology scheduled for 2021.

Floyd was not present, but Greg Robinson and I were, when our volume on John Okada was honored Friday with an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

Here are my prepared remarks for the acceptance: Continue reading “NO-NO BOY” and “JOHN OKADA” in NY Times and American Book Awards →

"We Hereby Refuse", Day of Remembrance, Jim Akutsu, Minidoka, Nisei draft resisters, Redress

Retracing the steps of the Minidoka draft resisters

October 31, 2018 Frank Abe Leave a comment

While in Idaho for a symposium, I took the opportunity to research settings for the forthcoming graphic novel on camp resistance, in particular the places where the draft resisters from Minidoka were jailed and put on trial in September, 1944.

With the Friends of Minidoka — Hanako Wakatsuki, Mia Russell, and Kurt Yokoyama Ikeda — we started at the Ada County Courthouse, where Jim and Gene Akutsu and the other draft resisters were brought from camp and held in the old jail on the top floors. We could still see the iron grates over the windows, from where they could look out. The top floors are now sealed off from the public. Continue reading Retracing the steps of the Minidoka draft resisters →

"John Okada:" the book, "No-No Boy", "We Hereby Refuse", Art Hansen, John Okada, Minidoka, No-no boys, Tule Lake

“JOHN OKADA” and graphic novel presentations at Tule Lake and Minidoka

July 6, 2018 Frank Abe Leave a comment

Tule Lake and Minidoka were two very different experiences for inmates, as I discovered after spending a week on the road at each of their camp pilgrimages. But one thing stayed the same, and that was the warm reception given to our dual presentations on both JOHN OKADA and our graphic novel on camp resistance with the working title, We Hereby Refuse. Continue reading “JOHN OKADA” and graphic novel presentations at Tule Lake and Minidoka →

RESISTERS.COM: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration

Category Archives: “We Hereby Refuse”

First public panel for forthcoming graphic novel

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Sharing “NO-NO BOY” with teachers in six cities

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In the pandemic of 2020, echoes of 1942

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In Memoriam: Hiroshi Kashiwagi — poet, playwright, no-no, and renunciant

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“NO-NO BOY” and “JOHN OKADA” in NY Times and American Book Awards

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Retracing the steps of the Minidoka draft resisters

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“JOHN OKADA” and graphic novel presentations at Tule Lake and Minidoka

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The history and literature of Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration

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The history and literature of Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration