2004 Campus-Community Partnerships
Pilgrimage of Tolerance: An Educational Odyssey from
December 7, 1941 to
September 11, 2001
| Awardee: | Prof. Robert
Nakamura, Professor Asian American Studies |
| Partner: | Downtown Media Center |
Abstract:
"Pilgrimage of Tolerance: An Educational Odyssey from December 7, 1941 to September 11, 2001" is a multi-faceted educational project utilizing digital video technology, printed text, and community programming to link the politics of prejudice that occurred after the bombing of Pearl Harbor to similar acts of intolerance and discrimination that are taking place after the bombing of the World Trade Center.
Since 9/11/01, injustice and violence against Middle Eastern, South Asian, Arab, as well as refugee and immigrant communities throughout the United States have drawn historical parallels with the way 120,000 Japanese Americans were targeted and imprisoned without trial during World War II.
"Pilgrimage of Tolerance" brings together community and university-based groups in Los Angeles - the Manzanar 9/11 Committee, the LA Downtown Media Center and UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications - to sponsor and document a statewide Pilgrimage of Tolerance on September 11, 2004 at Manzanar, which was the first of ten concentration campus established by the government to incarcerate Japanese Americans during WWII.
The project will also result in an educational DVD with accompanying 200-page resource guide for classroom and community workshops. Combining new technology with text, students, teachers and community organizers can interactively select and access a short historical video, additional video documentation, archival materials, as well as life history interviews for a rich, multi-level approach that combines the best practices of both the academy and the community.
