JANM Book Club: Secret Harvests with David Mas Masumoto and Patricia Wakida

On March 18, 2023, author David Mas Masumoto and artist Patricia Wakida joined us for the launch of their new book “Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation, Silence, Shame, and the Resilience of a Family Farm.” They were joined in readings, reflections, and discussions by Sean Miura, lead producer of Tuesday Night Cafe.
The JANM Book Club is a series of Public Programs that highlight important new literary works related to Japanese American history and culture.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
I discovered a “lost” aunt, separated from our family due to racism and discrimination against the disabled. She had a mental disability due to childhood meningitis. She was taken away in 1942 when all Japanese Americans were considered the enemy and imprisoned. She then became a “ward” of the state. We believed she had died, but 70 years later found her alive and living a few miles from our family farm. How did she survive? Why was she kept hidden? How did both shame and resilience empower my family to forge forward in a land that did not want them? I am haunted and driven to explore my identity and the meaning of family-especially as farmers tied to the land. I uncover family secrets that bind us to a sense of history buried in the earth that we work and a sense of place that defines us.
AVAILABLE AT THE JANM STORE:
"Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation, Silence, Shame, and the Resilience of a Family Farm":
janmstore.com/products/secret...
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Japanese American National Museum
100 N. Central Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
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