JACL Honolulu’s QUILT Fellowship Program: Building Innovative Leaders of Tomorrow

JACL Honolulu’s QUILT Fellowship Program’s inaugural cohort will begin gathering in January 2024. Through the QUILT Fellowship, selected fellows will connect with civil rights advocates, social justice activists and other community leaders. Fellows will attend workshops from January 2024 to April 2024 where they will learn skills in board service, community organizing, grant writing, and project implementation. 

Fellows will work closely with JACL facilitators to prepare detailed plans for capstone projects. They will then work on individual or group projects, 3-12 months in duration, to forward the JACL Honolulu chapter’s commitment to civil rights and social justice. Fellows will receive a monthly stipend for their participation in the fellowship as well as funding for their individual or group projects. Individual and group projects will be presented at the 2024 JACL Honolulu annual gala.

How can you help?

We welcome your support of our efforts to build the next generation of community leaders. You may make a donation at Givebutter or by emailing us at JACLHon@gmail.com.

This program was made possible in part by long-time supporter, social justice advocate, and textile artist Ellen Godbey Carson.  She has donated one-of-a-kind quilts, pictured here. These beautiful quilts were lovingly designed and made from dozens of vintage kimono silks and fabrics she collected. More information on how to obtain these one-of-a-kind quilts will be provided at the 2023 Distinguished Service Awards Gala, Saturday, November 18, 2023; by emailing JACLHon@gmail.com or at our Givebutter site.

***Each quilt has a sleeve on the upper back side to easily hang the quilt.  For longevity of your quilt, keep it out of direct sunlight and do not wash it (dry clean only).

(1) Murasaki (immediately below)  Medium (26”w x 34”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics has a cacophony of purples and violets, including flowers, fans, birds, arrows and intricate shibori fabrics.

(2) Kouyou (autumn leaves) (immediately below) – Medium (30”w x 35”h), this collage of small pieces of lovely vintage kimono fabrics celebrates the beauty of autumn, including flowers,  flying cranes, people in the past, and intricate shibori fabrics.

 (3) Ikigai (Joy in life) (immediately below) – Small (25”w x 35”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics evokes the purpose and joy in life, and includes flowers, flying cranes, and intricate shibori fabrics. 

 (4) Murasaki (immediately below) – Medium (26”w x 33”h) – this collage of small kimono fabrics has a cacophony of violets and purples, including flowers and intricate shibori fabrics.

(5) Ikigai (joy in life) (red & white, immediately below) – Medium (27”w x 35”h) – this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics evokes the sense of purpose and joy in life.  Its 16 squares depict a kimono of red and white auspicious patterns, including folding fans, flying cranes, kanji characters, gold leaf, floral, arrows, and intricate shibori fabrics.

(6) Ikigai (joy in life) (black & red, immediately below) – Medium (27”w x 35”h) – this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics evokes the sense of purpose and joy in life.  Its 16 squares depict a kimono of black and red auspicious patterns, including waves, people in the past, kanji characters, foliage and intricate shibori fabrics. 

(7) Ikigai (joy in life) (immediately below) – Medium (27”w x 35”h) – this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics evokes the sense of purpose and joy in life.  Its 16 squares depict a kimono of black and red auspicious patterns, including waves, flying cranes, mari balls, kanji characters, arrows, and intricate shibori fabrics. 

(8) Ikigai (joy in life) (immediately below) – Medium (27”w x 35”h) – this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics evokes the sense of purpose and joy in life.  Its 16 squares depict a kimono of black and red auspicious patterns, including waves, flying cranes, forest scenery, kanji characters, flowers, village scenery, hand-stitched gold embroidery, and many intricate shibori fabrics.

(9) Ikigai (joy in life) (immediately below) – Medium (27”w x 35”h) – this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics evokes the sense of purpose and joy in life.  Its 16 squares depict a kimono of black and red auspicious patterns, including waves, folding fans, kanji characters, flowers, gold flake, and intricate shibori fabrics.

(10) Samurai (immediately below) – Medium (32”w x 42”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics recalls the honor of the samurai, with many fabrics from men’s kimono, scenes of Mt. Fuji, scenes from old village characters, dragons, calligraphy, birds, eggplant, bamboo sculpture, and intricate shibori fabrics. 

(11) Ikigai (joy in life) (immediately below) – Small (28”w x 40”h) this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics celebrates long life and success, with striking red, black and white colors, and includes calligraphy, mari balls, folding fans and intricate shibori fabrics.

(12) Murasaki (immediately below) – Medium (31”w x 44”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics has a cacophony of purposes and violets, including flowers, temple and garden scenes, origami cranes and intricate shibori fabrics.

(13) Kouyou (autumn leaves) (immediately below) – Medium (31”w x 41”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics celebrates the beauty of autumn, including flowers, maple leaves, flying birds, a temple and intricate shibori fabrics.  

(14) Kouyou (autumn leaves) (immediately below) – Medium (31”w x 40”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics celebrates the beauty of autumn, including flowers, maple leaves, flying cranes (tsuru), and intricate shibori fabrics. 

(15) I’ve Got the Blues for Japan (immediately below) – Medium (31”w x 40”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics has a cacophony of blues, including Mt. Fuji, village life, peacock feathers, ocean waves, and intricate shibori fabrics.

(16) Murasaki – Medium (31”w x 46”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics has a cacophony of purples and violets, including flowers, grapes, an embroidered obi, and intricate shibori fabrics.

(17) Arashi (stormy) – Medium (31”w x 42”h), this collage of lovely vintage kimono fabrics has gray and maroon colors, flowers, a geisha, and intricate shibori fabrics.

Removed By Force

The HONOLULU CHAPTER of the JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS LEAGUE
presents

Sept. 23, 2:00 pm | Hilo – Hawai‘i Japanese Center, RSVP 808-934-9611
Sept. 24, 1:30 pm | Maui – Nisei Veterans Memorial Center, RSVP 808-244-6862
*Island of Kauai — TBD
Sept. 26, 1:00 pm | PBS Hawaii Online RSVP
Sept. 28, 8:30 pm | PBS Hawaii On-Air INFO
Oct. 14, 10:00 am | Oahu – HIFF, Consolidated Kahala INFO

For ticketing information, please contact JACL Honolulu at: jaclhon@gmail.com


Removed by Force memorializes the unique and relatively unknown experiences of the 1,500 Americans of Japanese ancestry from 23 geographic areas in Hawai‘i who were evicted from their homes, but not interned, during World War II. Their quest for redress is told from personal interviews and stories by affected individuals, Honolulu JACL and NAPABA lawyers, volunteers and government officials.

This project was funded, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.

JACL Honolulu Condemns Anti-Asian Violence

We stand in solidarity with the victims, survivors, and families of those slain on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 in the mass shootings that took place at three spas in Atlanta, Georgia. We join with our national JACL to mourn the senseless killings, including those of our Asian sisters and others, and to demand an end to violence.  We ask government officials in Georgia and the United States to conduct a thorough and fair investigation that takes into account the victims and their dignity.  We also call on our government officials to actively work to combat fear, hatred, and racism.  Georgia is geographically distant from us, yet the racism and issues that arise in Georgia remain close.  We are not immune to racism here in Hawai`i.  We must continue to be vigilant in our efforts to keep everyone safe.  We live in an especially diverse community and honoring our differences is what truly makes us stronger.

JACL Mourns the Passing of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

September 21, 2020
For Immediate Release
David Inoue, Executive Director, dinoue@jacl.org, 202-607-7273
Sarah Baker, VP Public Affairs, sbaker@jacl.org
 
 The loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is immeasurable. Her life was one of perseverance, meaningful dissent, and the embodiment of the idea that the arc of the moral universe is long, but bends toward justice. As the target of intense gender discrimination from the start of her career, she devoted herself to eliminating the very barriers she had faced through the power of the courts. As a litigator, she not only broke down the laws that separated men and women but also broke down the stereotyped roles opening up the potential for both men and women to be and become whatever they desired, not what society forced upon them. Justice Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993, and within just a few years wrote the majority decision striking down the male-only admissions policy of the Virginia Military Institute. Over the course of her 27 years on the court, she would author numerous majority decisions and minority dissents that would give voice to many who thought they had no voice in our judicial system and also in defiance to the action or inaction of the other co-equal branches of government. Though we have progressed from the days when a recently graduated female law student was unable to find a job practicing law, there remains much to be done to truly achieve the sex and gender equality that Justice Ginsburg championed through her career and lived out in her own life. We can honor her legacy by ensuring that her successor in the court is just as committed to promoting continued progress towards equality and justice for all. We send our condolences to Justice Ginsburg’s family and all Americans feeling the pain of her loss. 

Japanese American Citizens League Honolulu Chapter Statement on Black Lives Matter Protests

We, the Honolulu Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, are both heartbroken and infuriated at the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Responding to these heinous murders calls to mind the too-many-other times Black men and women have been killed. This is a critical time for all of us. The diverse groups of people who comprise this country and our State must take notice and actively strive to end the ongoing racism and injustices that our Black and Brown brothers and sisters face daily. Fear has been the root of many heinous acts throughout our history. For Japanese Americans, the fear of the enemy alien resulted in Presidential Executive Order 9066, which stripped over 120,000 Japanese American citizens of their physical freedom and of their homes and businesses. It is this fear that can be combatted by the embrace and action of community. 

These emotions of anger and sadness run deep and grow daily. With all the advances in civil rights that we have accomplished as a country, it remains perplexing that we are continually having to say that the thoughtless disregard for the life of a fellow human being is wrong. Nevertheless, as long as this needs to be said, we will continue to say it. It is our beloved right and an exercise of our liberty. As a community of Japanese Americans and other supporters of civil rights in Hawai‘i, we hold tremendous privilege. Our privilege requires us to acknowledge the egregiousness of the senseless violence suffered by George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others. We must continue the work necessary to ensure that this cannot happen ever again, and we ask all in our communities to do the same.

We are saddened that Black men and women still live in fear and cannot fully enjoy the basic freedoms of feeling safe while doing simple daily activities like jogging, being at home, and going for a drive. We are outraged not only that Mr. Floyd’s murderer already had a long history of complaints against him as a police officer but also that his fellow officers, including an Asian American officer, stood by silently allowing Mr. Floyd to be killed.

As we watch a law enforcement official brutally and heartlessly kill a Black man on the street, we do so through our television set, computers, and smartphones. Many experience racism and its harms daily first-hand, some as witnesses and survivors, some as subjects and victims. We vow that we will not be complicit in the killings of Black men and women.  

In Hawai‘i, we are blessed in many ways. One example stands out when our nation is in turmoil once again: our interdependence and grounding in the value of aloha is set by the indigenous people of Hawai‘i. This connectedness is needed more than ever in this resurgence of national fear and resulting hate and violence. Even social distancing mandates which aim to separate us physically cannot separate our hearts from each other.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. has said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” It is important to note as President Barack Obama has often stated that the arc does not bend itself towards justice. Rather it takes each of us to grab hold of our hearts and move ourselves in the direction of justice. The Honolulu Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League stands in support with all those peaceful protestors and demonstrators standing up for their rights and the rights of all. We urge our membership and the communities of our State to recognize the rampant injustices and to take action to effectuate positive change as we fight for equal opportunity and justice for all.