News & Events

from The APA Living Today March/April 2023

by apalivingtoday

Story Threads

Day of Remembrance 2023 Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Stockton Chapter Hosts a Screening of Paul Goodman’s No No Girl

By filmmaker Paul Daisuke Goodman

By Leslie Nakao Edman

Saturday, February 18th was a sunny day and a crowd gathered in the gymnasium of the Buddhist Church of Stockton for perhaps the first time in three years. Nearly 200 guests showed up on President’s Day weekend to participate in the 2023 Day of Remembrance event hosted by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Stockton chapter.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued executive order 9066, authorizing the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. For simply having the “face of the enemy,” these Americans were forced to abandon their homes, businesses, friends and communities to be sent to 10 concentration camps for the duration of WWII. Not a single Japanese American was charged with espionage or sabotage against the United States.

Each year, Japanese American communities throughout the country hold Day of Remembrance events to “never forget” this dark piece of history and its impact on generations of families even 81 years later. Day of Remembrance serves as a reminder of how fragile our civil liberties are and how the internment experience could happen again if we are not vigilant in protecting our civil rights and freedom.

This year, members of our local elected officials attended Day of Remembrance in acknowledgement of its importance and support for the Japanese American community. Congressman Josh Harder, and representatives from State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman, Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua and San Joaquin County Supervisor Miguel Villapudua were present. Certificates of recognition, including one from the City of Stockton were presented to Steve Sue, Stockton JACL president.

Stockton JACL had the good fortune to be one of the JACL chapters to screen the film, “No No Girl,” by writer/director Paul Daisuke Goodman at its Day of Remembrance event. The film is unique in its voice, with a perspective from a “yonsei,” fourth generation Japanese American who seeks to understand her connection to the camp experience. Following her grandmother’s passing, the granddaughter with “pink hair” or “No No Girl,” forces the family to confront longheld secrets while unearthing new ones. As the two-hour film unfolds, so too do the emotional layers that have been buried for decades.

Following the film, Paul Daisuke Goodman, writer/director of “No No Girl,” answered some questions in a Q & A session. One audience member asked Paul Goodman “What challenges did he encounter while creating this film?” Surprisingly, he revealed a personal challenge that could serve as content for perhaps another film. Paul, a cancer survivor was struck with a second occurrence of lymphoblastic leukemia in 2021. While waiting for a bone marrow transplant treatment, he wrote the screenplay for “No No Girl,” a film that speaks to multi-generations. In Stockton, the audience embraced his film and Paul himself as a yonsei with “grit,” never letting his eye off his vision of getting his film seen. After Stockton’s Day of Remembrance screening, Paul hit the road for Portland’s event.

In closing, Stockton’s Day of Remembrance event engages members of the local Japanese community in a candle-lighting ceremony that commemorates the ten internment camps. This year our candle lighters included folks from Nisei (second generation) to gosei (fifth generation) in a poignant ceremony that added an eleventh candle for Ms. Elizabeth Humbargar, a beloved teacher, counselor and champion for local Japanese American students during their incarceration and post war years. A moving black and white film depicting each camp was shown as a backdrop for the ceremony.

Day of Remembrance is a reminder to us of “dark times,” but DOR 2023 was joyful in the sense that many folks were engaging in a large public gathering for the first time since the pandemic. Family members, friends and members of the community reunited - reinvigorated and happy to connect once again in person.