Neighbors Come Together in Aftermath of Eaton Fire; A 129-Year-Old Lawsuit Could Stop the Ending of Birthright Citizenship

February 19 is the Day of Remembrance, the anniversary of when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Some survivors of those prison camps are feeling like the rhetoric about immigrants and mass deportations today is hitting too close to home. In response, some survivors are mobilizing to protect vulnerable immigrants. Reporter Cecilia Lei spoke to a group of them in the Bay Area about how they’re fighting to keep history from repeating itself.  One of the members of that Japanese American survivors group is author and Satsuki Ina. Nine months into her parents’ marriage, Pearl Harbor was bombed. Their life was totally upended when, along with 125,000 other Japanese Americans, they were sent to incarceration camps. After unsuccessfully fighting for their civil rights to be restored, they renounced their American citizenship. That meant the US government branded them as “enemy aliens.” Ina was born in a prison camp at Tule Lake, but didn’t know much about that difficult chapter in her parents’ life. Then she discovered a trove of letters that they sent to each other while they were separated in different camps. Now, at close to 80 years old, Ina – who spent most of her career as a trauma therapist — has published a memoir about how her parents’ relationship survived prison camps, resistance and separation. The Poet and the Silk Girl is a rare first-person account of a generation-altering period in Japanese American history. Sasha Khokha sat down with Satsuki Ina to learn more about her parents’ story and how it shaped the course of Ina’s own life.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Feb 30min

Following the Eaton Fire, tens of thousands of people are suspended in a state of shock and grief, even as they have to make life-changing decisions about where to live now, and whether to rebuild. KQED’s Rachael Myrow shares the story of one mother and daughter navigating this new normal. Plus we visit the Santa Cruz studio of Kishi Bashi. The musician and composer defies genre, and it’s hard even for his fans to describe his work – yet they feel deeply connected to his music. For our series on California Composers, we sent reporter Lusen Mendel to one of his recent shows to see if they could figure it out. And we take a trip to the Central Coast to hear the band Loz Rayoz de Guadalupe. The group is part of a growing and thriving norteño music scene there. The band’s frontman, Chencho Perez, is just 19 years old. Reporter Benjamin Purper says Perez is part of a new generation of norteño musicians embracing and evolving this traditional Mexican sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Feb 30min

On this week's show, we visit the Freedom Community Clinic which provides free herbal remedies, massage services and healing workshops at their two apothecaries in Oakland. And just outside the city, they recently launched the Ancestral Healing Farm, where people of color are encouraged to learn about ancestral practices and reconnect with the land. The goal of founder Dr. Bernie Lim is to reach people who might mistrust the mainstream medical system because of racism or cultural incompetency. KQED Arts & Culture Editor Nastia Voynovskaya brings us this profile. Plus a new documentary profiles Sally Gearhart, a radical lesbian feminist whose fight for equality and change sparked movements that still continue today. But unlike her friend and contemporary, Harvey Milk, there are no airport terminals or schools named after her.  Instead, she has been largely erased from history. Deborah Craig, a filmmaker and professor at San Francisco State University, wanted to change that. Craig spoke about her film, Sally!, with The California Report Magazine’s Bianca Taylor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Feb 30min

It will take months to clean up all the debris from the Palisades and Eaton fires. Some community members in Pasadena decided to start the work immediately, led by a group of day laborers who saw a need and rushed to fill it. KCRW’s Megan Jamerson reports. And even as as restaurants burned down and Los Angeles residents fled the Palisades and Eaton fires, LA’s food community was stepping up to feed people in need. Those efforts continue, as KCRW’s “Good Food” producer Elina Shatkin explains. Scores of people in Los Angeles have turned out to volunteer to help people in their communities. And it turns out, science shows we humans are actually wired for kindness, connection and empathy. Dr. Jamil Zaki runs the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, and has studied the need for this kind of connection. He’s a professor of psychology and the author of “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.” As a part of a new series we’re launching on resilience, Dr. Zaki sat down with host Sasha Khokha to explain the data-driven reasons why we shouldn’t be cynical,  even in really hard times.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Jan 30min

There are not enough words to describe the impact of the wildfires in Los Angeles – one of the most destructive and costly firestorms in our state’s history. Whether we’ve lost our homes, are fleeing for safety, or desperately worried about people we love, so many people in California are grieving. Tens of thousands of residents have evacuated, leaving everything behind. We bring you some voices of people who are living this nightmare right now. Plus, we talk with the California Report's Saul Gonzalez about Pacific Palisades, and journalist Steven Cuevas about the videos he's been making to document the destruction in his own neighborhood in Altadena. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11 Jan 30min

We start in Los Angeles with emerging composter Derrick Skye, whose fascination with the cosmos is woven into his music. When Skye began composing “Prism, Cycles and Leaps,” he watched YouTube videos about Jupiter and was captivated by the way the planet moved at different speeds. As a mixed race person, he resonates with musical traditions from across the globe and blends genres and forms. Music from India, the Balkans and West Africa form the building blocks of Sky’s music today. Reporter Clare Wiley tells us about Skye’s musical process and what he hopes people will take away from his work. Then, we're traveling up to the Bay Area to meet another California composer. Destiny Muhammad was nine years old when she first saw Harpo Marx playing the harp in an episode of “I Love Lucy.” She immediately knew she wanted to play the mesmerizing instrument. It took over two decades for the Oakland-based artist to start learning how to play the harp, but it set her on a path to pursue her unique “Celtic to Coltrane” genre, as she calls it. Today, Muhammad works as a composer, teacher and performer in the Bay Area, and writes original scores for her group, The Destiny Muhammad Trio. KQED’s Bianca Taylor brings us Muhammad’s story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Jan 30min

Elsie Saldaña still gets nervous on stage, almost six decades after she first started performing as a drag king in the Central Valley. She’s the country’s oldest drag king, and her first performance was in 1965 at Red Robin, a gay bar in her hometown. She performed Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” and was instantly hooked. Right then and there, El Daña, her stage name, was born. Saldaña still graces the stage occasionally, but doesn’t perform as much as she used to. But she still feels like the stage is where she belongs. This week we’re re-airing a profile of El Daña from reporter Celeste Hamilton Dennis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 Dec 202430min