Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles marked Fred Korematsu Day (Jan. 30) and the Day of Remembrance (Feb. 19) with a book launch for “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up” (Heyday Books) on Feb. 11. Pictured are co-authors Stan Yogi and Laura Atkins with Karen Korematsu, Fred Korematsu’s daughter and founder of the Korematsu Institute in San Francisco. They were joined by Deanna Kitamura and Laboni Hoq (pictured at right) of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Illustrated by Yutaka Houlette, “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up” is part of “Fighting for Justice,” a series of social justice-oriented, nonfiction middle-grade books about real-life heroes and heroines of social progress. The speakers discussed how Korematsu’s legal challenge to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II is relevant to today’s executive orders directed at immigrants. (J.K. YAMAMOTO/Rafu Shimpo)
