Nikiko Masumoto & I in the Fresno Bee

Remembering legacies of trauma and resilience, this 4th of July:

“To reckon is to remember; to remember is to turn toward the history of this country with curiosity, and a true desire to face the patterns of brutal exclusion that bring us to this moment. What happens if, to honor this country’s promise of greatness, we ask ourselves a set of deeper, perhaps more difficult questions: What does it mean to belong to one another, as a community, and as a country? How can we encourage each other to bravely acknowledge the suffering of the past caused by government-sanctioned racism? Where, in our lives now, are we bystanders, and when are we brave?”

Toma Hubert, left, a Lakota Sioux tribe member, and Michael Topaum, with the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, protest plans to house migrant children at Fort Sill, in Lawton, Okla., June 22, 2019. Protesters called the plan for the site, home to an internme…

Toma Hubert, left, a Lakota Sioux tribe member, and Michael Topaum, with the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, protest plans to house migrant children at Fort Sill, in Lawton, Okla., June 22, 2019. Protesters called the plan for the site, home to an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II, a return to one of the nation’s great shames. NICK OXFORD NYT