 Thursday, April 11, 2024 – Sunday, April 14, 2024
Get Lit!, a non-profit literary arts organization housed within Eastern Washington University, is a four-day festival with readings, writing workshops, craft classes, open mics, panel discussions, literary happy hours, and more. The Spokane Chapter JACL is proud to be a sponsor of this event. For more information please visit the festival's website by clicking on the banner above this text, and if you'd like to support the other 2024 sponsors and community partners you can find a list here. The 2024 JACL Sponsored BOSANKAI SERVICE
Sunday May 19, 2024 at 1 pm at Greenwood Cemetery's Upper Terrace 211 N Government Way, Spokane Each year we recognize and remember the people from the Spokane Japanese community, or those who have strong ties to the Japanese community, who have passed away around prior May to current May of each year.  The JACL has been helping students achieve their educational dreams with the National Scholarship and Awards Program since 1946. The program currently offers over 30 awards, with an annual total of over $70,000 in scholarships to qualified students nationwide.
The National Scholarship and Awards Program offers scholarships to students who are entering freshman, undergraduate, graduate, law, in the creative & performing arts, and those with financial need. All scholarships are one-time awards. Please visit the Scholarships page on JACL National's website for more information. The process of applying for a Spokane JACL scholarship in Spring 2024 will mostly remain the same. The one update is that the Scholarship Committee will decide which scholarship will be awarded rather than having the applicant apply for a specific one. As stated in previous years, scholarships will not be awarded on the basis of a single criterion, as factors such as scholastic/academic achievement, involvement in Nikkei and/or Asian community activities, community service acts helping those less fortunate, and intent to pursue a trade school, 2-year or 4-year post-secondary certificate or degree, will all be considered when determining those who receive a scholarship offered by the Spokane JACL. Please return your scholarship application in a timely manner, postmarked no later than May 31, 2024. The May 31 deadline will be in effect each year regardless of which day of the week it lands on in the current calendar year. The Spokane JACL board wishes all applicants the best as you pursue your future dreams and careers. Stay strong, determined to finish what you start as your generation and those that came after our Issei and Nisei community, have been given opportunities to pursue things that they were not able to pursue. This will be your legacy to past generations: that you have completed what you set out to do. Applications may be found on our website at spokanejacl.org under the Scholarship App tab. Completed applications may be scanned and emailed to [email protected] or mailed to: attn: Scholarship Committee Spokane JACL PO Box 2772 Spokane, WA 99220-2772 Justine Kondo was also awarded the Atsuhiko Tateuchi Memorial Scholarship from the Seattle Foundation, which she is using to pay for her Masters in Elementary Teaching Degree.  2023 Scholarship Recipients (Left to Right):
Michael Tsuchida, Justine Kondo, and Tyler Furukawa (not pictured) We will be mailing you a reminder to renew your 2024 membership in January with a postage paid return envelope. Make your check payable to: Spokane JACL (Electronic payment unavailable at this time) All checks need to be mailed to the Spokane Chapter (NOT TO NATIONAL JACL) at: Spokane Chapter JACL Attention: Membership Dues PO Box 2772 Spokane WA 99220-2772 **NEW** Membership Dues - Under 70
Individual - $25 Couple/Family - $50 Student - $25 **Same** Senior Membership Dues - 70+ Senior Individual - $30 Senior Couple - $50  For three years, the Spokane Chapter has supported the annual Get Lit! Festival in Spokane, working with them to bring Japanese American authors to the festival. Get Lit!, a non-profit literary arts organization housed within Eastern Washington University, is a four-day festival with readings, writing workshops, craft classes, open mics, panel discussions, literary happy hours, and more. Our mission is to support authors who share the history, traditions, culture and experiences of Japanese Americans. This year we sponsored “Celebrating the Japanese American Experience with Betsy Aoki and Elaine Cockrell” on April 23, 2023. Betsy Aoki is a poet, fiction writer and game producer, who blends technology and the Asian American experience in her writing. Elaine Cockrell wrote the fiction book “A Shrug of the Shoulders”, about the Portland assembly center, internment camps, and the Farm Security Administration labor camp near Nyssa, Oregon.  Photo left to right: Betsy Aoki, Rod Tamura (Board Member of the Spokane Chapter JACL) and Elaine Cockrell
for JACL Members & their Families Only
Saturday - November 4th - 1:30 PM Highland Park United Methodist Church 611 S Garfield, Spokane Open Letter to the Mayor of Seattle September 14, 2023 Seattle Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League Dear Seattle JACL members and supporters, Last night at around 5:15 p.m., a man with a sledgehammer smashed nine windows of the Wing Luke Museum along Canton Alley South. The man said that the attack on this community anchor was driven by anti-Asian beliefs. Stan Shikuma, Seattle JACL Co-President, was at the Wing Luke Museum leading a tour as part of Tsuru for Solidarity's 2023 retreat when it happened. Multiple people called the Seattle Police Department but were told that they could not immediately respond because it was a vandalism incident where no one was hurt. Frustrated by the lack of response, Shikuma sent the letter below to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office: Dear Mayor, An older white man just took a sledgehammer and broke 8 windows of the Wing Luke Museum in Canton Alley. He says he did it because “the Chinese have ruined my life” and ”I came to Chinatown because something had to be done”. The Wing Luke staff are quite traumatized by the attack on their building and quite upset that 911 said they WILL NOT RESPOND! This is outrageous and unacceptable - that a major community institution is attacked and vandalized (to the tune of thousands of dollars, maybe even tens of thousands) and Seattle Police basically said they can’t be bothered! This is yet another instance of neglect and lack of respect and concern for Asian Americans in general and the CID in particular. I am appalled and very, very angry. Stanley N Shikuma, Co-President Seattle Chapter Japanese American Citizens League The Seattle Times reported the break-in. The article link: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/wing-luke-museum-vandalized-man-arrested-for-alleged-hate-crime/
for JACL Members Only
Monday, September 25 - 1:30pm Spokane Buddhist Temple 927 S Perry, Spokane (Come in the basement door on Perry) The 2023 JACL Sponsored BOSANKAI SERVICE
Sunday May 21, 2023 at 1 pm at Greenwood Cemetery's Upper Terrace 211 N Government Way, Spokane Each year we recognize and remember the people from the Spokane Japanese community, or those who have strong ties to the Japanese community, who have passed away around prior May to current May of each year. |
