National Center for the Preservation of Democracy - General

Dilemmas + Decisions Film Screening

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:04:48 -0800

The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy and the Japanese American National Museum invite you to the film premier of Dilemmas + Decisions

Please join us for a film screening, filmmaker Q&A, and light refreshments.

Admission is FREE

Featuring:

Status... Pending
By Sameen Haque & Sumana Tumpa, South Asian Network

"Status... Pending" is an exploration about what people in the Bangladeshi Koreatown community think about citizenship, as seen by Bangladeshi youth. As a young community, with some coming as early as 1970s, some as recent as last year, there are over 10,000 Bangladeshis living in K-town and Los Angeles. Given the anti-immigrant sentiment on people of color, youth first found it important to ask people in the community "what citizenship means to you?" After many interviews, however, the youth began to realize that there is no easy question to ask when thinking about a heavy topic like "citizenship" as the experiences by community members challenge the very idea of being a citizen.

Exclusive film screening and public discussion of "Granny D Goes to Washington"

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:58:59 -0700

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6:00 PM - Light Reception
7:00 PM - Program

Riveted by a news article on the role of corporate money in politics, 90 year-old great grandmother, Doris Haddock – affectionately known as Granny D – undertook a year-long, 3,200 mile walk from California to Washington D.C. to ignite public attention for campaign finance reform. This short film documentary, recently aired nationwide on PBS, chronicles her extraordinary passion, courage, and deep concern about the welfare of our country. Granny D's is a story that inspires citizens, young and old, to speak out and become involved in civic issues.

A Divided Community: A Staged Reading

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 12:58:54 -0800

Based upon actual events, A Divided Community was conceived by Frank Chin. During World War II, a group of Japanese Americans protested their unconstitutional incarceration by refusing to report to the draft board if called upon until their rights and those of their families as United States citizens were restored. Colloquially known as "the resisters," the actions of these men continue to generate debate in the community. Read by actual World War II resisters and veterans as well as actors, this piece brings to life an important moment in history that still resonates today. Performance is free; Museum admission not included.

Eric Alterman, "Is Democracy in America Even Possible?"

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 12:52:34 -0800

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FREE

Walter Lippmann and John Dewey argued over the character and quality of American democracy in the 1920s with each offering devastating but almost perfectly oppositional critiques. In many ways, they were both correct, but the problems each identified have only metastasized. The media are supposed to be the watchdogs of democracy and as well as our surrogates in its practice. This idea was always an idealized one, but increasingly it has become more and more difficult to sustain if one looks at the cold hard reality of both our media and our political system. Eric Alterman, prolific author, media critic, and columnist for The Nation, visits Zócalo to explore the emergence of what he calls America's "pseudo-democracy." This event is free; however, reservations are required and must be made at www.zocalola.org or 213.403.0416.

Tran T. Kim-Trang's BLINDNESS SERIES-COMPLETE

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 11:02:31 -0800

In 1992 director Tran T. Kim-Trang completed a complex and just-plain loud video entitled ALETHEIA, the first in a planned eight-part examination of multiple categories gazed through the prism of sight and sightlessness. Fourteen years later, director Tran’s groundbreaking octet of videos, THE BLINDNESS SERIES, reaches its anticipated culmination with EPILOGUE: THE PALPABLE INVISIBILITY OF LIFE (2006). Join Visual Communications and the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy as the eight-part series is presented for the first time in its entirety. The World Premiere screening of EPILOGUE will be preceded by ALETHEIA; OPERCULUM (1993); KORE (1994); OCULARIS: EYE SURROGATES (1997); EKLEIPSIS (1998); ALEXIA (2000); and AMAUROSIS (2002). A Q & A with director Tran T. Kim-Trang follows.

Closing Performance: A Jive Bomber's Christmas

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 15:18:38 -0800

This musical play will once again bring that unique mixture of laughter, tears, and song to the National Museum. Set in 1943 as World War II is raging and some 120,000 Japanese Americans have unconstitutionally been placed in concentration camps. This critically acclaimed musical is the story of a group of inmates who attempt to celebrate the Christmas holidays despite being behind barbed wire.

Please join us for a dessert reception after the performance.

Special Ticket Price: $15 Museum members, $20 non-members. For tickets call 213.625.0414.