Today is the 80th anniversary of the signing of executive order 9066, the order that authorized the imprisonment of japanese americans during the second world war. last year, the second in a never ending year of masks, quarantine and fear, Dylan and I got together to respond to the surge of racist violence towards asian americans. since then, many other individuals were attacked, some even brutally murdered....last week Christina Yuna Lee was brutally murdered in her home. last month a stranger pushed a woman, Michelle Alyssa Go, onto an oncoming R train in New York. several news outlets didn't even mention her name, just a "woman of asian descent."
I fucking hated that.
However, even with all of the negativity across the country, i have seen more and more people speaking up and having conversations about discrimination. i have seen people posting about what their families went through. i have seen people correct someone who says or spells their last name wrong. i have had strangers reach out to me about the camps...all of this gives me hope. hope that we are moving towards a better place in history. with that being said, please do not stop checking in on your Asian friends. please continue to give space, support and courage to your Asian friends. center Asian women in your activism and in your stories. protect them.
Here is a second offering from Dylan and myself on this day.
Like the first recording, all proceeds of this music will go towards Asian Americans Advancing Justice (www.advancingjustice-aajc.org). we hope you will take time with this music and hear what we have to say. stay safe and help others around you stay safe.
1. vision of the void 15:31
2. in the frame of incarceration 06:01
3. the house that no longer exists 20:42
Patrick Shiroishi - alto, sopranino & tenor saxophones, clarinet
Dylan Fujioka - drums & percussion
recorded at Dylan's house on the 16th & 31st of January, 2022.
mixed and mastered by Eddie Kim
photograph is of Dylan's uncle Kenji, born at Tule Lake
