50 years ago I picked up bits of broken china at the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay, back in the day when it was unmanaged. I’ve had these pieces in a box ever sice. Today I was glad to return them to the state park system, with the help of our tour leader, Grant Din.

BLOG POST: Why the Japanese American Citizens League @jacl-national.bsky.social must reconcile itself with its own wartime history of government collaboration and suppression of resistance, before it can be free to reconcile with anyone else. #tulelakepilgrimage2026 resisters.com/2026/07/17/r...

Three years in the making, I finally corrected the transcript and Densho @denshoproject.bsky.social has published their oral history interview with me. A lot to cover, as I say in the HIstory Keepers email that just went out, so it took nine hours over three sessions. ddr.densho.org/narrators/10...

“For survivors of Japanese internment, Dilley’s family detention facility hearkens to the US concentration camps that shuttered 80 yrs ago.” "More than 120K ppl were incarcerated, over two-thirds of whom were US citizens. Still alive today are several survivors who were incarcerated as children.”

Gabe Ortíz@tusk81.bsky.social · last mo.

“Interfaith leaders and activists prayed, delivered a meditative chant and tied chains of multicolored origami cranes to the facility’s 10-foot chain-link fence topped with razor wire. The paper cranes were folded by Japanese American concentration camp survivors and their descendants.”

BLOG POST: After 36-years, it’s time to unpack the 1990 Research Report into the wartime activities of the Japanese American Citizens League. Here’s the inside story of the origins of “The Lim Report," in advance of our workshop at the Tule Lake Pilgrimage. resisters.com/2026/06/26/a...

NEW — I wanted to know if ICE’s newly uncovered plan to offload seven of the 11 concentration camp warehouses was actually a big deal, so I went straight to the expert: Michael Wriston of @projectsaltbox.com, which has been tracking these warehouses every step of the way. Our full convo here:

ICE is offloading seven concentration camp warehouses. What does it really mean?

A Q+A with Michael Wriston of Project Salt Box

thehandbasket.co

Thanks to @andreapitzer.bsky.social for calling out this win by local communities, whose resistance has stopped ICE from siting 21st century American concentration camps in seven warehouses in Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Utah, and New Jersey. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/u...

ICE Spent $700 Million on 7 Warehouses. Now It Wants to Get Rid of Them.

nytimes.com

Featuring further reading recommendations for & tributes to books from @tracyslater.bsky.social, @tamikonimura.bsky.social, @frankabe.bsky.social, & more! americanstudier.podbean.com/e/postgame-p...

It's an honor to serve as one of the faces of the Mesa Refuge spring fundraising campaign. For fifty years I’ve worked with John Okada’s foundational novel, NO-NO BOY, and wrestled with it for the past five to adapt it for the theater. With two weeks inside this wildlife refuge 1/2

PODCAST: In conversation with fellow writers Saiba Varma and Claire L. Evans and host Lyons Filmer on "Mesa Refuge Interviews" on community radio KWMR @kwmrradio.bsky.social in Point Reyes Station, just a short walk down the hill from Mesa Refuge. Listen here: soundcloud.com/user-6932549...

April 29, 2026 Frank Abe, Claire Evans, Saiba Varma on KWMR/Mesa Refuge Interviews

The Mesa Refuge a writing refuge in Point Reyes Station, founded in 1997. Our residents are mostly focused on “ideas at the edge” of nature, human economy, and social equity. Here writers and other cr

soundcloud.com

Scott Kurashige pulls no punches in turning the fear of the yellow peril on its head with his "American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism." He documents countless examples of vigilante violence and state violence in the face of the current regime's effort to whitewash history.

If you haven’t yet read the great Toshio Mori, the two stories I highlight in this week’s episode are a great intro to one of our most groundbreaking & important writers—& a moving chronicler of Japanese American incarceration & baseball. 🗃️ @frankabe.bsky.social @palumboliu.bsky.social

Ben Railton@americanstudier.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Short stories that depict the power of Japanese American baseball for a pre-war community & an incarcerated young man. A poem about baseball legends in the camps from a young boy’s perspective. & literary voices challenging the worst of our own moment’s prejudices. Welcome to the Eighth Inning! 🗃️

Join us in Portland this Saturday 5/16 for "Lines of Resistance" as Kelly Goto and I join with Lori Matsukawa to "explore how graphic storytelling gives voice to the lived experiences of Japanese Americans incarcerated at Minidoka in WWII. Book signing to follow. Free RSVP: jamo.org/lines-of-res...

Thanks so much, & I'm so glad to hear it! If you have a chance to check it out, I think you'd enjoy this season of my podcast, focused on baseball at Manzanar & the incarceration camps overall: americanstudier.podbean.com

Thanks Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social for such a close read of our anthology, You’ve nailed our thinking behind it. Glad you found it if use.

Ben Railton@americanstudier.bsky.social · 3mo ago

So for the first post in my Sabbatical Reads blog series, three of my many takeaways from @frankabe.bsky.social & Floyd Cheung’s groundbreaking, vital anthology The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration (2024)! blackwhiteandread.com/may-11-2026-...

So for the first post in my Sabbatical Reads blog series, three of my many takeaways from @frankabe.bsky.social & Floyd Cheung’s groundbreaking, vital anthology The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration (2024)! blackwhiteandread.com/may-11-2026-...

May 11, 2026: Sabbatical Reads: The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration – Black and White and Read All Over

[While I did teach a couple online courses during my Spring semester sabbatical, I didn’t have my usual slate of classes by any means. So in lieu of my usual Semester Reflections series, this week I’l...

blackwhiteandread.com

Congratulations again to Karen Tei Yamashita on her epic new novel, and thanks to Robert Ito for calling me up to chat about it for the NY Times. Haven't heard from Robert since he reviewed "Conscience and the Constitution" 26 years ago for a film magazine. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/b...

She Began with Japanese American History. Then She Made Things Up.

nytimes.com

"We've built a rapid response network to stop ICE detention centers before they start. Receive immediate alerts if a facility is planned for your community and help lead the local fight to stop it..." gtfoice.org

GTFO ICE — Get The Facilities Out

ICE is rapidly expanding its network of detention centers. We have a playbook to fight back. Sign up to get alerts if a facility is planned near you.

gtfoice.org

More thoughts by George Toshio Johnston in the Pacific Citizen on the effectiveness of the "edutainment" model in podcasts to "tell an important, ever-timely story in an engaging, compelling and, yes, entertaining manner." www.pacificcitizen.org/podcasts-rec...

Join us in Portland on May 16 for "Lines of Resistance." Kelly Goto, Lori Matsukawa and I will explore how graphic storytelling — drawn lines of ink on paper — gives voice to the lived experiences of Japanese Americans incarcerated in WWII. Book signing to follow. RSVP: jamo.org/event/lines-...

BLOG POST: Highlights of the grim outlook I recently presented at @denshoproject.bsky.social, the AAASAssociation for Asian American Studies - AAAS, and the Seattle Public Library on the use of industrial warehouses for 21st century American concentration camps. resisters.com/2026/04/13/m...

I was able to make it & I'm so glad I went! I especially liked that story about the resister song lyrics carried around on a scrap of paper that, decades later, someone showed to Mako, who knew what the original tune was & sang it.

I'm getting a root canal tomorrow & I'm still not gonna miss this talk by Frank Abe & Tom Ikeda. Alt-text of left image: A poster with "Frank Abe & Tom Ikeda "The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration" Wednesday April 8 at 7 pm, Central Library" 1/

Frank Abe@frankabe.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Join me tonight at 7:00 pm at the Central Library for what's bound to be a wide-ranging conversation with Densho founder Tom Ikeda. Should be free tickets still available, that Microsoft Auditorium has a lotta seats! bit.ly/41DxqcR

Back from AAAS to find this Sunday print version of the Seattle Times preview for tonight's program at the Seattle Public Library, where we'll show how a reading of "The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration" prepares us to see what injustices the government is repeating today. 1/2

Check out the graphic novel, “We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration.” By @frankabe.bsky.social and @tamikonimura.bsky.social; illustrated by @rossish.bsky.social #TeachTruth #TeachOutsideTextbook www.zinnedproject.org/materials/we...

We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration

Book — Non-fiction. By Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura; illustrated by Ross Ishikawa. 2021. 160 pages. This graphic novel tells the story of Japanese American imprisonment during World War II, and the res...

zinnedproject.org

Topaz 2.0

Christine Riter@criterdee.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A screenshot of 2/3 of an editorial page I grabbed, courtesy of today’s Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com When housing humans becomes just another “economic decision”, Utah leaders must answer what it means to lack a moral compass for such a decision. #utpol

Thanks @gjabberbox.bsky.social for sharing this insightful article on the ICE concentration camps as a gift to be read in full.

@gjabberbox.bsky.social · 5mo ago

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Claw back the money FFS!

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 5mo ago

Under Kristi Noem, ICE purchased 11 large warehouses around the country that it plans to convert into megajails, Nick Miroff reports. But senior DHS officials tell him they expect that effort to slow down and perhaps even pause.

Thanks to Tim Dickinson at The Contrarian for this on our recent mass call from @50501movement.bsky.social with @andreapitzer.bsky.social. And thanks to Satsuki Ina for first articulating that as Japanese Americans, we know a concentration camp when we see one. www.contrariannews.org/p/is-trump-b...

Is Trump Building ‘Concentration Camps’? These Experts Have No Doubts

ICE’s immigrant mass-detention facilities fit a dark, century-old pattern

contrariannews.org