My First Civic Season

My sister and I love to visit historical sites and museums and take random road trips across the country to learn and celebrate history with a hands-on approach. It’s no surprise that two sisters who work in education get a kick out of learning for fun in their free time. However, it was a surprise that we had not heard about Civic Season until this year’s season of events was winding down to an end.

My sister and I met up for sushi in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, CA, before visiting the Japanese American National Museum across the street. We toured the museum and spoke excitedly with friendly docents who gave us more insight into Japanese American history, and then took a stroll through the gift shop before wandering outside to check out the free resource fair and the My American Story Program put on by Democracy Now!

We heard original stories performed by local storytellers: Flora White, Pauline Marguet, Billy Taing, Roselma Samala, Chai Savathasuk, Mitchell Nguyen, Sakae Manning, Sayuri Tsuchitani, Susu Schwaber, Kevin Charles Keizuchi, Jodi Chen, and Sofia T. Alvarez under the guidance of rapper, artist, and activist Jason Chu, and were impressed by their presentation and delivery. We heard different stories from varying backgrounds brought forth by unique voices. They told stories that made me laugh, cry, become angry, and discover hope under the premise that these were all…