<Begin Segment 19>

MA: I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the presentations that you do in schools about Topaz, and how you started doing that.

AH: I started low-key when my kids were in elementary school, because the teachers found how somehow that I was in Topaz, so I'd just go in. And then through the years, it started to change, and it's still, it evolves. And now it's become, it just kind of fell into my lap, and it's really a dynamic part of my life now. Schools are asking me to come, and I have a PowerPoint presentation so I help the students. And I speak all ages, too, I speak from elementary school all the way up to civic groups, the adult groups. In fact, next week, I'll be speaking to a senior population in Weaver County, and I'm going to, I try to relate it to the level of people I'm talking to. And this new book that came out, everybody should purchase it, it's called Impounded, written by (Gary) Okihiro and Linda (Gordon). But it's about Dorothea Lange's pictures that's been classified. And there's a powerful part in that book, I just finished reading it two days ago, that I'm going to quote, because it relates to the senior population. They were part of the war, they were, they're the veterans, and there's part of, that part in that book, it talks about the 442nd and valor, President Truman honoring them with all these citations. And in his presentation, he says that, "You have honored us with your fighting the war against fascism and prejudice, and you have won both of them." And I read that to my friend last night, I said, "Is this appropriate for this generation?" And, "Yeah," he says, "do it." And so I try to gear it, and then I even talk to first graders, too. And for some reason... see, I'm a Buddhist. And as a Buddhist, all the things that's happening to us, there's a reason why it's happening, and it's not me, me, me kind of ego thing, it's just an energy that's there. I feel like my parents are with me to do all this, because a lot of them weren't able to speak. And so when I talk, it's almost like -- because I used to be extremely shy. I'm not as shy, obviously, anymore. My friend say, "You're shy? I never knew that you were ever shy." But anyway, I was, I was extremely shy. But I feel comfortable talking to the students, and they're just listening to me, and then after I'm done, they come up, usually kids in elementary school, you have to prompt them to say, "Thank you." They come up on their own and shake my hand. And there's some sixth graders that I taught a few weeks ago, and a couple, three of them came up and asked for my autograph. I'm going, "Autograph? I've never signed autographs." [Laughs] But then, to me, I knew that I was able to reach them.

MA: What is, usually, the level of knowledge that people have about World War II and the camps and all of that that you've been finding?

AH: Well, some of, some of the history teachers are bringing that in. So by the time I give a presentation, they have some knowledge of that. But when I first started to do this, like when Jeanette Misaka would, she liked me to speak to her REACH program, and it's a program for faculty. I don't know if it's mandatory, but they have to take these sensitivity classes on diversity, and she would arrange for the Hispanic population presentation, and then she would ask me, as a Japanese, to represent us. And so some of them have near heard of it. That was several years ago, but now, because there's more things being written about it and scholars, speakers and things like that, and history teachers are becoming more knowledgeable, that a lot of them know about it. And some are not, just all ranges. But... oh, and then what I do is so that, especially with the young children, I play the taiko. And taiko is a very passion of mine. And my son's my teacher, and he's my worst instructor and I'm his worst student. [Laughs] So we love each other, but we have this thing... but I just thoroughly enjoy it. So what I do is, at the end of my talk -- well, when I first give the presentation, I always approach the audience saying that, "I'm not here because I don't want you to feel sorry for me, I'm here because I want to tell you about a story of a generation that a lot of people don't know about. And I also want you to know that I'm not here because I'm angry, because I'm a Buddhist, and we're taught as Buddhists to drop anger, all the anger feeling, it doesn't do us any good. I'm here because I want you to learn this story." And students, I'll say, "You're the future, and you're gonna be our leaders, and if you know about this story, you'll make sure that this doesn't happen again." So I have, I have the audience part of what I'm trying to do. And I go through and I end up with this very powerful story.

I mentioned John Tateishi, he came and gave a very powerful presentation on one Issei that made a testimony, and the suffering that she went through because of the war. She came with, she and her husband and three sons went, I think they went to Manzanar. The husband died shortly after, I think he was depressed, I kind of got that feeling, and the three sons joined the military. And one by one, they all died. [Cries] And I have a hard time telling this, but usually when I give this part I read it because I cry. And she's telling this in front of the congressional party, she's in her eighties. And to me it's sad because I mentioned, she never had a chance to be a grandma, and I have such joy as being a grandma, you know. And she is, she says, "I'm a Buddhist, and I don't want to go my grave with bitterness, and I want you to please understand, because of your mistake, the suffering and pain that you caused all of us." And when she got done, John Tateishi said that there was not a dry eye in the room. So I always end up with that. But then after the serious part is done, I tell the kids, I said, "You know, when I left camp, everybody hated us so we denied our Japanese. But now, after all these years, I've been able to make a lot of resolutions, my life's great, I'm proud to be an American. I mean, what other country, what other dictator would apologize to the victims of the atrocities? And I celebrate my ethnic background, and I'm going to do a, play a drum for you, taiko." And you'd just be amazed, their eyes go boom, like they open up, they love that. And what I do is I have them hit the drums, and I know the last time I did it at a junior high school, they, they wanted to stay after school and play the drums and watch me perform some more. So it kind of ties everything together. I wanted it to be a positive experience, and I thought the adults wouldn't care for this, but they do. They know about this drum, they go, "Bring your drums, bring your drums," so I even do it for the adults and they love it, too, so it kind of ties it all together. Anyway, that's my presentation and I feel like I didn't plan -- you know, you never know what holds in the future for you either, with this experience, what's gonna happen to you. And I never planned all this in my life, to do this. It's something I feel like I'd like to do, and that's what I'm supposed to be doing.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright ©2008 Densho and the Topaz Museum. All Rights Reserved.