*Fred Korematsu Day Ceremony - 'History is in the Making' We Need Your SupportNEW

Taking some of the words that Yukio Kawaratani said on Jan 31st � "Fred Korematsu challenged the Government, all the way to the Supreme Court.� The Supreme Court's decision held that military necessity outweighted Korematsu's individual rights and the rights of all Americans of Japanese descent.� Fred Korematsu is a hero and a symbol for all Americans to honor.� He alerted us to be vigilant to the continuing legal concept that the government can suspend civil liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and discriminate and take action against any group or organization of people on the basis of military necessity."

Event
Fred Korematsu Day Ceremony

Description
We are also asking for support by the public to come to City Hall for this short ceremony, or watch it on television (Pasadena area Charter Channel 3 or AT&T Channel 99 � find City of Pasadena and click on KPAS) or watch it live on the internet � go to www.PasadenaCommunityNetwork.com and click on KPAS.

Location
City Council is on the 2nd floor of the South East corner of City Hall
Near Euclid & Union

Date
Feb 28

Time
6:30 pm

Web Site
www.korematsuinstitute.org

Background
On January 31st, a presentation was made before the Pasadena City Council by Connie Castro of the ACLU, Greater Pasadena Chapter, Mark Furuya of the Japanese American Bar Association, Mikey Hirano Culross of The Rafu Shimpo, Wendy Anderson of the Cherry Blossom Festival SoCal and a Yukio Kawaratani who presented a heartful story of his experience as a 14 year old internee during WWII, for a Resolution to make January 30th Fred Korematsu Day.� As far as we know, this is the first Southern California city to make this Resolution so we are "history in the making" and hope that other Southern California cities come on board.

Under the sponsorship of Councilmembers Steve Madison & Jackie Robinson.� According to Mayor Bill Bogaard, there will be a modest ceremony on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28th at Pasadena City Hall Council Chambers at 6:30 pm � to move that February 28, 2011 as Fred Korematsu Day and henceforward Fred Korematsu Day will be recognized in the City of Pasadena on January 30th (Birthday of Korematsu) along with the State of California's resolution.

SHORT BIO ON FRED T. KOREMATSU
Fred T. Korematsu was a national civil rights hero. In 1942, at the age of 23, he refused to go to the government's incarceration camps for Japanese Americans. After he was arrested and convicted of defying the government's order, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled against him, arguing that the incarceration was justified due to military necessity.

In 1983, Prof. Peter Irons, a legal historian, discovered key documents that government intelligence agencies had hidden from the Supreme Court in 1944. The documents consistently showed that Japanese Americans had committed no acts of treason to justify mass incarceration. With this new evidence, a legal team of mostly Japanese American attorneys re-opened Korematsu's 40 year-old case on the basis of government misconduct. On November 10, 1983, Korematsu's conviction was overturned in a federal court in San Francisco. It was a pivotal moment in civil rights history.

Korematsu remained an activist throughout his life. In 1998, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, from President Bill Clinton. In 2010, the state of California passed the Fred Korematsu Day bill, making January 30 the first day in the US named after an Asian American. Korematsu's growing legacy continues to inspire activists of all backgrounds and demonstrates the importance of speaking up to fight injustice.