Listener Notes as Prose Poem
Story Circle: Why Story
by devorah major | July 27, 20244
Talk story means talk
what how, sometimes when
sometimes why
but always a who
mountain or butterfly
person or wind
story inside and around it all.
There are the stories of home
but what is home
a house, belonging
connection to the land
a place for one’s stuff?
Can one be home and unhoused
walking in two worlds, part of neither?
Where is home?
Are you still a “person of the land”
when you move away
and when you move does the
new place truly become home?
Stories of family and struggle
epic family dramas
things are not always rosy.
Caring for elders is a gift of knowing-
personality distilled down to its core
at times becoming a reliving
of the pain and trauma of childhood
when anger and resentment spilled out as abuse
onto you and your siblings
but there are people and systems to help
navigate this journey
Often, we are taught to suffer in silence
but story circles allow us to share, learn, heal.
Family may seem shattered
by divorce, death, realization
of changing sexual or gender realities
by questions of failure
questions of loss
But families can become reshaped
and maintain integrity and power
by calling on inherited resilience and courage
But you exist as an individual
sheltered in a body
that you must acknowledge
because it holds infinite potential
while connecting us to each other
connecting us to the ancestors
connecting us to mother earth
able to create sounds of life and culture
aaah awe aaah
heart connecting to heaven and earth
eeeeeeeee
water as rain river stream ocean
oooooh
the oneness of the earth
ouuuuuuuuuu
as birthing
as fire from the heart
bringing harmony peace
interconnection
I stand on the shoulders of this planet
which orbits in this universe
all the people in my life
learning, teaching
Where is my home, my shelter
where I feel safe and held
where I feel most connected?
Hometown is where I grew up
a sacred space of growing, birth energy
not where I now live
but where I visit and reaffirm connection
We know that the trauma of family
anger and abuse can wrap us in fear
for generations-
but when we know our stories
we have the choice
of stopping inter-generational trauma
through self-healing, healing with others
Listening to others share their life stories
removes the barriers that make us feel alone
Story is wound up with breath
with timing and again and again
with connectedness
Silent voces need to rise
to realize that we do have influence
What we are doing, each in our own ways
words, music, film, pictures, actions
are capturing story and voice
and allowing them to move forward in time
We need dialogue and understanding
to realize that we are all on the one human team
not competing teams
Booming extreme views put on a loudspeaker
with bright lights and manufactured videos
do not reflect the truths of the many
of the most
Have we ever really embraced
what it is to live, to actualize
being an American living in a land
of diversity and opportunity
in all the madness
How do we embrace
the values and principles
that make us human?
Who do we live for?
Why are we here?
Are we here for each other?
How can we be a changemaker?
So often we preach to the choir,
but doesn’t the choir need a little love too?
Remember we are not alone.
Create safe spaces for yourself and others.
Its grounding and healing to be a part of the circle.
Belly to belly, heart to heart
sacred sound, centered self, grounded being
stretching to fill space, heaven to earth
story inside and around us all.
why story - opening poem of Story Circle
by devorah major | July 27, 2024
the banquet table is nearly set
with empty platters and bowls
tea pots and pitchers
plates in myriad sizes
some porcelain
some stoneware
some carved polished wood
you will recognize the spices of several
marvel at the essences of others
yes there will be the ginger and garlic of healing
the anise and cardamon of celebration
the plum wine of delight
but many other dishes will surprise
and amaze with the freshness of their flavors
this table will be filled
with the wonder of story
for you to sample, chew on
inhale its steamy fragrance
suck the marrow out of the bones
each story can fill
a particular hollow in your belly
so when you leave
you will be full and satiated
and all we ask is that you
place your own story
small or grand
on the table for others to share
what a banquet we will make together
what a feast we will enjoy
all of us nourished
by the why of story
The 4th annual Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora 2024: Why Story
a free international zoom event 10am -12pm PDTSaturday July 27th by storytellers, musicians, poets, & spiritual leaders and people like you
First Voice presents the 4th annual Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora: Why Story created and conceived by America’s first nationally recognized Asian American storyteller, Brenda Wong Aokiand Asian American jazz pioneer composer Mark Izu.
The purpose of the annual Story Circle is to bring together the lost tribe of people of Japanese descent who were forced to scatter during the incarceration, embrace our mixed-race children and the Shin-Issei community in order to heal, comfort, & strengthen through the power of personal story.
Sharing our stories helps us to understand our history, its impact on our lives and lights the way to make future together. Story Circle is a heart-centered event. All presenters and facilitators are artists, healers or spiritual leaders.
Third Annual Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora: WE Never Die
May 20 2023
WE never die is a healing ritual to celebrate the eternal spirit within. Even after our physical bodies are gone, our spirits live on - in the memories of people whose lives we touch, in the art that we create, and in the stories we share.
SATSUKI INA was born in the Tule Lake Segregation Center, an American concentration camp, during WWII. She grew up in San Francisco’s Japantown where she drank 5 cent cokes and read comic books at Koga’s soda fountain.
As a licensed psychotherapist, her primary clinical work has focused on intergenerational families struggling with legacies of trauma. She has produced two award winning documentary films, Children of the Camps, and From A Silk Cocoon, both currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Her book, The Poet and The Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest will be released by HeyDay Books Fall 2023.
In 2015, she was asked by the American Civil Liberties Union to enter a family detention facility in South Texas, ostensibly as a “religious visitor” to evaluate the trauma effects on the mothers and children being held there under indefinite detention. Her op-ed piece was published by the Huffington Post in May, 2015.
She is one of the co-founders of Tsuru for Solidarity, a grassroots, non-violent, direct action project of Japanese American social justice advocates working to end child detention sites and to support front-line immigrant and refugee communities that are being targeted by racist, inhumane immigration policies.
TRACI KATO-KIRIYAMA (they+she, based on unceded Tongva land) is an award-winning multidisciplinary writer/performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, community organizer and audiobook narrator. tkk is the author of Navigating With(out) Instruments (Writ Large Press); actor/writer with PULLproject Ensemble (TALES OF CLAMOR; NEFA and NET awards); core artist of Vigilant Love; organizer of the Nikkei Progressives/NCRR Reparations committee; co-chair of the National Nikkei Reparations Coalition; Director/Co-Founder of Tuesday Night Project, presenting Tuesday Night Cafe - now in its 25th year as the long-running Asian American free public arts series in the country.
Featured Presenters:
CHIZU OMORI is a civil rights activist and writer. Born in 1930 she was incarcerated at Poston, Arizona for over 3 years during WWII. She is currently active on the Tule Lake Committee, Tsuru for Solidarity, and the Wakasa Memorial Committee.
She is a UC Berkeley grad who became a civil rights activist. In Seattle, Chizu worked for 10 years on the redress campaign and was named a plaintiff in the class action lawsuit for redress for Japanese Americans. This case was heard before the Supreme Court, and was declared moot after Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988.
Co-producer of Rabbit in the Moon, a documentary on JA incarceration, which premiered on national TV in 1999. Currently active on the Tule Lake Committee, Tsuru for Solidarity, and Wakasa Memorial Committee. Has been a columnist and writer for the Nichi Bei Times and other publications for over 30 years.
NANCY UKAI is project director of the 50 Objects website which explores the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans through 50 artifacts. It is a National Park Service JACS project. She has helped lead protests against the auction of camp artifacts, which are symbols of suffering, racial hate and should not be commodified. She is a Topaz descendant and a member of the Wakasa Memorial Committee which was created to protect the Wakasa Monument and memorial site in Utah. Nancy went to Japan in March to find Mr. Wakasa’s descendants for the 80th anniversary of his murder on April 11, 1943.
Second Annual Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora: Ikiru (To Live)
We are feeling torn open, held, connected to our ancestors and to new life.
We learned that a surprising number of our grandfathers owned corner stores, we learned about each other, we learned about ourselves. If you were not able to join us for the second annual Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora, we are sharing the video recording with the hope that you feel many things as well!
We will be gathering again next year for the Third Annual Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora, but we hope to see you before then!
2021 Story Circle of the Japanese Diaspora: Enso
May 28th & 29th, 2021
Thank you to everyone who joined this once in a lifetime intergenerational Zoom gathering of people of Japanese descent featuring Living Treasures, Culture Bearers and Wisdom Keepers.
During this time of rising hate, musicians, poets, storytellers, filmmakers, spiritual leaders & visionaries joined together to re-member the resilience of our ancestors, found strength, and left strong facing future.
In honor of our multiracial children and family members.
Part 1
Why My Father Stopped Talking to Me
Who am I and why does it matter? How does my grandparents’ life experience affect my worldview and expectations? What happens when we name the pain? Watch below for a conversation with Dr. Satsuki Ina, The Honorable Judge Thelton Henderson, and Noelani Ahia. Hear visionaries, poets and musicians Vicki Eagle, Nancy Ukai, Mark Izu, and Janice Mirikitani. Lean in. Learn from one another. Share your story.
Part 2 and 3
Japanese Joy
What does Joy have to do with resilience? After understanding our history, naming our pain and pulling out shards of embedded trauma, how do we care for ourselves? Joy can strengthen resilience but what brings us joy? In this session we shared home movies from the 1930’s and afterwards. See what joy looked like before the Incarceration and now. Artists & spiritual leaders PJ Hirabayashi, George Yamasaki, and Kenny Endo raised our spirits and Traci Kato-Kiriyama will led us in interactive exercises to find our own Joy. Japanese Joy shined a light on our ability to endure now and in the future.
Hear the Now Facing Future
Our children are the future and that future is multiracial. How do our children navigate multiple cultural identities and how can we help them? How does the experience of white-passing and non-white passing multiracial people differ? The U.S. is nearing the tipping point - whites are no longer the majority. What does that mean for our grandchildren’s children? What do they need us to do now in order for them to thrive, standing tall with their heads held high. Join the fight against cultural extinction!
Story Talk
by devorah major
Hearing story talk circles of healing
From the occupied lands of the Ohlone peoples
from the native lands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute
from traditional Nonotuck land
Muwekma and Ohlone Chochenyo land
Wampanoag and Nipmuc land
from the land of the Kizh, Gabrielino
and Tonga peoples
From the lands of the
Yelamu/Ohlone Ramaytush
We are her
We are connected to and responsible for these lands today
to make sure that the dark times will not happen again
We bring our historical trauma
and the harsh reality of today
to the reconvening of our tribe
here with our culture bearers,
wisdom keepers
us
All of us
with our difficult stories
that are Important to share
When you are of color
you never escape history
All our communities are struggling
with oppression and racism
inherited shame
All of us carry generational trauma
We carry the fear of walking our streets
of our elders and our children
leaving our doorsteps
And now some don’t expect
people like us to do what we can really do
But remember we’ve always endured
Created the birthplace of another culture
U S us
All of us
Holding up the mirror
of what it means to be Japanese
Centering all the pieces of our selves
into one unified truth of
what it means to be human
Your importance and mine are the same
Whose humanity is being challenged or erased
We bring our ancestors with us
So that we can say what our ancestors
need us to say
When we lean back on our ancestors
they give us the strength to be who we are
to create a chant for change
Roots matter
Our roots connect us to the earth
And the earth connects us to each other
We can be in community and mourn
but also celebrate our being together
The profoundness of being able to tell our stories
To acknowledge the wounds, acknowledge the pain
acknowledge our ability to protest, dance, yell, sing
Exchanging small pieces of our lives
helps transform sorrow and opens the heart,
offering a way forward.
The echoing drums- taiko, tom toms, bongos, hand drums
intertwine with the bass
becoming our hearts humming with possibilities
guitar fingers, shimmering bells
resonate with our tears and laughter
Flutes bird songs bring flocks
soaring between branches
riding the winds of healing
sheng, shakuhachi, saxophone
voice our sorrow and our release
Music our salve, at times
Our salvation
Evoke your ancestors
and the ancestors of extended family
Call out the sacred names of spirit
Have gratitude for breath
friendship, community, humanity
Love will be amplified
so there is no refuge for hate
Gather the infinite energy from the universe
from the earth into the vessel that is you
Swim in a ocean of chi
an ocean of infinite power with no boundaries
Our bodies moving
Our minds opening
Our hearts opening
Even when we’re angry
There will be joy
Voices open in song
Limbs stretch in dance
Each of you is important
We’ve created a healing space
We will hold our heads high
and face the future together
The fight for humanity needs us all
Independence is a myth
Be grounded and real in our interconnections
Be a voice for the people you grew up with
for those in back of you and in front
Know your stories
Know your stories were shared
at this beautiful gathering where courage floated.
Thank you for sharing your powerful stories
reclaiming/owning your traditions and history
You were a gift to us
Old faces, new faces, faces of future community
We are more the same than we are different.
We can find ways to turn fear and pain
into resilience and action
What a wonderful celebration
in spite of the turmoil in our country and the world today.
Our stories were eye wetting and gut churning
but transformational.
So much strength and wisdom
beautiful, like a scroll of our history
Liberating
Connected
Empowered and Compassionate
Creating metamorphosis
Invisible threads of golden light
connecting our hearts and making us strong
We are ONE
Oneness not sameness
Story Circle of the
Japanese Diaspora Collage
by Andi Wong
About Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu
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In Partnership With
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Speakers and Artists
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