“THEN THEY CAME FOR ME” is a compelling exhibit of photography, documents, and artifacts that chronicles the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. For no other reason than their heritage, over 100,000 people (including whole families) were forced to leave their homes and abandon all property to be incarcerated in “relocation camps”. The majority of incarcerees were US Citizens and in a sad irony many young Japanese American men served in the US Military and fought and died in Europe while their families were unjustly incarcerated back home. The exhibit is an important lesson in America’s history.
Through the summer and fall of 2017 the exhibit ran at The Alphawood Gallery drawing thousands of visitors. The curator asked Ho Etsu to perform at the exhibit’s closing reception in November 2017. We were honored by the request, particularly since several Ho Etsu members have grandparents who endured internment during WWII. As a special tribute Ho Etsu member Emily Harada composed a new piece, POSTON, about the camp in which her grandparents were incarcerated.
Credits:
Christine Humbach, photography
Composer’s note: Poston is an incarceration camp in Arizona that held over 17,000 Japanese American citizens rounded up and displaced by the US government during World War II.
Only what you can carry, they said
An unknown future, moving forward
Separation, nulled identities
Stories hidden, some may never know
Divided by war (Unified to forge ahead)
What lies ahead from here? (We’re staring into present day)
No time for the past (Unified in face of hate)
What lies ahead from here? (Won’t let it repeat again)
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
In the nightwood, dark and deep
The tiny songbird cries in sleep
Sleep my love, though the wind do wail
And snow clouds pile, and storm and hail
Black bough trees, cold earth beneath
The breath of night bares icy teeth
Water moves, though the moving’s slow
And the deepest root guards life below
Fire flicker, warm and bright
Bind us in your ring of light
Shadows tall on the cold ground cast
Draw dancing shapes of those who passed
Gather now in the circle round
While the hoarfrost kiss the ground
Heart and hand and drum and song
We speak of them, we speak of them, our voices strong
Mountains high and oceans wide
The dead stand with us, side by side
Greeting’s sweet and parting’s sore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore, wears on our shore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore
Come by me and share your light
Walk hand in hand into the night
Glowing hearts and our faces cold
Life catches us in a web of gold
In the nightwood, dark and deep
A tiny songbird sighs in sleep
Sleep my child though the wind do cry
My love will keep you by and by
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
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