2:00 - 3:00
Hear a descendant’s firsthand account of the Crystal City Family Internment Camp.
Bekki Shibayama shares her family’s history of wartime incarceration, including her father’s abduction from Peru and imprisonment at Crystal City, and her mother’s forced removal and incarceration at camps in Oregon, California, and Idaho. Drawing on her work with community remembrance and justice efforts, Bekki illuminates the little-known internment of Japanese Latin Americans and reflects on the lasting impacts of forced displacement, incarceration, and the ongoing pursuit of justice.
Bekki Shibayama is the daughter of Carlos Isamu Art Shibayama, who was abducted from Lima, Peru and imprisoned at the Crystal City Family Internment Camp, and Betty (Morita) Shibayama, who was forcibly removed from Hood River, Oregon and incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka. Through her work with the Campaign for Justice: Redress NOW for Japanese Latin Americans! and the Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project, Bekki carries forward her father’s legacy of activism by educating the public about the often-overlooked internment of Japanese Latin Americans and continuing the pursuit of justice in solidarity with other social justice movements. She also serves on the boards of the Crystal City Pilgrimage Committee and the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee.
Image Credits: Densho Digital Repository. Used with permission.
Presentación: La historia de una familia del campo de internamiento de Crystal City, Texas
Escuche el testimonio de una descendiente sobre el campo de internamiento familiar de Crystal City.
Bekki Shibayama comparte la historia de su familia durante el encarcelamiento en tiempos de guerra, incluyendo el secuestro de su padre en Perú y su encarcelamiento en Crystal City, así como la expulsión forzada y el encarcelamiento de su madre en campos en Oregón, California e Idaho. A partir de su trabajo en iniciativas comunitarias de memoria y justicia, Bekki arroja luz sobre el poco conocido internamiento de japoneses latinoamericanos y reflexiona sobre los efectos duraderos del desplazamiento forzado, el encarcelamiento y la continua búsqueda de justicia.
Bekki Shibayama es hija de Carlos Isamu Art Shibayama, quien fue secuestrado en Lima, Perú, y encarcelado en el campo de internamiento familiar de Crystal City, y de Betty (Morita) Shibayama, quien fue expulsada por la fuerza de Hood River, Oregón, y encarcelada en Tule Lake y Minidoka. A través de su trabajo con la campaña Campaign for Justice: Redress NOW for Japanese Latin Americans! y el Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project, Bekki continúa el legado de activismo de su padre al educar al público sobre el internamiento de japoneses latinoamericanos, un episodio a menudo pasado por alto, y al seguir impulsando la búsqueda de justicia en solidaridad con otros movimientos por la justicia social. También forma parte de las juntas directivas del Crystal City Pilgrimage Committee y del Nihonmachi Outreach Committee.
Connect: Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project - Website
Stretching from California’s southern border to northmost tip of Washington state, One Book, One Coast is a brand-new, multi-state community reading initiative that brings readers together around a shared book, sparking conversation, programs and reflection across the West Coast.
Our inaugural selection is They Called Us Enemy (2019), a graphic memoir by George Takei that recounts his childhood experience of incarceration alongside more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent, most of whom were U.S. citizens, following Executive Order 9066 in 1942.
Read along March–May 2026 and join the programs and discussions it inspires.