The Six WWII Japanese American Camp Survivors about to Make Their Statements at Fort Sill (Molly Hennessy-Fisk/LA Times)

The Six WWII Japanese American Camp Survivors about to Make Their Statements at Fort Sill (Molly Hennessy-Fisk/LA Times)

 
 

A Letter Asking Buddhist Leaders to Support Tsuru for Solidarity

UPDATE: Read the updated letter here. →

Tsuru for Solidarity, a nonviolent and direct action project, was initially created by Japanese American community leaders Satsuki Ina, Nancy Ukai, and Mike Ishii in conjunction with the March 2019 Pilgrimage to Crystal City, a former WWII internment camp in Texas that housed over 2,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, and Protest at the South Texas Family Residential Center (located 40 miles away in Dilley, Texas).

The Dilley facility holds over a thousand asylum seekers, mostly women, children, and infants from Central America and Mexico. Here, the women and children try to sleep on concrete floors while being deliberately prodded by Border Patrol agents all day and night, try to live on two bologna sandwiches for four days whilst denied bathroom visits. These examples of harassment by the Border Patrol are attempts to persuade the refugees to turn back before they have a chance to have an interview with an asylum officer. We have also read inspection reports of numerous facilities – such as the ones in El Paso and Clint, Texas – where children have been denied showers, soap, or toothpaste whilst trying to take care of the younger infants. Administration officials have asserted that basic human hygiene does not have to be afforded these children, while border agents tell these migrants that if they want to drink water, they need to get that from their cell’s toilets; again, to enact our nation’s “tough” deterrence immigration policies favored by some.


Fort Sill (Oklahoma) – WWII Japanese American Internment Camp and 2019 Detention Facility for Migrant Children

When the Department of Health and Human Services announced on June 11 that up to 1,400 unaccompanied migrant children would be transferred from Texas to Fort Sill, Oklahoma – a former WWII internment camp that held 700 persons of Japanese ancestry, including 90 Buddhist priests – I was heartened to hear that Tsuru for Solidarity was planning to mobilize a second protest on June 24 in Oklahoma. I decided to join this protest as the treatment of these children is not a partisan political issue – we should recall that a previous Democratic administration similarly used Fort Sill to house unaccompanied migrant children back in 2014 – but a question of basic human decency and our nation’s values and character; it was wrong then and it is wrong now.

I had the privilege of joining a group of 25 protestors, including six WWII Japanese American camp survivors, who traveled to Fort Sill to declare that “Never Again is Now.” Despite threats from the military police at the Fort Sill gate, the six camp survivors – all of whom were children during their wartime incarceration – made moving statements from their personal experience (see Democracy Now! coverage). A protest rally then was held in a nearby park with roughly 200 Oklahoma residents, representing a diverse cross-section of protestors: immigrant rights advocates such as Dream Action Oklahoma, ACLU Oklahoma, Black Lives Matter, and the American Indian Movement (see the LA Times’ coverage). It was an honor to officiate a Buddhist ceremony at the start of the rally – chanting the Heart Sutra while the six camp survivors offered incense in front a Buddha statue that had been carved in Manzanar in 1943, which I had borrowed from LA’s Zenshuji Temple. This ceremony was part of a healing ceremony led by Michael Topaum, the spiritual leader of the American Indian Movement, which was apropos to the fact that Fort Sill was a prisoner-of-war camp for Apache tribal members and that the U.S. has a history of forcefully removing their children from their homes and into so-called “Indian Schools.”

My Dharma message at the protest was “How do paper cranes fly?” The small group of protestors were in fact joined in spirit by the thousands who had folded the origami cranes. But what can paper cranes do to alleviate the suffering enduring by so many?One of the classic Buddhist symbols of liberation is likened to a bird soaring freely in the sky. We say that for the bird to fly, it needs both wings: the wing of wisdom and the wing of compassion. What I witnessed at Fort Sill was the embodiment of all the elements necessary to make paper cranes fly. The enormity of our current challenge may seem overwhelming, but Buddhist practice does not shy away from challenges – our bodhisattva vows include “Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them all. Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them. The dharmas are boundless; I vow to master them. The Buddha’s Way is unsurpassable; I vow to attain it.”

 

Buddhist Memorial Service at Next Protest at Fort Sill [July 20, 2019]

Dream Action Oklahoma (affiliated with United We Dream, the nation’s largest immigration youth-led network) is organizing a coalition of groups in Oklahoma for another large protest at Fort Sill on Saturday, July 20 and Tsuru for Solidarity has been invited to participate. I have been asked to coordinate a Buddhist memorial service at this upcoming rally. Back on May 13, 1942, nearly 90 Buddhist priests, under the watchful eye of the guards pointing machine guns on them, officiated a joint funeral service for three Japanese men who died at Fort Sill. One of them, Kanesaburo Oshima, was shot in the back of the head by one of the guards the day before the funeral. One internee wrote, “Nothing is more transient than human life. . . Smoke from the burning incense stung our eyes. ... the pitiful death of a fellow countryman whose life was shattered when his blood stained the distant desert sands of the Oklahoma plain as the glowing evening sun sank beyond the horizon.”

While it is unlikely that we can assemble such a large group of Buddhist priests to fly out to Oklahoma on July 20 to honor our ancestors, I would like to appeal to Buddhist leaders of all lineages to support this memorial service. We will dedicate any merit derived from the chanting of sutras at the service to the three men who passed away during their WWII incarceration; to all those who suffered at Fort Sill in the past; to the seven children who have died in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol in the past year; to all the migrants who are facing such difficult circumstances currently; and to the guards and others who are overseeing the children to pray for the prevention of history repeating itself.

 

How Can Buddhists Get Involved?

Since the protest at Fort Sill, I’ve received numerous communications asking, “How can we help?” “Are there ways in which Buddhists can show support for those who are being detained or participate in non-violent protest?” I would like to propose three possible ways to show your concern and support.

1) ATTEND – if your time and resources permit, please join us at Fort Sill on July 20. Let me know if you or a representative from your Sangha can make the trip to Oklahoma by emailing me at Duncan@duncanryukenwilliams.com Your name will be added to the Sangha Support Group.

2) FOLD A PAPER CRANE – your spirit will be present at Fort Sill and other locations wherever Tsuru for Solidarity takes the origami paper cranes, including a major future protest at the White House in Washington DC. Please send your cranes to Duncan Ryuken Williams, c/o Ito Center, 825 Bloom Walk, ACB 130D, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1481. Your name will be added to the Sangha Support Group if you email me about your paper crane folding project.

3) DONATE – please support this memorial service and other future actions of Tsuru for Solidarity by making a donation of any amount to this inspirational Japanese American initiative at their GoFundMe site. Your name will be added to the Sangha Support Group if you email me about your financial support.


In the Dharma,
Duncan Ryuken Williams
Soto Zen Buddhist Priest, USC Professor, and author of American Sutra


 
 
Manzanar Buddha at Fort Sill.jpg

Fort Sill and the Incarceration of Japanese “Enemy Aliens” during

World War II

Read Duncan Ryuken Williams’ historical essay on the Fort Sill Internment Camp during WWII

Buddhist Altar for the Fort Sill Protest: Buddha Carved in 1943 in Manzanar War Relocation Authority camp (Kiyoshi Ina/Tsuru for Solidarity)

Nancy Ukai Making Her Distinctive Cranes on the Plane to Lawton, Oklahoma (Nancy Ukai/Tsuru for Solidarity)

Nancy Ukai Making Her Distinctive Cranes on the Plane to Lawton, Oklahoma (Nancy Ukai/Tsuru for Solidarity)

Steering Committee for Buddhist Memorial Service at Fort Sill

*Rev. William Briones (LA Honpa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple)

*Rev. Ryuji Hayashi (Koyasan Beikoku Betsuin of Los Angeles)

Bishop Noriaki Ito (LA Higashi Honganji Temple)

*Rev. Shumyo Kojima (Zenshuji Soto Mission)

Rev. Jiko Nakade (Kona Daifukuji Soto Mission)

Rev. Candice Shibata (Buddhist Church of Florin)

*Rev. Duncan Ryuken Williams (Committee Chair, author of American Sutra)

 

Sangha Support Group

* asterisk indicates attendance at Fort Sill memorial service on 7/20

Paul Gyodo Agostinelli, Sensei (Eon Zen Center, Boulder, Colorado)

Rev. Michihiro Ama

*Rev. Myozen Joan Amaral (Zen Center of North Shore)

Roshi Robert Joshin Althouse (Zen Life & Meditation Center, Chicago)

Hayley Arima (Mountain View Buddhist Temple)

Rev. Kotatsu John Bailes (One Heart Zen)

John Bell (Dharma Teacher, Plum Village Tradition; Boston)

Rev. Hogetsu Laurie Belzer (Ancient Dragon Zen Gate, Chicago)

Roshi Joseph Bobrow (Deep Streams Zen Institute)

Rev. Layla Bockhorst (Mountain Source Sangha)

Ven. Bhikku Bodhi (Buddhist Association of the United States)

Juliet Bost (Youth Ministerial Assistant, College YBA Religious Chair)

Marcy Daijun Brenner (Moon On The Lake Sangha, PA)

Rev. Domyo Burk (Bright Way Zen)

Rev. Joshin Byrnes (Bread Loaf Mountain Monastery)

*Rev. Gyokuko Carlson (Dharma Rain Zen Center)

Thich Chan Phap Can (GTU)

Rev. Eido Frances Carney (Olympia Zen Center)

Rev. Shokuchi Deirdre Carrigan (Brooklyn Zen Center)

Rev. Kenshin Catherine Cascade (Bird Haven Zendo, Cheshire, Oregon)

Viveka Chen (Ordained Member and Senior Teacher, Triratna Buddhist Community)

David Chernikoff (Insight Meditation Community of Colorado)

College Young Buddhist Association (CYBA)

Bill Cooper (Bellevue Dharma)

Chris Crotty (Guiding Teacher, Boston Meditation Center)

*Rev. Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts (Senior Dharma Teacher, San Francisco Zen Center)

Rev. Hoin Darby (Great Mountain Zen Center)

Buford and Bo Davis

Amanda DeHart (Insight Meditation Central Valley)

Dharma and Nembutsu Always (DANA) Retreat Committee

Harvey Lama Namgyal Dorje (Dawn Mountain Tibetan Buddhist Temple, Houston, Texas)

Rev. Kanshin Ellenbogen (Monmouth Zen Circle and One Heart Zen)

Rev. Sarah Emerson (Stone Creek Zen Center, Sebastopol, California)

Melvin Escobar (East Bay Meditation Center)

Kate Michi Ettinger

*Rev. Zenshin Greg Fain (Tassajara Zen Mountain Center)

Rev. James Myoun Ford (Empty Moon Zen Network)

Rev. Bruce Fortin (Occidental Laguna Sangha, Sebastopol, California)

Rev. Chris Fortin (Everyday Zen Foundation/Dharma Heart Zen)

Joanne Friday (Dharmacharya, Plum Village Tradition, RI)

Rev. David Fujimoto (Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii)

Shinchi Linda Galijan (San Francisco Zen Center)

*Jitsujo Tina Gauthier (ZCLA)

Susan Glogovac (Rhode Island Community of Mindfulness)

Konjin Gaelyn Godwin (Abbot, *Houston Zen Center)

*Rev. Jisan Tova Green (San Francisco Zen Center)

*Rev. Gesshin Greenwood (Institute of Buddhist Studies & Empty Moon Zen Sangha)

Roshi Ruben L.F. Habito, Keiun-ken (Maria Kannon Zen Center, Dallas, Texas)

Thich Chan Phap Hai (Plum Village International)

Langdon Hall (Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Valley Insight Meditation Center, Lebanon, NH)

Rev. Marvin Harada

Rev. Peter Hata (Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple)

*Sandy Seiju Hockenbury (Eon Zen Center, Boulder & Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fe, NM)

*Maurice Hoover (Prairie Wind Sangha, Oklahoma City)

Jeff Haozous (Insight Meditation Teacher, Lawton, Oklahoma)

Dr. Funie Hsu (San Jose State University; Buddhist Church of Oakland)

*Juliet Hwang (Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism)

Rev. Earl Ikeda, Shaku Shoshin

Rev. Patricia Mushim Ikeda (East Bay Meditation Center)

Dorothy Imakire (Vipassana/Insight)

Rev. Ryo Imamura (retired, Buddhist Churches of America; former President, Buddhist Peace Fellowship)

Insight Meditation Central Valley

Rae Jean (Cañon Sangha, Cañon City, Colorado)

Lama Zopa Jigme [Christopher Rose] (Rigpe Dorje Institute and Prajna Fire)

Rev. Doshin Diana Johnson

Rev. Myoshin Tom Jones (Authentic Heart Zen, One Heart Zen)

Dr. Tetsuden Kashima (Professor Emeritus, University of Washington, author of Buddhism in America) and Mrs. C. Kanako Kashima

Karin Ryuku Kempe (Spiritual Director, Zen Center of Denver)

Rev. Ilmee Kim (Korean Seon Buddhist priest)

Rev. Sumi Loundon Kim (Buddhist chaplain, Yale University)

Rev. Jaku Kinst (Ocean Gate Zen Center, Capitola, CA & Institute of Buddhist Studies)

Rev. Ron Kobata (Buddhist Church of San Francisco)

Dr. Jack Kornfield (Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Woodacre, California)

Rev. Katsuya Kusunoki (Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple)

Dr. Rongdao Lai (USC/McGill University)

Rev. Taigen Dan Leighton (Ancient Dragon Zen Gate Temple, Chicago)

Engetsu Carolina Lefevre (Ino, San Francisco Zen Center)

Brian Lesage (Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community [FIMC], Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center)

*Rev. Michael Mui Lewis (Great Mountain Zen Center)

Dr. Rebecca Li (Chan Dharma Community & Dharma Drum Retreat Center)

Dharmacarya Kaira Jewel Lingo (Order of Interbeing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh)

Kenji Liu

Hondo Masato Lobley (Board Member, Buddhist Church of Oakland)

Katie Loncke (Buddhist Peace Fellowship)

Long River Sangha (Harrisburg, PA)

*Ushin Nick Lowry (Rinzai Ji tradition, Oklahoma City)

David Loy (Sanbo Zen & The Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center)

Dr. Richard Maddock (Professor, UC Davis and Davis Middle Path Sangha)

Gaetano Kazuo Maida (Executive Director, Buddhist Film Foundation)

Dr. Dexter Mar (Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin)

Rev. Genjo Marinello (Abbot, Seattle Zen Temple, Chobo-Ji)

Majorie Markus (Dharma Teacher, Plum Village Tradition, New York)

*Keigetsu Heather Martin (San Antonio Zen Center)

Rev. David Matsumoto

Devon Matsumoto (Youth Ministers Assistant; Co-President, College Young Buddhist Association [CYBA]; and Co-Chair, Dharma And Nembutsu Always [DANA] Retreat Committee

Rev. Eric Daishin McCabe (Zen Fields, Ames, Iowa)

Rev. Ejo McMullen (Abbot, Buddha Eye Temple, Eugene, Oregon)

Margaret Meyer (Valley Insight Meditation Society)

Rev. Ron Miyamura (Midwest Buddhist Temple, Chicago)

Linda Modaro (Reflective Meditation, Sati Sangha)

Moon On the Lake Sangha (East Berlin, PA)

Rev. Yushi Mukojima

Rev. Teijo Munnich (Great Tree Zen Women’s Temple, Alexander, North Carolina)

Rev. Brian Kensho Nagata (Priest, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha)

Rev. Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki (Jodoshinshu Buddhist priest, President/Founder of Heiwa Peace and Reconciliation Foundation of New York; a former President and current executive officer of the Buddhist Council of New York)

Rev. Patti Nakai (Buddhist Temple of Chicago)

*Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao (Zen Center of Los Angeles)

*Stephen Nakasone (Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism & Board Member, LA Higashi Honganji Temple)

*Judy Nakatomi (Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism)

*Kenley Neufeld (Dharmacharya, Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism)

Rev. Daishin Mark Nelson (Sweeping Heart Zen)

Rev. Eko Noble (Founder, Radiant Light Sangha, Friday Harbor, WA and Portland, OR)

*Ted O’Toole (Co-Guiding Teacher, Minnesota Zen Meditation Center)

Lama Rod Owens (Bhumiparsha)

Rev. Kanshin Ruth Ozeki (Everyday Zen)

Dr. Ji Hyang Padma (North County Zen Circle/One Heart Zen)

Jose M. Palma (Teacher, 4 Vows Sangha, National City, California)

Ven. Pannavati Bhikkuni (Heartwood Refuge, Henderson, North Carolina)

Rev. Ilia Shinko Perez (Abbot, Maitreya Abbey, Berthoud, CO)

*Rev. Inryu Bobbi Ponce-Barger, Sensei (All Beings Sangha)

Rev. Charlie Pokorny (Stone Creek Zen Center, Sebastopol, California)

Derek Pyle (Buddhist Humanitarian Project)

Rev. Genzan Quennell (Bread Loaf Mountain Monastery)

Arisika Razak (East Bay Meditation Center)

Rhode Island Community of Mindfulness

Rev. Shinshu Roberts (Ocean Gate Zen Center, Capitola, CA)

Lama Yeshe Ivonne Rose (Rigpe Dorje Institute; Prajna Fire)

Jo-ann Rosen (Dharmacarya, Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism)

Dr. Margaret Peggy Rowe (Dharma Teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh tradition)

*Rev. Tenku Ruff (President, Soto Zen Buddhist Association)

*Kairen Eric Russell (Tendai Buddhist Institute)

Rev. Gerald Sakamoto

Sharon Salzberg (Insight Meditation)

Eishin Shapiro (New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care)

*Roshi Grace Schireson (Shogaku Zen Institute)

Doreen Schweizer (Senior Teacher, Valley Insight Meditation Society)

Seth Zuiho Segall (Priest, White Plains Zen)

Nisi Ségor (Dharma Teacher, Plum Village Tradition)

Rev. Hozan Alan Senauke (Berkeley Zen Center & Clear View Project)

James Shaheen (Editor & Publisher, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review)

Rev. Hosei Jay Shinseki

Ven. Gary Snyder

Rev. Kosen Greg Snyder (Dharma Teacher and Senior Priest, Brooklyn Zen Center and Senior Director of Buddhist Studies, Union Theological Seminary)

Rick Stambul (President, Buddhist Churches of America)

Karen Summer (Guiding Teacher, Valley Insight Meditation Society)

Rev. Dana Yasu Takagi (Santa Cruz Zen Center)

George Tanabe (Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii)

Sensei June Ryushin Tanoue (Zen Life & Meditation Center, Chicago)

Robert Thurman (Jey Tsong Khapa Chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University)

Rev. Mark Unno (Nishi Honganji, Shin Buddhism)

Paula Vantassel (Cañon Sangha, Cañon City, Colorado)

Lama Justin von Bujdoss (Bhumiparsha)

Ryushi Todd Walker

Jisho Warner Roshi (Abiding Teacher, Stone Creek Zen Center, CA)

Larry Ward, Ph.D. (Senior Teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh tradition)

David Dokai Wenger (Long River Sangha, Harrisburg, PA)

Kate Lila Wheeler (Spirit Rock Teacher Council and Coordinator of Teacher Training, Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

Rev. Gerry Shishin Wick (Great Mountain Zen Center, Berthoud, CO)

Rev. Ken Yamada (Buddhist minister, Berkeley)

Gillian Yamagiwa (Co-President, College Young Buddhist Association [CYBA]; and Co-Chair, Dharma And Nembutsu Always [DANA] Retreat Committee

Rev. Gyokei Yokoyama (Long Beach Buddhist Church)

Rev. Tenzen David Zimmerman (San Francisco Zen Center)