I serve on the planning committee for the Florin JACL Manzanar Pilgrimage, led by long time activist and chapter co-president Andy Noguchi. Each year, we organize a bus of camp survivors, educators, policy workers, activists, youth, and other allies to join the Manzanar Pilgrimage. Throughout the trip, we have programmed discussions, games, films, a cultural exchange program with the AkaMya Culture Group, and a guided tour of the Manzanar National Historic Site featuring stories from camp survivors.

The Florin Manzanar Pilgrimage started as collaboration between the Florin chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 2006, connecting the experiences of the Japanese American Incarceration during WWII with the attacks on civil liberties directed at Muslim Americans after 9/11. Each year, members of both communities embark on this pilgrimage together to learn from each other and from history, and to build resolve and connections to continue the fight for justice today.

The Cultural Exchange started after an incident of racial profiling in the town of Bishop, in which a local business refused service to pilgrims in 2015. In response, local leaders stepped up to welcome the pilgrims back, including Sage Romero, leader of the AkaMya Culture Group, who proposed the cultural exchange program. Since 2016, this program has brought our communities closer together.

I first got involved with the Florin JACL Manzanar Pilgrimage in 2018, playing taiko for the cultural exchange with Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan. I have served on the Planning Committee since 2023, organizing the taiko performances and music for odori.