Glenn Kaino

Robert Evans

Agnès Callamard

The Daniel K. Inouye National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum presents a symposium, “Echoes of History: Inspiring Civic Action and Building Democracy,” on Friday, Jan. 23, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Democracy Center is located at 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo. The symposium also be live-streamed virtually. Tickets are $25-$150 and are available at janm.org/democracy.

“As a growing tide of authoritarianism echoes some of the most troubling chapters in U.S. history, history informs our response to the present,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM president and CEO. “‘Echoes of History’ challenges us to imagine how we can build a democracy that endures by recognizing the threats before us, learning from communities resisting them, and envisioning new civic spaces and shared legacies for the future.”

The day-long symposium will bring together thinkers, artists, organizers, and civic leaders who are confronting authoritarianism today. Keynote speakers are Agnès Callamard, Robert Evans, and Glenn Kaino.

Callamard is a globally respected human rights leader, scholar, and advocate. She currently serves as secretary general of Amnesty International, and was previously the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Renowned for her fearless defense of human rights and accountability, she brings decades of experience advancing justice, freedom of expression, fighting authoritarianism, and protecting human rights defenders worldwide.

Evans is a journalist and host of the podcasts “Behind the Bastards” and “It Could Happen Here.” His writing has appeared at Bellingcat, New Lines Magazine, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, and more.

Kaino is an acclaimed contemporary artist whose practice spans across sculpture, painting, filmmaking, performance, installation, and large-scale public work. His works “In the Light of a Shadow” and “With Drawn Arms” bridge the past to the present by exploring the power of collective action to forge a more just world and reckoning with racial injustice in America. His critically acclaimed virtual reality work, “Aki’s Market,” was commissioned by JANM in 2023.

The symposium is centered around three panels. The morning will begin with “Antiauthoritarianism: Building a Legacy for the Future,” followed by the afternoon panel, “How Does a City Respond?,” and the evening panel, “Memory as Resistance — Defending Culture in Authoritarian Times.” Panelists, moderators, and speakers include:

Gustavo Arellano, columnist for The Los Angeles Times

Special Assistant Attorney General of California Damon Brown

JANM President and CEO Ann Burroughs

Surdna Foundation President Don Chen

Grand Performances President and CEO Rafael Gonzalez

Tyler Green, host of “The Modern Art Notes” podcast

Margaret Huang, former president of Southern Poverty Law Center

Scot Nakagawa, co-founder and co-director of 22nd Century Initiative

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Executive Director Angelica Salas

California Community Foundation President and CEO Miguel Santana

Renee Tajima-Peña, filmmaker and professor of Asian American studies at UCLA

Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor of English, American studies and ethnicity, and comparative literature at USC

L.A. Taco Director of Engagement Memo Torres

Hamza Walker, director of The Brick and co-curator of the exhibition “Monuments”

The symposium will also feature tours of the timely exhibition “Monuments” at MOCA and shopping at the JANM Store and at Bloom Wild Bookshop, a Los Angeles-based mobile bookstore and California native seed shop that pairs the transformative power of literature with the healing beauty of nature.

A closing performance with visionary artist-activist Nobuko Miyamoto inspires participants to celebrate memory, joy, and collective action.

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