#NeverAgain Lesson 5
Storytelling for Change and Healing
GRADES: 8 – 12
TIME ESTIMATE (not including extension): one hour
IN THIS LESSON STUDENTS WILL…
…learn that telling personal and family stories can be a motivation to take action.
…understand that sharing true stories can have real and powerful consequences.
…consider how telling stories can also bring change and healing to the people who lived through an event.
BACKGROUND
Some people tell the story of the incarceration of Japanese Americans in a way that shows the people incarcerated to have been passive about what was happening to them. In fact, many Japanese Americans fought against the incarceration at the time. After the War they made an ultimately successful push for a government apology and reparations. Find more about this in the additional resources for this curricululm.
DEFINITIONS
Lesson 5 Definitions are provided for terms and usages in the audio that may be unfamiliar to students
Activism/Activist
“N-doubleA” (short for NAACP)
John Conyers
The loyalty questionnaire
ICHR
conflict
INTRO (5 minutes)
Let students know that in today’s audio speakers will talk about how sharing stories of what happened during the incarceration of Japanese Americans connects to their own activism around justice and also to healing and connecting with other people. After discussing the audio, you will try some new theatre games, thinking about how actions can create or resolve conflict.
AUDIO (10 minutes) Speakers in this excerpt:
John Tateishi – Japanese Americans and Black Americans efforts for reparations
Mike Ishii – the emotional impact of sharing stories and connecting to elders
Bekki Shibayama – Japanese Latin Americans fight for redress
Satsuki Ina – sharing stories as process of healing and connecting to other people
DISCUSSION (15 minutes)
Why were Nisei stories so important in the fight for reparations? What happened when these stories were told?
What made the men in the bathroom in Mike Ishii’s story cry? Why did this motivate Mike to become an activist?
Why does Bekki Shibayama say it was important to her father to tell his story? How do you feel about the U.S. response to the ruling in his case?
In what ways do Satsuki Ina and Mike Ishii describe storytelling as healing? How Satsuki think stories can connect different communities?
ARTS ACTIVITY (30 minutes) Conflict and Healing (PDF)
RESOURCES #NeverAgain Lesson Images
EXTENSION (Action Civics Project)
Check-in and discuss last week’s work. Review the project plan elements on Action Civics Project Handout #5 – voice vs. influence and drafting projects with a clear call to action. Make sure to have a plan for reviewing students’ drafts with them, to ensure they can complete their project as planned.