Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust, a documentary film by Director/Producer Ann Kaneko and Producer/Impact Producer Jin Yoo-Kim, tells the story of historical dispossession: dispossession of Indigenous lands; forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II; and extraction and commodification of natural resources, which has adversely impacted ranchers and farmers. In the present, three communities rise up in resistance and form coalitions to defend, sustain, and protect land and water rights. This lesson provides a critical framework for understanding and analyzing the historical human-environment interactions related to forced removals, specifically at Manzanar and Payahuunadü. Understanding this history will provide a foundation to identify and analyze the forms of resistance like nature, joy and humor.

This lesson looks to the past so that students can take action for social and environmental justice in the present. Students will make connections to the environmental justice movement and will learn about the Principles of Environmental Justice and the Principles of Working Together. Students will then directly apply and utilize research skills and community knowledge to begin to build environmental and climate justice campaigns as a culminating project. The lesson is interdisciplinary, and can be completed over three to four 45-minute class periods with optional homework in between.

These suggested readings provide a range of perspectives on issues raised by the POV documentary He’s My Brother and allow for deeper engagement. This list of books was created by Constance Zack of the School Library Association of Rhode Island.

Adult Non-Fiction

Elkins, Kimberly.What is Visible.Twelve, 2015.
An account of the life and challenges of Laura Bridgman, the first deaf and blind woman to learn language, and those who helped her, including the founder of the Perkins Institute, with whom she was in love, and her beloved teacher.

Girma, Haben.Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. Twelve, 2019./
Girma grew up with her family in the Eritrean city of Asmara during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Defining her disability as an opportunity for innovation, she learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created a new way to connect with people. Pioneering her way through obstacles, Girma graduated from Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. This is a testament to her determination to find the keys to connection.

Heumann, Judith.Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.Beacon Press, 2021.
One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human. A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us and of one woman's activism-- from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington--Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann's lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.

Keller, Helen.The Story of My Life. Doubleday, 1954.
An illness makes Helen Keller both deaf and blind when she is a little child. With the help of an untiring and patient teacher , she learns how to communicate with the outer world through sign language signed into her hand. This opens the world to her and later she learns to read and communicate and even attends university. She becomes a world renowned speaker and writer who is an amazing source of inspiration to others.

Krouk-Gordon, Dafna and Barbara Jackins.Moving out: a Family Guide to Residential Planning for Adults with Disabilities.Woodbine House, 2013.
Mothers and fathers of children with special needs often report that “Letting go was the hardest thing I ever did.” But finding the right residential situation for an adult son or daughter with a disability does not have to be overwhelming. This practical guide shares decades of combined experience on helping families find housing.

Meyer, Don and Emily Holl.The Sibling Survival Guide: Indispensable Information for Brothers and Sisters of Adults with Disabilities. Woodbine House, 2014.
A book expressly for a teenaged or adult brother or sister of someone with a disability. It offers a sense that you're not alone, tips on how to talk to your parents about plans for your sibling, and a crash course in guardianship, medical and legal issues, and government benefits if you're already caring for your sib.

Sauerburger, Dona.Independence Without Sight or Sound: Suggestions for Practitioners Working with DeafBlind Adults.American Printing House for the Blind, 1993
Independence without Sight or Sound covers the essential aspects of communicating and working with deaf-blind adults--individuals who have both vision and hearing loss. Written in a personal and informal style, it is filled with practical information for any professional who works with someone who is deaf-blind, such as how to talk with someone who is deaf-blind, how deaf-blind people can communicate with strangers and interact with people in public, and how they can overcome isolation and assert control over their own life. Written by an expert in orientation and mobility, this guide emphasizes adapting orientation and mobility techniques for deaf-blind travelers.

Sjunneson, Elsa.Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism.Tiller Press (imprint of Simon and Schuster), 2021
A Deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books, movies, and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else.

As a Deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness--much to the confusion of the world around her. While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane, she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they're whispering behind her back. And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be.

RESUMEN DE LA PELÍCULA

McAllen, Texas alberga la última clínica de salud reproductiva en la frontera entre Texas y México. Es el centro de la tensión entre los manifestantes religiosos que intentan impedir que entren pacientes y el personal de seguridad de la clínica que lucha por protegerla. On the Divide sigue a tres diferentes miembros latinxs de esta comunidad y las decisiones imprevistas que enfrentan para su supervivencia diaria.

USO DE ESTA GUÍA

Esta guía es una invitación al diálogo. Se basa en una creencia en el poder de la conexión humana y está diseñada para personas que desean usar On the Divide para involucrar a familiares, amigos, compañeros de clase, colegas y comunidades. A diferencia de las iniciativas que fomentan debates en los cuales los participantes intentan convencer a los demás de que tienen la razón, este documento prevé conversaciones que se llevan a cabo en un espíritu de apertura en el que los participantes intentan entenderse y ampliar su pensamiento compartiendo puntos de vista y escuchando activamente.

Hemos diseñado las preguntas de discusión para que ayuden a una amplia gama de audiencias a pensar más profundamente sobre los temas de la película. En lugar de intentar responder a todas, elija una o dos que se adapten mejor a sus necesidades e intereses. Y asegúrese de dejar tiempo para considerar tomar acción. Planificar los próximos pasos puede ayudar a que los participantes salgan de la sala sintiendo energía y optimismo, incluso cuando las conversaciones hayan sido difíciles.

Para obtener consejos más detallados sobre la facilitación y planificación de eventos, visitehttps://communitynetwork.amdoc.org/.

Consejos y Herramientas para Facilitadores:

On the Divide es una película única que está especialmente posicionada para apoyar la abogacía del aborto y crear espacios para el desarrollo comunitario. Al afirmar los matices y la humanidad, la película sirve notablemente a las personas más afectadas por las restricciones al aborto en un área que se ha convertido en un campo de batalla por la justicia reproductiva.

Dado el potencial de la película para generar debates y cambios positivos, alentamos a los organizadores y anfitriones a ver la película de antemano y los invitamos a reflexionar sobre los objetivos del evento:

• ¿Qué esperanzas tiene para esta proyección?
• ¿Qué espera aprender de esta experiencia? ¿Qué espera que aprendan los

participantes?

• ¿Qué anticipa que será un desafío para facilitar este evento?
• ¿Qué espera que suceda después del evento?

El documental es una película seria, intencional y emotiva y puede generar conversaciones delicadas. Considere los siguientes consejos sobre cómo crear y participar en un diálogo productivo y respetuoso:

• Co-crear acuerdos comunitarios antes de la discusión. Se puede encontrar un ejemploaquí.
  
• Practicar la escucha activa—aborde la conversación desde un lugar de solidaridad y servicio a los más afectados por las restricciones al aborto. Si surgen respuestas emocionales, mantenga la calma y sinceramente considere lo que el ponente tenga que decir.
  
• Hacer preguntas intencionales—al construir puentes que atraviesan las divisiones creadas por las cuestiones, intenta comprender y conocer a las personas donde se encuentren.
  
• Reconocer las historias y emociones de las personas—si alguien comparte su experiencia personal, valide su experiencia y agradézcale haberla compartido. Esto puede ayudar a crear respeto mutuo y entendimiento.

Además, considere las siguientes sugerencias para ayudar a garantizar la seguridad y el cuidado en su evento:

• Colabore en co-facilitar su evento con una persona de confianza para guiar un diálogo centrado en el cuidado.
• Invite a voluntarios de salud mental para que puedan apoyar a cualquier persona que experimente angustia.
• Repasen las advertencias sobre desencadenantes antes de que comience el evento.

Acuerdos Comunitarios: ¿Qué Son? ¿Por qué son útiles?

En un esfuerzo por crear un espacio de colaboración motivado por la solidaridad y el respeto, alentamos a los organizadores y anfitriones de eventos a integrar acuerdos comunitarios en sus eventos. Los acuerdos comunitarios ayudan a establecer un marco y parámetros para entablar un diálogo que permita establecer un sentido común de intencionalidad antes de entablar una discusión. Los acuerdos comunitarios se pueden co-construir, y crearlos se puede usar como una actividad de apertura que tu grupo emprenda de manera colectiva y colaborativa antes de entablar un diálogo.Aquí hay un modelo de Acuerdos Comunitarios que puede revisar. Como facilitador, puede medir cuánto tiempo debe tomar su grupo para formar estos acuerdos o si los participantes estarían dispuestos a aceptar acuerdos comunitarios preestablecidos. A continuación se presentan algunos ejemplos de acuerdos comunitarios:

• Usar declaraciones de "yo"—extraiga de sus propias experiencias y hable en su nombre en lugar de usar "nosotros".
• Dar un paso adelante y dar paso—equilibrar su participación interviniendo en la conversación y retrocediendo para ayudar a crear espacio para los demás.
• Escuchar activamente—escuchar sin interrumpir ni centrar su propia respuesta.
• Respetar la privacidad y la confidencialidad—los anfitriones, organizadores y participantes del evento acuerdan no compartir información privada fuera de este espacio.
• Respetar sus necesidades—ya sean necesidades de accesibilidad, emocionales o logísticas, comunicarlas a los anfitriones y organizadores del evento y/o ser capaz de alejarse de la conversación si le desencadena.
• Centrar el cuidado—recordar que estamos aquí para cuidar de nosotros mismos y de nuestras comunidades. Permitir que valores solidarios guíen la participación en la conversación.

Una nota sobre el lenguaje inclusivo

Históricamente, la lucha por la atención y el derecho al aborto ha centrado la experiencia de las mujeres blancas cisgénero. La campaña de impacto de On the Divide se compromete a centrar la experiencia de todas las personas afectadas por las restricciones al aborto, especialmente las más afectadas—mujeres y personas que dan a luz que son latinxs, afrodescendientes, de pueblos originarios, personas de color y/o inmigrantes.

Alentamos a lxs organizadorxs y anfitrionxs de eventos a integrar un lenguaje inclusivo que reconozca y centre la experiencia de las personas trans, no binarias y de color en la lucha por la justicia reproductiva y el acceso al aborto. Para obtener definiciones útiles y aclaraciones sobre el lenguaje, puede visitar“Language of Gender” de The Gender Spectrum.

FILM SUMMARY

In Maniitsoq, Greenland, the US aluminum giant Alcoa Corporation has been planning to build a smelting plant for years. With the promise of economic renewal,Winter's Yearningfollows the lives of the area’s loyal aging population and its stymied youth. Pictured against immense, isolating landscapes, the people await their plant and with it, the nation's possible first step towards sovereignty.

USING THIS GUIDE

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection and designed for people who want to use Winter’s Yearning to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues, and communities. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and listening actively.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.

For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit https://communitynetwork.amdoc.org/.

LETTER FROM THE FILMMAKERS

When we traveled to Maniitsoq for the first time, it was to make a film about ALCOA’s establishment of a giant aluminum smelting plant on the edge of the town. Thousands of foreign workers were supposed to arrive in the small town of only 2,500 inhabitants. As anthropologists, we felt it was a social experiment too significant to go undocumented. We wanted to tell the story of Greenland’s biggest industrial adventure, as the locals would experience it. We expected the townspeople to be somewhat divided on the question of the plant and were honestly surprised to find that most of the town favored the project. Maniitsoq never got their plant. Perhaps they never will. But for many years, they waited for it to happen ─ and we waited, too. During this period of waiting, we got to know Maniitsoq and Maniitsoq got to know us. We fell in love with this tiny town, which has been overlooked politically and exists only in the shadows of Greenland’s larger, more influential towns. But Maniitsoq has its own charm. Wherever we went and whoever we spoke to, we sensed that people here shared a great love for their hometown. But also, a yearning. They shared their lives with us with great generosity and hearts wide open.

-- Sidse Torstholm Larsen and Sturla Pilskog, 2022

"Every mountain up here has a story behind it. Those are part of who we are and where we come from. If they come in and change the land, those stories become meaningless."

Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, Lone Pine Pauite-Shoshone Tribe

Film Summary

At the foot of the majestic snow-capped Sierras, Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp, becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the now-parched “land of flowing water.” Intergenerational women from Native American, Japanese American and rancher communities form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from the City of Los Angeles.

Filmed over five years, the documentary captures stunning and intimate imagery of Payahuunadü/Owens Valley, combined with archival gems and careful research to narrate this epic tale of the American West. It begins before colonizers came and then shows how the US Army and settlers forced out the Nüümü and Newe; how the LA Aqueduct sucked the Valley dry; how incarcerated Japanese Americans made the land green again; how Patsiata/Owens Lake became a health hazard and how this Valley now bears the pain of these stories and the consequences of losing water to diversion.

Using this Screening Guide

This resource created for Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust supports educational and community screenings. It encourages viewers to consider our responsibilities to our past and how we might confront and build a better future. How can you use this guide to build community as well as form coalitions with other communities?

‍

This list of fiction and nonfiction books, compiled by Susan Conlon, MLIS and Kim Dorman, Community Engagement Coordinator, of Princeton Public Library, provides a range of perspectives on the issues raised by the POV documentary Winter’s Yearning.

In Maniitsoq, Greenland, the US aluminum giant Alcoa Corporation has been planning to build a smelting plant for years. Pictured against immense, isolating landscapes, the people await their plant and with it, the nation's possible first steps towards economic renewal and political sovereignty.

ADULT NONFICTION

Alley, Richard B. The Two-mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Richard Alley, one of the world's leading climate researchers, tells the history of global climate changes as revealed by reading the annual rings of ice from cores drilled in Greenland.

Flaherty, Louise and Neil Christopher. Kappianaqtut: Strange Creatures and Fantastic Beings From Inuit Myths and Legends.Iqaluit, Nunavut; Toronto, Ont.: Inhabit Media Inc., 2011.
Each volume in the Kappianaqtut series provides readers with an in-depth academic examination of two mythological creatures from Inuit mythology. The series examines Inuit myths from an ethnographic perspective and fosters discussion on the variations and multiple representations of the myths and creatures in question. This volume, which explores the giants of the North and the mother of the sea mammals, has been fully revised and updated. Kappianaqtut represents the first book-length study of Inuit mythological beings written from a Northern perspective.

Gertner, Jon.The Ice at the End of the World: An Epic Journey Into Greenland’s Buried Past and Our Perilous Future.New York: Random House, 2019.
Greenland: remote, mysterious, ice-covered rock, has some of the most profound secrets of our planet--clues about where we've been, and where we might be headed. And now, with the ice sheet melting at an unprecedented rate, we are able, for the first time, to understand the story that lies within it, and what it can tell us about our future.

Glassley, William E.A Wilder Time: Notes from a Geologist at the Edge of the Greenland Ice.New York, NY: Bellevue Literary Press, 2018.
Greenland, one of the last truly wild places, contains a treasure trove of information on Earth's early history embedded in its pristine landscape. Over numerous seasons, William E. Glassley and two fellow geologists traveled there to collect samples and observe rock formations for evidence to prove a contested theory that plate tectonics, the movement of Earth's crust over its molten core, is a much more ancient process than some believed. As their research drove the scientists ever farther into regions barely explored by humans for millennia--if ever--Glassley encountered creatures and natural phenomena that gave him unexpected insight into the origins of myth, the virtues and boundaries of science, and the importance of seeking the wilderness within.

Sonne, Birgitte. Worldviews of the Greenlanders: An Inuit Arctic Perspective.Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 2017.
Ninety years ago, Knud Rasmussen’s popular account of his scientific expeditions through Greenland and North America introduced readers to the culture and history of Arctic Natives. In the intervening century, a robust field of ethnographic research has grown around the Inuit and Yupiit of North America—but, until now, English-language readers have had little access to the broad corpus of work on Greenlandic natives. Worldviews of the Greenlanders draws upon extensive Danish and Greenlandic research on Inuit arctic peoples—as well as Birgitte Sonne’s own decades of scholarship and fieldwork—to present in rich detail the key symbols and traditional beliefs of Greenlandic Natives, as well as the changes brought about by contact with colonial traders and Christian missionaries. It includes critical updates to our knowledge of the Greenlanders’ pre-colonial world and their ideas on space, time, and other worldly beings. This expansive work will be a touchstone of Arctic Native studies for academics who wish to expand their knowledge past the boundaries of North America.

Tedesco, Marco.The Hidden Life of Ice: Dispatches from a Disappearing World. New York: The Experiment, 2020.
Marco Tedesco is a world-leading expert on Arctic ice decline and climate change. In The Hidden Life of Ice, he invites the reader to Greenland, where he and his fellow scientists research the dramatic changes afoot. Alongside the sobering facts on climate change, Tedesco shares photographs of this surreal landscape— as well as captivating legends of Greenland’s earliest local populations, epic deeds of long-ago Arctic explorers, and his own reflections.

Watt-Cloutier, Sheila. The Right to Be Cold: One Woman's Fight to Protect the Arctic and Save the Planet From Climate Change. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2018.
The Right to Be Cold is the human story of life on the front lines of climate change, told by a woman who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Indigenous environmental, cultural, and human rights advocates in the world.

Zuckoff, Mitchell.Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival, and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II.New York: Harper, 2013.
In Nov. 1942 a U.S. cargo plane crashed into the Greenland ice cap.The search-and-rescue mission got caught in a storm and also crashed but miraculously all nine men aboard survived. A second rescue operation was launched, but the plane, the Grumman Duck, flew into a storm and vanished. The survivors of the B-17 spent 148 days fighting to stay alive while waiting for rescue by famed explorer Bernt Balchen. Then in 2012 the U.S. Coast Guard and North South Polar mounted an expedition to solve the mystery of the vanished plane and recover the remains of the lost plane's crew.

Who Killed Vincent Chin? is a landmark documentary film unveiling one of the most well-known hate crimes against Asian Americans, the failures of the American justice system, and the legacy of Asian American activism in their response to this travesty. From the police investigation, prosecution, to the sentencing judge, justice was not served for the brutal killing of Vincent Chin. Directed by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña in 1987, this film captures a national multiracial civil rights campaign led by Asian American activists. The crime happened in 1982 Detroit when Ronald Ebens, a Chrysler foreman, killed Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American engineering draftsman, with a baseball bat. Ebens’ step son Michael Nitz, a laid-off autoworker, held Vincent in a bear hug while Ebens brutally bludgeoned him to death. Although Ebens and Nitz pled guilty to manslaughter, they never spent a day in jail. This lesson provides a framework for critical analysis of a racially motivated killing, the American justice system, and activism through the Vincent Chin case.

Students will gain an understanding of the importance of the Vincent Chin case as it pertains to hate crime laws, the American justice system, and Asian American civil rights activism. They will first enter the lesson by considering what they know about hate crimes through a journal prompt and discussion. Next, they will learn about federal hate crime laws enforced by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from a reading. Then students will apply this knowledge to the Vincent Chin case by examining evidence from the film clips to prove that the killers committed a hate crime. Through a “chalk talk” activity students will respond to one another’s analysis and opinions about the case. Next, students will examine a quote made by Judge Kaufman explaining why he decided to sentence the killers Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz to no jail time. Finally, they will write a support statement speech as if they were going to participate in the Justice for Vincent Chin demonstration by using all the information they analyzed in the film clips and activities.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

FILM SUMMARY

Wuhan Wuhan is an observational documentary unfolding during February and March 2020 at the height of the pandemic in Wuhan, China. With unprecedented access at the peak of the pandemic lockdown, Wuhan Wuhan goes beyond the statistics and salacious headlines and puts a human experience into the early days of the mysterious virus as Chinese citizens and frontline healthcare workers grappled with an invisible, deadly killer.

The film focuses on five heart-wrenching and endearing stories: a soft-hearted ER doctor and an unflappable ICU nurse from the COVID-19 hospital; a compassionate volunteer psychologist at a temporary hospital; a tenacious mother and son who are COVID-19 patients navigating the byzantine PRC healthcare system; and a volunteer driver for medical workers and his 9 month pregnant wife whose heartfelt story forms the backbone of this film.

Wuhan Wuhan is a testament to the universality of our collective pandemic experience, that no matter what country, no one is immune to disease and that we, as a human species, share the same humanity in our struggle to survive.

Content Warning: While Wuhan, Wuhan is a person-focused narrative situated in the earliest experiences with COVID-19, this ongoing pandemic continues to impact the daily lives of millions. Please know that conversations around an ongoing pandemic will likely conjure memories, feelings, and painful experiences for those in your community. For this reason we have included a Grounding Activity for you to offer those in attendance at the close (or throughout) your conversation.

USING THIS GUIDE

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection and designed for people who want to use Wuhan Wuhan to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues, and communities. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and listening actively.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. Because COVID-19 remains in our lives today, and with so many loved ones, neighbors, and community members deeply affected by the pandemic, this film can also stand as a meditation for us all. The storytelling, musical score, and characters lend themselves to a unique opportunity to be reminded of our shared humanity and the universal connections we share around the world to live, love, and help one another remain safe.

For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit https://communitynetwork.amdoc.org/.

LETTER FROM THE FILMMAKER

As a Chinese person who grew up in North America, I feel strongly committed to telling a nuanced story that doesn’t generalize a population of people and reveals them to be individuals, not just a monolith. Nationalism builds walls and this is not the intention of this film. In WUHAN WUHAN, the lives of the people we follow are individually a document of perseverance, but collectively they represent the profound humanity we universally hope for in times of crisis. I’m driven to make this film because of anti-Asian racism quelled by double-speak and mis-truths from leaders around the world, who obfuscate the realities of this pandemic; that in the end it is the everyday person, the essential frontline workers, the volunteers, the intergenerational families, it is us, who must navigate the ups-and-downs of this unprecedented and historic event that will shape our lives forever. In a way, as systems and governments fail us, the people have come together. We will survive.

- Yung Chang, Director

This list of fiction and nonfiction books, compiled by Susan Conlon, MLIS and Kim Dorman, Community Engagement Coordinator, of Princeton Public Library, provides a range of perspectives on the issues raised by the POV documentary Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust.

From the majestic peaks of the snow-capped Sierras to the parched valley of Payahuunadü, “the land of flowing water,” ``Manzanar Diverted:” poetically weaves together memories of intergenerational women. Native Americans, Japanese-American WWII incarcerees and environmentalists form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from Los Angeles.

ADULT NONFICTION

Bahr Meyers, Diane.The Unquiet Nisei: An Oral History of the Life of Sue Kinetomi Embrey. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Based on extensive oral histories, The Unquiet Nisei recounts how Sue Kunitomi Embrey emerged from the WRA camp at Manzanar to become a leader of the Japanese American Redress Movement.

Brown, Daniel James. Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II.New York: Viking Press, 2021.
In the days and months after Pearl Harbor, the lives of Japanese Americans across the continent and Hawaii were changed forever. Chronicling the lives of several Japanese Americans who volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Brown also tells the story of these soldiers’ parents, immigrants who were forced to submit to life in concentration camps on U.S. soil. Whether fighting on battlefields or in courtrooms, these were Americans under unprecedented strain, doing what Americans do best—striving, resisting, pushing back, rising up, standing on principle, laying down their lives, and enduring.

Lillquist, Karl. Imprisoned in the Desert: The Geography of World War II-Era, Japanese American Relocation Centers in the Western United States. Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Central Washington University, 2007.
Evacuation of persons of Japanese descent from the U.S. West Coast to inland, arid sites in 1942 contains elements of all aspects of traditional geography, including physical, human, and regional sub-disciplines; however, few geographers have written on the topic. Further, little has been written about the landscapes in which the Japanese Americans were incarcerated, and how the evacuees interacted with the landscapes while they were incarcerated. This book focuses on the geography of each of the eight western U.S. relocation centers–Amache, Gila River, Heart Mountain, Manzanar, Minidoka, Poston, Topaz, and Tule Lake. Common to all in their western U.S. locations was aridity. All were located in arid or semi-arid environments. The Jerome and Rohwer, Arkansas centers were excluded from this study because of their locations well east and in vastly different environments than the remainder of the sites. They were also the shortest-lived centers of the ten.

Miller, Char (editor). Wading Through the Past: Infrastructure, Indigeneity & Western Water Archives.Claremont: The Claremont Colleges Library, 2021.
Wading Through the Past is a collection of essays based on the 2021 Western Water Symposium, sponsored by The Claremont Colleges Library. An assortment of scholars, librarians, and advocates have virtually gathered to discuss the process of digitizing, making accessible, and using the Western Water Archives in the hope that we might better understand and improve our relationship to water. SPECIFICALLY noting “Payahǖǖnadǖ Water Story by Teri Red Ow”l

Omi, George. American Yellow.Sarasota: First Edition Design Publishing, 2016.
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Omi family was uprooted from their home in San Francisco and incarcerated approximately 2,000 miles away at the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas. This memoir follows the story of the Omi family’s survival through the war and of their journey back to San Francisco to rebuild their lives in the aftermath.

Rotner Sakamoto, Pamela. Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds.New York: Harper Perennial, 2017.
Alternating between the American and Japanese perspectives, Midnight in Broad Daylight captures the uncertainty and intensity of those charged with the fighting as well as the deteriorating home front of Hiroshima—as never told before in English—and provides a fresh look at the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Intimate and evocative, it is an portrait of a resilient family, an examination of racism and xenophobia, an homage to the tremendous Japanese American contribution to the American war effort, and an invaluable addition to the historical record of this extraordinary time.

Umemoto, Hank. Manzanar to Mount Whitney: The Life and Times of a Lost Hiker.Berkley: Heyday, 2013.
Hank Umemoto was a young teenager when he was incarcerated at Manzanar during World War II. From inside the barracks, he was able to see Mount Whitney, and vowed that he would one day hike the mountain when he was a free man. Umemoto recalls stories from his life as a Japanese American in California both before and after the war, and chronicles his journey admiring Mount Whitney from inside Manzanar to finally reaching its summit decades later.

Yamashita, Karen Tei.Letters To Memory. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 2017.
This memoir recollects the Japanese internment using archival materials from the Yamashita family as well as a series of epistolary conversations with composite characters representing a range of academic specialties.

FILM SUMMARY

McAllen, Texas is home to the last reproductive health clinic on the Texas/Mexico border. It is the center of the tension between religious protesters who try to stop patients coming inside and the security staff of the clinic who fight to protect it. On the Divide follows three different Latinx members of this community and the unforeseen choices they face for their daily survival.

USING THIS GUIDE

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection and designed for people who want to use On the Divide to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues, and communities. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and listening actively.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.

For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit https://communitynetwork.amdoc.org/.

Tips and Tools for Facilitators:

On the Divide is a unique film that is specially positioned to support abortion advocacy and create spaces for community building. By embracing nuance and humanity, the film notably serves those most affected by abortion restrictions in an area that has become a battleground for reproduction justice.

Given the film’s potential to spark discussion and positive change, we encourage organizers and hosts to watch the film beforehand and invite them to reflect on the goals of the event:

• What hopes do you have for this screening?
• What do you hope you will learn from this experience? What do you hope participants will learn?
• What do you anticipate will be a challenge in facilitating this event?
• What do you hope will happen after the event?

The documentary is a thoughtful, intentional, and emotional film and may bring up sensitive conversations. Consider the following tips on how to create and engage in a productive and respectful dialogue:

• Co-create community agreements ahead of discussion. An example can be found here.
• Practice active listening—approach the conversation from a place of solidarity and in service to those most affected by abortion restrictions. If emotional responses arise, stay calm and truly consider what the speaker has to say.
• Ask intentional questions—when building bridges across issue divides, try to understand and meet people where they are.
• Acknowledge people’s stories and emotions—if someone shares their personal experience, validate their experience and thank them for sharing. This can help create mutual respect and understanding.

In addition, consider the following suggestions to help ensure safety and care at your event:

• Co-facilitate your event so you can have a trusted partner in leading care-centered dialogue
• Invite mental health volunteers so that they can support anyone experiencing distress
• Review trigger warnings before the event begins

Community Agreements: What Are They? Why Are They Useful?

In an effort to create a collaborative space fueled by solidarity and respect, we encourage organizers and event hosts to integrate community agreements into their events. Community agreements help provide a framework and parameters for engaging in dialogue that allows you to establish a shared sense of intention ahead of engaging in discussion. Community agreements can be co-constructed, and creating them can be used as an opening activity that your group collectively and collaboratively undertakes ahead of engaging in dialogue. Here is a model of Community Agreements you can review. As the facilitator, you can gauge how long your group should take to form these agreements or if participants would be amenable to pre-established community agreements. Below are some sample community agreements:

• Use “I” statements—draw from your own experiences and speak on behalf of yourself rather than using “we.”
• Step up, step back—balance your participation by stepping up into the conversation and stepping back to help create space for others.
• Actively listen—listen without interrupting or centering your own response.
• Respect privacy and confidentiality—event hosts, organizers, and participants agree not to share private information outside of this space.
• Honor your needs—whether they be accessibility, emotional, or logistical needs, communicate those to event hosts and organizers and/or feel empowered to step away from the conversation if triggered.
• Center care—remember that we are here to care for ourselves and our communities. Allow caring values to guide participation in the conversation.

A note on inclusive language

Historically, the fight for abortion care and rights has centered the experience of white cis-gendered women. The impact campaign for On the Divide is committed to centering the experience of all those affected by abortion restrictions, especially those most affected—women and birthing people who are Latinx, BIPOC, and/or immigrants.

We encourage event organizers and hosts to integrate inclusive language that acknowledges and centers the experience of trans and nonbinary people and people of color in the fight for reproduction justice and abortion access. For helpful definitions and clarification of language, you can visit The Gender Spectrum’s “Language of Gender.”

These suggested readings provide a range of perspectives on issues raised by the POV documentary On the Divide and allow for deeper engagement. Compiled by Veronda Pitchford, Assistant Director of the Califa Group - a non-profit library membership consortium in California.

Adult Non-Fiction

Alcorn, Randy. Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments Expanded and Updated. Expanded and Updated ed., Sisters, Oregon, Multnomah Publishers, 2000
Presents opposing views or "answers" to many arguments used by the Pro-Choice movement as to why abortion should be legal in the United States.

Browder, Sue Ellen. Subverted: How I Helped the Sexual Revolution Hijack the Women’s Movement. Softcover, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2019
Contraception and abortion were not originally part of the 1960s women's movement. How did the women's movement, which fought for equal opportunity for women in education and the workplace, and the sexual revolution, which reduced women to ambitious sex objects, become so united? In Subverted, Sue Ellen Browder documents for the first time how it all happened, in her own life and in the life of an entire country. Trained as an investigative journalist, Browder unwittingly betrayed her true calling and became a propagandist for sexual liberation and wrote pieces meant to soft-sell unmarried sex, contraception, and abortion as the single woman's path to personal fulfillment. She did not realize until much later that her thinking and personal choices were unwittingly being influenced by those looking to subvert the women's movement.

Cunningham, Anne. Reproductive Rights. New York, Greenhaven Press, 2017
There has been a neat divide in the United States and elsewhere between the pro-choice and pro-life camps. Reproductive rights are more expansive than the abortion debate. Access to affordable health services is a fundamental right, yet women, who are subject to discrimination, poverty, and violence at a higher rate than men, are at risk for losing access to screenings, maternal care, and contraception. Does the government have the right to legislate women's health? This close examination provides perspectives from all sides to help readers understand what is at stake.

Fessler, Ann. The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade. Reprint, New York, Penguin Books, 2007
The untold history of the million and a half women who surrendered children for adoption due to enormous family and social pressure in the decades before Roe v. Wade. The author is an adoptee who was herself surrendered during those years and recently contacted her mother, brings to life the voices of more than a hundred women, as well as the spirit of those times.

Gutmann, Matthew. Fixing Men: Sex, Birth Control, and AIDS in Mexico. First, Oakland, CA, University of California Press, 2007
Fixing Men illuminates what men in the Mexican state of Oaxaca say and do about contraception, sex, and AIDS. Based on extensive fieldwork, this breakthrough study by a preeminent anthropologist of men and masculinities reveals how these men and the women in their lives make decisions about birth control, how they cope with the plague of AIDS, and the contradictory healing techniques biomedical and indigenous medical practitioners employ for infertility, impotence, and infidelity. Gutmann talks with men during and after their vasectomies and discovers why some opt for sterilization while so many others feel "planned out of family planning."

Johnson, Abby, and Kristin Detrow. The Walls Are Talking: Former Abortion Clinic Workers Tell Their Stories. San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2018
This book narrates the experiences of former abortion clinic workers, including those of the author, who once directed abortion services at a large Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas. These individuals, whose names have been changed to protect their identities, left their jobs in the abortion industry after experiencing a change of heart.

Kimport, Katrina. No Real Choice: How Culture and Politics Matter for Reproductive Autonomy (Families in Focus). New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University Press, 2021
In the United States, the “right to choose” an abortion is the law of the land. But what if a woman continues her pregnancy because she didn’t really have a choice? What if state laws, federal policies, stigma, and a host of other obstacles push that choice out of her reach?

Based on candid, in-depth interviews with women who considered but did not obtain an abortion, No Real Choice punctures the myth that American women have full autonomy over their reproductive choices. Focusing on the experiences of a predominantly Black and low-income group of women, sociologist Katrina Kimport finds that structural, cultural, and experiential factors can make choosing abortion impossible–especially for those who experience racism and class discrimination.

Miller, Patricia. Good Catholics: The Battle over Abortion in the Catholic Church. First, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2014
Good Catholics tells the story of the nearly fifty-year struggle to assert the moral legitimacy of a pro-choice position in the Catholic Church, as well as the concurrent efforts of the Catholic hierarchy to suppress abortion dissent and to translate Catholic doctrine on sexuality into law. The author also describes the profound and surprising influence that the conflict over abortion in the Catholic Church has had not only on the church but also on the very fabric of U.S. politics.

Nokes, Emily, et al. Shout Your Abortion. Toronto, Between the Lines, 2018
The Shout Your Abortion (SYA) movement inspired people all over the country to share their experiences with abortion through creative cultural expressions such as art and begin organizing in a range of ways to start conversations that had never happened before and build communities of healing. The book presents a collection of these photos, essays, and creative work inspired by the movement and illuminates the individuals who have breathed life into this movement to spark their liberatory and political power of defying shame and claiming sole authorship of their experiences.

Parker, Willie. Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice. New York, 37 Ink, 2018
Dr. Willie Parker, a southern born Christian fundamentalist, read an interpretation of the Good Samaritan in a sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and realized that in order to be a true Christian, he must always show compassion for all people.

He stopped practicing obstetrics to focus entirely on providing safe abortions for women who need help the most—often women in poverty and women of color—in the hotbed of the pro-choice debate: the South. He thereafter gave up his extravagant life and became an itinerant abortion provider, becoming one of the few doctors to provide such services in Mississippi and Alabama.

Pollitt, Katha. Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights. Reprint, Picador, 2015.
Through poetry, essays, and criticism, feminist writer Katha Pollitt illustrates the political and social issues of reproductive rights including racism, and poverty. The book makes an impassioned argument for a renewed commitment to the struggle for abortion rights.

Roberts, Dorothy. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1997.
In 1997, this groundbreaking book made a powerful entrance into the national conversation on race. In a media landscape dominated by racially biased images of welfare queens and crack babies, Killing the Black Body exposed America’s systemic abuse of Black women’s bodies. From slave masters’ economic stake in bonded women’s fertility to government programs that coerced thousands of poor Black women into being sterilized as late as the 1970s, these abuses pointed to the degradation of Black motherhood—and the exclusion of Black women’s reproductive needs in mainstream feminist and civil rights agendas.

Shah, Meera. You’re the Only One I’ve Told: The Stories Behind Abortion. Chicago, Chicago Review Press, 2020
This book collects the stories that were shared with Dr. Meera Shah after she started revealing that she was an abortion provider and not just a doctor. Each time she met someone new, they would confide that they'd had an abortion themselves. And the refrain was often the same: You're the only one I've told. The stories humanize abortion and combat the myths that persist in the discourse that surrounds it through the inclusion of a wide range of ages, races, socioeconomic factors and experiences, showing that abortion does not happen in a vacuum--it always occurs in a unique context.

Singer, Elyse Ona. Lawful Sins: Abortion Rights and Reproductive Governance in Mexico. 1st ed., Stanford, CA. Stanford University Press, 2022
Lawful Sins reorients reigning perspectives in medical and feminist anthropology that celebrate reproductive rights as a hallmark of women's citizenship in liberal societies. By challenging the application of a liberal rights framework to Mexican abortion, the book uncovers an apparently contradictory situation--the state's increased surveillance of women's bodies precisely in the context of their presumed liberation. The book offers a critical account of the relationship between reproductive rights, gendered citizenship, morality, and public healthcare.

Kaplan, Laura. The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service. First Edition, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2019.
This is the first account of Jane's evolution as an underground abortion service, the conflicts within the group, and the impact its work had both on the women it helped and the members themselves as told by one of its members. This book stands as a compelling testament to a woman's most essential freedom--control over her own body--and to the power of women helping women.

Walbert, David, and Douglas Butler. Whose Choice Is It?: Abortion, Medicine, and the Law. Seventh, Chicago, American Bar Association, 2021
This book strives to give a comprehensive view of the entire subject of abortion-safety, morality, legality, accessibility, human rights and freedoms, reproductive justice, and a host of other issues as it relates to ongoing public policy.

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Film Summary

After two police killings, Black millennial organizers challenge a Chicago administration complicit in state violence against its Black residents. Told through the lens of Janaé and Bella, two fierce abolitionist leaders, Unapologetic is a deep look into the Movement for Black Lives, from the police murder of Rekia Boyd to the election of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Using This Guide

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection and designed for people who want to use Unapologetic to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues, and communities in conversations about racial justice, community organizing, feminism, and justice beyond punishment and imprisonment. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and listening actively.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.

For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit https://communitynetwork.amdoc.org/.

Helpful Concepts & Definitions

• Abolition: a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment.
• Accountability: people thinking about the ways they may have contributed to violence, recognizing their roles, acknowledging the ways they may need to make amends for their actions, and making changes toward ensuring that violence does not continue and that healthy alternatives can take its place.
• Black Queer Feminist Lens: a political praxis (practice and theory) based in Black feminist and LGBTQ traditions and knowledge, through which people and groups are able to bring their full selves into the process of dismantling all systems of oppression. This lens supports individuals and communities in creating alternative modes for living and being rooted in their lived experiences. By refusing to be governed by oppressive systems and historically racist and patriarchal structures, those being led by a Black Queer Feminist Lens effectively prioritize problems and solutions that center (and are led by) historically marginalized people in communities. It is an aspirational and liberatory politics that acts on the basic notion that none of us will be free unless all of us are free.
• Community accountability: a process in which community members such as family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers work together to transform harmful situations and how the community responds when harm is caused. This can also describe a process in which the community recognizes that violence has an impact on it, even in situations where the violence is primarily between individuals, and those individuals may have participated in allowing the violence to happen or even causing the violence and the community is responsible for resolving the violence.
• Community organizing: a process in which people come together into a group that acts in their collective interests to address specific problems through long-term strategies.
• Femme: a descriptor for a queer person who presents and acts in a traditionally feminine manner. All femmes hit upon two key aesthetic and identity-related traits: being feminine and falling somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum.
• Gender-based violence: any act that is perpetrated against a person's will and is based on gender norms and unequal power relationships. This encompasses threats of violence and coercion. It can be physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual in nature, and can take the form of a denial of resources or access to services.
• Genderqueer/gender fluid or nonbinary: terms that may be used by people who identify as neither exclusively male nor exclusively female, as a gender other than male or female, as more than one gender, as no gender at all, or whose gender changes over time.
• Intersectionality: concept that describes the ways in which systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class, and other forms of discrimination “intersect” to create unique dynamics and effects.
• Misogynoir: term coined by queer Black feminist Moya Bailey to denote, in her words, “both an historical anti-Black misogyny and a problematic intraracial gender dynamic that had wider implications in popular culture. Misogynoir can come from Black men white men and women, and even other Black women.”
• Prison Industrial Complex: term used to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems.
• Queer: according to Jennifer Patterson writing in Queering Sexual Violence, ‪“a radical position within the larger mainstream LGBT community; a commitment to exposing the systems that criminalize rather than serve. It’s a space to dream up new systems that do serve us. For me, it is a rejection of mainstream ideas around sexuality and gender and the home to critical thought organized through radical love and compassion. It’s also an umbrella term that offers more flexibility than something a bit more fixed like gay or lesbian.”
• State violence: direct harm and abuse perpetrated by people in positions of authority within institutions that people are required to engage with or depend on, as well as the structural harm resulting from neoliberal public policy, rules, and regulations.