The Democracy Center

01/14/2026

Join the Democracy Center at JANM and meet the thinkers, artists, organizers, and civic leaders confronting authoritarianism today.

This day-long symposium 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 symposium also includes tours of the timely exhibition Monuments at and a mobile “banned bookmobile” presented by Bloom Wild Bookshop

A participatory musical event by Great Leap featuring visionary artist-activist Nobuko Miyamoto inspires us to celebrate memory, joy, and collective action. Groove to the beat, learn the FandangObon circle dance, and add your hopes and wishes to the dance circle’s centerpiece.

Get tickets at janm.org/democracy

Top image: Glenn Kaino, In the Light of a Shadow (detail), 2021. Image courtesy of the artist.

12/20/2025

📣 CALLING ALL ANGELENOS 📣Today is the final day to register for the Civic Assembly scheduled for January 11th at the Democracy Center at JANM! It’s not too late for you to get involved. Check out the link in BIO to sign up now! Remember, when people feel heard and are involved, democracy gets stronger.

12/19/2025

Los Angeles is rewriting its City Charter, a rulebook for how the city works. It decides who holds power, how decisions are made, and how billions of public dollars are spent. 💰

Los Angeles’ Charter Reform Commission is partnering with Rewrite LA to ensure that everyday Angelenos have a direct voice in shaping how the city is governed. Mini-Assemblies is a unique opportunity to learn, deliberate, and develop community-informed recommendations that will help guide the Charter Reform process. 🗳️

The Commission has pledged to consider the recommendations that come from the Assemblies, so your recommendations can really make a difference in how LA operates.

For more information, visit rewritela.org 📎

10/08/2025

Join us for a short film screening and discussion about the Delano Grape Strike this Sunday, October 12 at 2 p.m.!

Sixty years ago, Filipino and Mexican farm workers stood shoulder to shoulder in the Delano Grape Strike, igniting a movement that reshaped labor history and inspired generations. Celebrate the courage of past generations, honor the creativity that sustains movements, and plant seeds for the struggles ahead with the Democracy Center and Great Leap’s free program.

Learn how the strike’s lessons are carried into today’s urgent struggles through a short film by award-winning filmmaker Juan Mejia's short piece on the strike and carrying its lessons into today’s urgent struggles. Then join a conversation moderated by Democracy Center Director, James E. Herr, about how movements are remembered, inherited, and renewed with Victor Viesca, Quetzal Flores, and Faith Santilla. Together they’ll explore how music and artistry fuel collective action—whether in the fields of Delano or the streets of Los Angeles—and how those tools remain vital as communities today face climate crises, inequality, and threats to democracy.

Sixty years ago, Filipino and Mexican farm workers stood shoulder to shoulder in the Delano Grape Strike, igniting a movement that reshaped labor history and inspired generations. Celebrate the courage of past generations, honor the creativity that sustains movements, and plant seeds for the struggl...

09/11/2025

Silencing History: Protesting Truth in Public Spaces and Museums
Across the country, National Park Service sites are becoming ground zero in a growing battle over historical memory. New QR codes, promoted under recent executive orders, invite the public to report “negative” or “unpatriotic” portrayals of American history. On the surface, these codes claim to ensure “accuracy”—but for communities like Japanese Americans, who have fought for decades to have the truth of their incarceration recognized, this development raises troubling questions. Who decides what version of history is “patriotic”? What happens when telling the truth about injustice is deemed “negative”?

Compounding these concerns is the administration’s call to eliminate a majority of protected areas—such as national monuments and historic sites under NPS management. And the same struggles also unfolding inside museums, which have long been spaces where narratives are curated, contested, and too often erased.

This program will explore the politicization of public memory, the dangers of historical erasure, and the consequences of silencing hard truths—whether in our shared outdoor landscapes or in our cultural institutions.

This virtual program is free with registration. Visit JANM.org/events for more information.

08/01/2025

The Democracy Center presents two solo shows that explore what happens when two Asian American performers fall deeply in love with Western mediums—movies and opera—they discover that they both may be in too deep. Catch these live performances from Thursday, Aug 21 - Saturday, Aug 23, 2025. Visit Janm.org/democracy to buy your tickets today.

Link in Bio 🎟️

06/11/2025

We are thrilled to announce the award recipients of the 2025 Irene Yamamoto Fellowship!

Heven Haile (she/they) (.haile) is a Brooklyn-based arts and culture critic. Currently, she is an editorial operations manager at GQ and Pitchfork.

Joyce Kwon () is a Los Angeles-based artist, traversing time and space with her bossa nova voice and traditional Korean gayageum to reclaim decolonized futures.

Syd Westley (they/them) () is a poet, critic, and artist living in Oakland, California.

Keep an eye out for our fellows’ upcoming projects this year!

06/03/2025

In this town hall, keynote speaker Rob Bonta, Attorney General of the State of California, will be joined by Connie Chung Joe of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, Lisa Holder of the Equal Justice Society, and Ann Burroughs of JANM for a discussion about immigration and deportation policies, threats to democratic institutions and the rule of law, and cuts to education, the arts, and cultural nonprofits.

Thursday, Jun 05, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM PDT
Japanese American National Museum
Democracy Center
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

06/01/2025

In this town hall, keynote speaker Rob Bonta, Attorney General of the State of California, will be joined by Connie Chung Joe of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, Lisa Holder of the Equal Justice Society, and Ann Burroughs of JANM for a discussion about immigration and deportation policies, threats to democratic institutions and the rule of law, and cuts to education, the arts, and cultural nonprofits.

Thursday, Jun 05, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM PDT
Japanese American National Museum
Democracy Center
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

03/22/2025

Join us at the Smithsonian’s National Conversation on Race!
Friday, March 28
8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. PDT

🔷 The event is FREE and open to the public. Register today 📎 Link in BIO

The Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum is honored to host the Smithsonian’s National Conversation on Race. Building on last year’s discussions at the intersection of race at issues of wealth, health, and the arts, this year’s dialogue examines the urgent contemporary forces shaping these issues. With a focus on youth empowerment and the role of creative practice in fostering equitable recovery from natural disasters, this gathering will illuminate pathways toward systemic change.

11/04/2024

I wish you’d VOTE, VOTE!

Very mindful, very demure when Voting is Accessible

See the link in bio for Language and Voter Accessibility 💚

11/02/2024

Vote!