This timely memoir by Art Miki, former president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians and central player in the Japanese Canadian Redress Campaign, describes the journey to find resolution to the historic event that deprived Japanese Canadians of their basic human rights during and after World War II. The book explores the intense negotiations that took place in the 1980s between the Government of Canada and the National Association of Japanese Canadians, which finally resulted in the historic Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement on September 22, 1988, and the acknowledgment by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney that Canada had wronged its own citizens.
Miki vividly recollects his past experiences and family history, revealing the beliefs and attitudes that shaped his life’s journey as a youth in British Columbia, an educator in Manitoba, and a community leader across Canada. He shares personal reflections on his work as a school teacher and principal and on the Japanese Canadian Redress Campaign, as well as on the many endeavours, challenges, and projects that followed. He details his involvement with Indigenous communities and the dispute that would lead to the historic Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, his foray into politics during the 1990s as a Liberal candidate, and his role as a Canadian citizenship judge. Gaman – Perseverance provides a unique, intimate glimpse into Miki’s involvement with the Japanese community, in Canada and abroad, and the projects that enhance meaningful historical preservation.
