HREI Brings ‘Within the Silence’ to Schools, Libraries

The experience of a Japanese-American family forced to relocate and live in an internment camp will be shared at North Idaho schools and libraries in conjunction with the series of programs for Our Region Reads.

Lily Gladstone

Performances of “Within the Silence,” a one-woman play produced as part of the Living Voices series from Seattle are sponsored locally by the Human Rights Education Institute (HREI) and will be presented Tuesday through Thursday, March 22-24.

“Within the Silence” will be performed for students at Prairie View, Borah, Hayden Meadows, Dalton, Sorenson, and Twin Lakes elementary schools, and at Lake City High School over the three-day run. Free public performances are offered Wednesday, March 23, 7 p.m., at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front. Ave., and Thursday, March 24, 7 p.m., at the Post Falls Library,

821 N. Spokane Ave.

  

In 1942 FDR’s Executive order 9066 imprisoned thousands of loyal American families of Japanese descent living on the West Coast. They were removed to internment camps in the American West including sites in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

“Within the Silence” tells the story of Emiko Yamada, a teen-age girl growing up in Seattle's “Nihonmachi” (Japantown). When Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Emi and her family are the victims of anti-Japanese  hysteria. The story follows the Yamadas as they are forced to sell or give away their possessions and home; as Emi’s father is separated from the family; and as they are removed to the internment camp at Minidoka.

Emiko is portrayed by Lily Gladstone, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in acting and a minor in Native American Studies from the University of Montana in 2008.  Most recently, she completed a year-long tour with the Montana Repertory Theatre's production of Harper Lee's “To Kill a Mockingbird.” 

The Seattle-based Living Voices ensemble was created in 1992 and tours several productions examining life and history in the United States through multimedia performances.

 The HREI was created in 1998 to provide proactive human rights education to promote tolerance, reduce prejudice, and encourage appreciation of diversity in the region.  Since then, HREI has worked hard to achieve its mission of inspiring transformation and promoting human rights through education and raising awareness in our community. HREI promotes human rights by developing and presenting school programs, sponsoring events that celebrate diversity, and providing workshops and trainings for community members, business leaders and educators.