Resources for You
Join us in the mission to cultivate kindness in the classroom & our communities!
See the resources below to learn how….
Resources for Readers,Teachers & Students
“Growing Up Behind Barbed Wire” 2022
Watch this 7 minute film to understand the story behind “The Kindness of Color” and Mendez, et al. v. Westminster, et al. Inspired by the book, the animated film captures our Munemitsu story of leaving Westminster for the Poston incarceration camp through the eyes of 7 year old twin sisters, my aunts. Forced to leave the only home they knew during WWII because of their Japanese heritage, this true story is the prelude to the school segregation the Mendez family would face on this same Westminster farm.
The film is a perfect complement to my book and for students and classroom use when studying WWII, American history, and the Japanese American incarceration. The film is directed/produced by Brendan Bubion, as his thesis for this MFA degree in documentary filmmaking, Dodge College of Film, Chapman University. Brendan’s hope is for the film to be used in classrooms so that this history is taught and known. I am honored to have Brendan select our story as his thesis film and continue to be a friend and ally to sharing all of history.
Janice
California AB 1805 signed by Governor Newsom!
U.S. Courts Video
September 26, 2024
Hosted by Javier Hernandez, Office of the US Courts
California AB 1805 signed by Governor Newsom! Mendez et al v. Westminster et al. will be included in California's history and social science curriculum standards. This 10 minute video gives the background and importance of this case and also features scenes from the Mendez Tribute Park, Westminster, CA.
Index of Content for The Kindness of Color.
When I was writing my book, I had no idea so many people would ever read it and that it would be used in classrooms. I didn’t even think of adding an index, so I created an index as a FREE download. Just download and print as a supplement when you are studying this history!
Update September 1, 2024
“Kindness is…” Quotes
When I was writing my book, I had an idea to add “Kindness is…” quotes to highlight the kindness of many in the midst of adversity. I get asked alot about my strategy for writing these. There was no strategy, I just thought it was a good way to show what we can do to help our neighbors, friends, and even strangers. As requested, I’ve added a listing of these with the page numbers.
Building History 3.0
Building History 3.0 is a free online collection of resources on the Japanese American incarceration camps. You’ll find tools here developed specifically for kids, including short documentaries, graphics, and Minecraft activities. Our project also includes classroom-ready resources, including full-length lesson plans for grades 3-12.
Crystal Cove State Park
Classroom lessons to support student interdisciplinary learning about the past, present, and future. This lesson on the Japanese American community was created by Nicole Gilbertson, Director, UCI Teacher Academy and her colleague Robin Lee Guiseffi.
Images and Imaginings of Internment: Comics and Illustrations of Wartime Incarceration
Chapman University exhibited Images and Imaginings of Internment: Comics and Illustrations of Camp in 2023 at the Leatherby Library. This exhibit was created under the direction of Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa, Associate Dean, Wilkinson College at Chapman University. It presents the Japanese American wartime incarceration through images, mainly 1940s comics. The incarcerated artists depicted daily life behind barbed wire because cameras were not permitted. Artists outside of camp often used their art to justify the Japanese American incarceration. Looking at both of these representations helps us understand the reality of incarceration experience and how such an injustice was allowed to happen. This website provides a thorough online view of the exhibition and teaching resources.
Mendez Tribute Park Website
This website is the virtual tour of the Mendez Tribute and Freedom Trail in Westminster, CA. The park, which is more like an outdoor museum, tells the story of the case through written panels, augmented reality (AR) and other activities. The website features lessons for grades 2,3,4,11,12 curriculum as well as activities. This teaching resource was created in conjunction with the Orange County Department of Education.
Student Worksheet for "The Kindness of Color"
This pdf document was created by Karalee Wong Nakatsuka, teacher and author of “Bring History and Civics to Life, Lessons & Strategies to Cultivate Informed, Empathetic Citizens.” Karalee is a 8th grade History/Civics teacher at Arcadia First Avenue Middle School, Arcadia, CA. This worksheet was created to align with the Mendez/Munemitsu story in “The Kindness of Color.” Kara was named the 2023 California Council for the Social Studies Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year. In 2019 she was recognized as the Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the Year for California and was a top 10 finalist for the national award. She has a lot of resources on her website https://www.BringHistoryToLife.com or bit.ly/HistoryFROGEDU. Thank you, Karalee, for sharing your resources and creativity! “Ribbet” Clap for you!
December 2022: Dr. Jeff Hittenberger, Sylvia Mendez, Janice Munemitsu, Dr. Al Mijares at the Mendez Tribute Park, Westminster, CA
Mendez Field Trip Text Set For Educators!
Marika Manos, Ed.D. and Lisa Grisotti of the Orange County Department of Education have created this curriculum Text Set that complement “The Kindness of Color” story for teachers preparing lessons for their classrooms.
Ret. Judge Fred Aguirre and Janice Munemitsu, Oct. 3, 2023 OC Teacher’s Law School
OC Teachers Law School / Japanese American Internment Text Set For Educators!
Marika Manos, Ed.D. and Lisa Grisotti of the Orange County Department of Education have created this curriculum Text Set from the October 3, 2023 OC Teachers Law School "Untold Stories of Japanese Internment: Navigating Legal and Community Challenges.” These resources complement “The Kindness of Color” story for teachers preparing lessons for their classrooms.
I often get asked “Is the farm still there?” Which leads to where exactly was the Seventeenth Street School and Hoover School? To add to our geographical history, the Landmark case finally has a Landmark in the City of Westminster: Mendez Tribute Monument Park! Here’s a map and addresses for you to tour the locations in Westminster, CA, all within a 2 mile area.
Mendez v Westminster Landmark Tour
The Japanese American Story: A deep dive resource list for exploring JA history in the U.S.
Here is a list of resources that I found helpful in writing my book and exploring the history of Mendez vs Westminster and the internment of Japanese Americans. I hope it will be inspire you in telling your family story!
Discussion Questions
Download this free PDF of discussion questions for the classroom, a family conversation, or a book club. We hope this will foster important conversations about this story and its relevance to the present.
Places to Visit
Download this free PDF outlining great places that you can visit to enhance your reading experience. Great for school field trips or your own education on this important subject.
Let’s Be Kind Website
This non-profit was started by a student dedicated to cultivate kindness on school campuses. Visit this site to learn more about Let’s Be Kind Days and even bring it to your local schools.
Curriculum Resource Packet for Teachers
Download this free PDF with curriculum suggestions for incorporating this story in classwork, FAQs for teachers, and field trip ideas.
More on the Japanese American Incarceration
Download this free PDF with a comprehensive list of resources to learn more about the Japanese American incarceration.
Professional & Classroom Development Opportunities for California Educators by the Museum of Tolerance
Set in the Museum of Tolerance’s immersive learning environment, Tools for Tolerance® for Educators introduces new paradigms toward building capacity for safe and respectful schools. Training is available for individual educators or teams that want to grow together.
The MOT’s unique content features lessons from the Holocaust and dynamic exhibits on contemporary human rights struggles, and confronting hate and discrimination in the US today. Featuring live virtual tours, expert speakers, personal testimonies, video story-telling, and hands-on lesson plans and resources, sessions create space for dialogue and community. Educators have special access to our Film Club featuring award-winning films and dynamic conversations.
"A Grave Injustice: The Future of America’s Past” by New American History
This curriculum series offers one track for educators/teachers and one for students on the Japanese American internment. I watched the whole thing and it is very thorough, telling the story with video testimonies and historical facts. It’s a great resource for teachers and classrooms, or anyone who wants to learn more, and comes complete with a vocabulary list and questions for discussions and deeper reflection.
BUNK
Bunk is a shared home for the web’s most interesting writing and thinking about the American past. Bunk explores the multi-dimensional connections between past and present. Search "Japanese Internment" or "Japanese American" for a variety of writings of true life experiences involving WWII incarceration camps.
Bring History and Civics to Life: Lessons and Strategies to Cultivate Informed, Empathetic Citizens
This user-friendly guide will empower and equip teachers to take a fun, interactive approach to using technology to teach history and civics.
For years, history and civics have been put on the back burner as schools focus on subjects like math, science and English language arts. Although all U.S. states have standards for the teaching of history, there’s a lack of consistency when it comes to teaching civics. Today, we see evidence of declining levels of civic engagement, which is sadly reinforced as our educational institutions fail to prioritize history and civics education, while at the same time they often blame students for their lack of knowledge.
Ireichō Special Display at JANM
The Ireichō contains the first comprehensive listing of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in US Army, Department of Justice, Wartime Civil Control Administration, and War Relocation Authority camps. Embedded into the very materiality of the Ireichō are special ceramic pieces made from soil collected by the project from seventy-five former incarceration sites from Alaska to Hawai‘i, Arkansas to California, and from almost every other region of the United States.Check back regularly for new resources that help further cultivate kindness in our schools and communities! Visit the Stamping Instructions page for information on how to make a reservation to stamp the book now through December 1, 2024.
Homegrown Scholars’ Top 10 Books About Japanese Internment For Kids
This is a great list of books for elementary age kids in their exploration of this time in history. The story books they suggest are a great way for kids to see themselves in history and enter into meaningful conversation through creative storytelling and imagery!
More Resources Coming Soon!
Check back regularly for new resources that help further cultivate kindness in our schools and communities!
Photo Gallery
Explore the story of The Kindness of Color through photographs
PLEASE NOTE: All images are Copyrighted by the author, © 2021 Janice Munemitsu, unless otherwise noted.
Please see our FAQs or reach out to the author at info@thekindnessofcolor.com.
Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez. Courtesy of the Mendez family.
Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez. Courtesy of the Mendez family.
Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez with daughter Sylvia and son Gonzalo Jr. in the late 1930s. Courtesy of the Mendez family.
Seima (in a western-style suit) and Masako (in her traditional kimono) Munemitsu as newlyweds in 1921, the year they came to California.
Masako Munemitsu with second son Saylo on her lap, and oldest son, Seiko “Tad” (right) around 1923.
Masako Munemitsu with her two sons, Seiko “Tad” and Saylo, mid 1920s.
This barn was on the Munemitsu farm in Westminster. Sylvia, Gonzalo Jr., and Jerome spent time playing in and around this barn as children on the farm.
Seima Munemitsu farming in Westminster in the 1930s.
Mrs. Lovell’s third grade class of integrated White and Japanese American students at Westminster's Seventeenth Street School in October 1931. Tad Munemitsu proudly stands with a wide grin in overalls in the back row, right of the open doors. This is the same school that the Mendez children were denied enrollment twelve years later.
Seima Munemitsu working the Westminster farm.
Tad Munemitsu in the late 1930s.
Typical all-American young men love cars: Saylo, friends Seimi and Mamoru, and Tad hanging out with beloved cars on the Westminster farm.
Tad Munemitsu driving a tractor purchased with their hard-earned money.
Tad Munemitsu in front of the Westminster farm's family home.
The Munemitsu family farm house, Westminster, where the Mendez family lived.
Yone Sasaki standing outside one of the housing barracks at Poston, Arizona. Yone completed her senior year of high school in camp.
A class of all Mexican children at Hoover School, 1944, with their first-grade teacher, Mrs. Alice Johnson, showing the segregation of schools in Westminster based on color and race in the 1920s-1940s. Courtesy of the Mendez family.
Sylvia Mendez at age ten—around the time of the trials. Courtesy of the Mendez family.
Sylvia Mendez’ Santa Ana High School graduation picture. Courtesy of the Mendez family.
Childhood photo of author Janice with father Tad during strawberry season in the late 1950s.
Kazi Munemitsu Doi, Saylo Munemitsu, Masako Munemitsu, Aki Munemitsu Nakauchi, and Seiko "Tad" Munemitsu in 1985.
This picture commemorates the first time Janice met Sylvia Mendez in September 2002, with her aunt Aki Munemitsu Nakauchi. For Aki and Sylvia (left and center), it was a reunion after over fifty-six years.
The Mendez family at the unveiling of the US postage stamp commemorating Mendez v. Westminster in 2007: Jerome, Sylvia, Sandra, Gonzalo, and Philip Mendez (left to right). Courtesy of the Mendez family.
Author Janice Munemitsu and Sylvia Mendez wearing her Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2011.
Author Janice Munemitsu with the first proof copy of The Kindness of Color, September 2021.
More Ways to Practice
and Share Kindness…
Share this story with family, friends, neighbors and get together and talk about it. Download our discussion questions, above, for a one night book club!
Ask your local library to carry The Kindness of Color to make it available to more people in your community.
Give The Kindness of Color as a gift to someone and add a few acts of kindness with it!
Pick one of the “Kindness is…” statements and see how many times in a week you can do something similar for other people you know and even for strangers. And whatever you do, do it with a smile! Can you do that for a month, a year? Keep kindness going!
When did you receive kindness from someone of another color or culture? How and when can you do that same thing for someone else?
Be Aware! Pick one of the themes of the book and read more on that subject. For example: school desegregation, Executive Order 9066, Japanese American internment, 1940s California history, Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT), US court system. Share what you are learning with others.
Ask your family, friends, and neighbors when they have been a recipient of kindness by someone of the same color and also by someone of another color. Share the story with us!
Check out www.letsbekind.org - a school campus movement to create student-led movements and cultures on school campuses nationwide. Follow Let’s Be Kind Day on social media and bring Let’s Be Kind Day to your local school. @letsbekindday #letsbekind
Let us know other ideas that you have by filling out the email form on the Connect page. We look forward to hearing from you!
What Educators Are Saying About
The Kindness of Color
“I was inspired by Janice’s (the author) words at the Department of Education’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) May 2021 event. This book has important messages about discrimination and kindness. I really like how The Kindness of Color integrates her family’s story and the Mendez story into a broader historical narrative.”
— Marika Manos, Ed.D.
History/Social Science/Civics Coordinator, Educational Services Orange County Department of Education
“I enjoyed reading Janice's book. What a treasure of information about her family, the Mendez family, and the history they helped create. On a personal level, I think I resonated most with Janice's description of how the Japanese-Americans transformed the internment camps into a sustainable place to live so much that when the Hopi arrived in Poston, they marveled at how the soil was well conditioned to grow, and the homes were ready for them to live in. A huge testament to how a people experiencing such persecution can endure and thrive despite the adversity.”
— Dennis Cole
Director of District Partnerships and Operations Orange County Department of Education
Let’s work together to cultivate kindness in the classroom & your community!
