ACLU'S 90TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION INSTALLED AT MUSEUM THROUGH DEC. 11

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), celebrating its 90th Anniversary since its founding, has installed its nationally traveling exhibition, No Victory Ever Stays Won: 90 Years of Protecting Liberty, at the Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First Street in Little Tokyo, through Saturday, December 11, 2010.

The exhibit is broken into various panels, highlighting the nine decades of work by ACLU with such subjects as "Speaking Up for Freedom of Expression"; "Fighting for Racial Justice"; "Promoting Women’s Equality"; and, "Applying the Bill of Rights to Criminal Justice", among others.

"The ACLU's 90th Anniversary exhibit is meant to highlight some of our accomplishments to a nationwide audience, to offer the public a fuller view of the tremendous impact the ACLU has had on the lives of individuals and on society as a whole," ACLU stated. "We hope that a tour of the exhibit will leave people with the knowledge that our work has touched individual lives in many positive ways. The exhibit lays out a rich history of accomplishments that have led to a more fair and just America."

The National Museum was approached by ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC) to be one of the venues for the national tour. Working with the local ACLU staff, the National Museum added to the traveling show actual World War II government exclusion orders with an extra text panel. The panel notes the conflicts between the national ACLU body and its chapters, especially the Northern California group, on how to proceed after President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that led to the unlawful mass incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry.

Besides the installation of No Victory Ever Stays Won, ACLU of Southern California and the National Museum is organizing a reception and panel discussion, "The Politics of Fear and Persecution: Then and Now", for Tuesday, December 7, 2010, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the National Museum in Little Tokyo. Among those scheduled to speak are Ahilan Arulanantham, ACLU/SC Director of Immigrant Rights & National Security; Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); and Mia Yamamoto, a Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney who was born in a World War II domestic concentration camp. This event is free, but RSVPs are requested by contacting Clarissa Woo at (213) 977-5241 or e-mailing her at cwoo@aclu-sc.org.

For more information on No Victory Ever Stays Won, go to www.aclu-sc.org.