California Story Fund
Like Jack: Stories of Youth at Risk
Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley
Milpitas
Project Director: Emi Matsuoka Young
Jack Matsuoka, a sports and political cartoonist, was 16 years old when he was sent to an internment camp in Arizona during World War II. While there, he wrote and made sketches about his daily experiences. In his work, he describes the crowded living conditions, his relationships with his friends and family, and the lives of people trying to make the best of a difficult situation.
This project used the work of Matsuoka to inspire disadvantageded multiethnic San Jose youth, ages 6 to 18, to produce their own real-life stories. The youth, participants in the Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley at three clubhouses in San Jose, met with Matsuoka and viewed an exhibit of his work at the Japanese-American Museum of San Jose. Matsuoka also visited the participants at their clubhouses and demonstrated sketching techniques. The participants then sketched and wrote their own stories.
An exhibit of the participants work was held at the Japanese American museum, with the young people's work hanging next to Jack Matsuoka's. Members of each of the clubhouses visited the museum. There was also a symposium, open to the public, to give visitors an opportunity to discuss the exhibit's meaning and significance.