Japanese American actor George Takei, of ¡°Star Trek¡± fame, has long used his stardom to champion worthy causes such as human rights and LGBTQ+ issues.
The 88-year-old actor and activist draws on personal experiences, as he was one of many Japanese Americans to be imprisoned in internment camps in the U.S. during World War II, where he was sent as a child alongside his family. ¡°,¡± Takei¡¯s illustrated children¡¯s book published in the U.S. last year, details this dark time. The book became a New York Times bestseller and won the California Independent Booksellers Alliance¡¯s Golden Poppy Award.
¡°I wrote this because there are still people in the United States that don¡¯t know American history,¡± Takei said during a on Nov. 20 to promote the book¡¯s Japanese translation that will be released Nov. 27. ¡°I maintain that the internment was a major event in American history that¡¯s still being underplayed.¡±
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