Calling All Ancestors

Looking out the window of my flat here in San Francisco, I see a glimmer of the Pacific Ocean. Safe from Covid but starving to hug my friends and family, I remind myself it wasn’t always like this. Last year this time, Mark and I were at Obon in San Jose where Mark’s grandparents settled. Obon Festival is the time when our ancestors come to visit and we dance with them. I think of our parents. They lived through the Great Depression, WWII, the Incarceration and vigilantes looking for “Japs”. I remember as a child, helping my grandpa George Wong, gather seaweed off the Central Coast of California, a hard way to make a living but he considered himself lucky because he escaped the beatings and lynchings of Chinese in Monterey. I kick myself for being ashamed of riding with him to San Francisco in his old 1950 pick up truck full of squawking chickens and bales of dried seaweed. If he were alive today, he’d be an essential hero.

Despite hardships, our parents and grandparents managed to be warm caring unbreakable people their entire lives.

When my mother passed, I went for solace to Kawahatsu-Sensei at Konko Temple. He told me our ancestors are like a big tree. I am still alive so I am like the earth but my mother recently passed so she is like the little hairs that are on the roots of the big tree. If I feel alone, all I have to do is look up this mighty tree I am part of and see how I am connected to the ancestors who go on and on continuing straight through the heavens.

I carried this thought with me for years imaging myself part of a forest of people all connected to our family trees. One day I bumped into Kawahatsu-Sensei and thanked him for teaching me about the forest of humanity. He looked at me puzzled and said, “But Brenda, there’s only One tree.”

This Obon 2020 please join us as we Call on All Ancestors,

Brenda and Mark

Soul of Our Town:
The Photography of Mark Shigenaga

As we enter Obon season we wanted to share a message from photographer Mark Shigenaga who has been capturing images from various obon festivals in California for years.

"Since capturing my first Obon at Berkeley’s Nishi Hongwanji in 2008, I’ve become enamored with the beauty and tradition of this festival as a photographic subject. Growing up, Obon festivals were not so much an event to photograph, but rather as a place to gather and enjoy the weekend with family and friends - as I still continue to this day. I have also come to deeply appreciate its true purpose, as an opportunity to honor and remember our ancestors, to reflect on the uniqueness of our existence, and to be grateful for the life we were given.

While the current situation with Covid-19 has made it impossible for family and friends to meet for this joyful summer tradition, virtual celebrations have been made available locally and in other parts of the country. In addition to those presented from the San Jose, Mountain View, and San Francisco Buddhist temples, I 'zoomed' into the virtual celebrations in San Fernando (LA), Midwest (Chicago), and Jodo Mission (HI). It has been pretty cool to see the images of my friends at these virtual festivals, but I also hope in the next season or so to meet again in person to share both food and stories."

The Foundation by Unity Lewis

Obon is a time where people dance with the spirits of their ancestors. But all humans come from Africa, therefore when we call ancestors we are calling all our ancestors and honoring the many journeys of migration and hardship they endured to bring us to the now. Unity has a deep and generous spirit and has the gift of waking people to their inner truths. In this time of darkness and chaos, his works of beauty and cohesion are medicine for the soul. About this work, Unity says “I was inspired by what Brenda said regarding our African origins and decided to make this in honor of our common African ancestors. You were right about the music being in me already!”

New Obon for All Ancestors

A few years ago, we produced a large-scale 18-month community-organizing project in Japantown San Francisco called 'Suite J-town'. 8,500 people of all ages participated in making art, performances and film events. Our closing event held in the Peace Plaza was the New Obon for All Ancestors choreographed by Ayana Yonesaka who combined Obon movements with hip hop honoring both the Black community and the Japanese because J-town is in the Western Addition where our people have lived together for generations.

Our Earth Dance Artists!

WATCH HERE

A shout out once again to our Earth Dance Artists for creating these amazing individual art videos. Watch here and follow them on their platforms, and support their amazing work. FREE!!

The Healing Power of Storytelling

August 2, 2020 | 10AM PST

As part of our ongoing webinar series, COPING WITH COVID 19, Fountain Project Foundation Board of Directors is delighted and grateful to present, BRENDA WONG-AOKI and MARK IZU, the founders of FIRST VOICE. Explore the medium of storytelling as self expression and traditional cultural themes and contemporary narratives. For all ages sharing knowledge and community! Join at the link below.

JOIN HERE

Stronger Together!

Brenda with her grandpa George Wong — Brenda with her grandpa George Wong

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funders and partners!

Brenda Wong AokiJuly 31, 2020