Kenji Tokawa

Kenji Tokawa is a mixed-race Nikkei writer, artist and arts-educator based in Toronto, Wendat-Haudenosaunee-Anishinaabeg Territory. He came to Canada from Denmark, Japan and Ireland over one hundred years ago.

Having coordinated queer- and trans-positive events and programing for racialized youth (Asian Arts Freedom School, GenderFOC) currently he runs his own workshops in silk-screen printing with a focus on celebrating marginalized gender- and racial identities. His poetry has appeared in RicePaper, Generations, Many Mountains Moving, Ditch Poetry, and Disability Studies Quarterly.

Seventy years ago, his grandparents and all of their relatives and friends were displaced and mass incarcerated, many deported or forced into farm labour, their property was stolen and sold without their consent. In 1988, the Canadian government made a promise to them to prevent this kind of injustice from happening again. Seeing this promise broken daily is what drives Kenji’s work.

Recognizing that this inability to end racism stems from colonialism, if given the chance, he would encourage all Ontarians to learn about and live within the indigenous laws local to their areas. For Kenji, key to ending racism at the personal, provincial, federal and international levels is recognizing indigenous sovereignty.

 www.kenjitokawa.com