An Evening with George Takei

Actor, Social Justice Activist, Social Media Mega-Power
With an uncanny eloquence and signature wit, Takei shares the story of his family’s forced internment as Japanese Americans during WWII—a seemingly forgotten part of American history. He also takes audiences through his rise to celebrity as a Sci-fi icon as an original cast member to Star Trek, his remarkable journey as social media mega power, and his passionate fight for LGBTQ rights and marriage equality in America—empowering others to beat the odds and make a difference.

George is passionate about his educating people and raising awareness about Japanese American Internment Camps in the United States, a seemingly forgotten part of American history. From the age of 4 to 8, he and his family together with 120,000 other Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind the barbed-wire enclosures of United States internment camps…simply because of the way they looked. George spent most of his childhood at Camp Rohwer in the swamps of Arkansas, just 250 miles up the road from LSU’s campus in Baton Rouge. He has vivid memories of the camp, where he’d recite the pledge of allegiance, ending with “with liberty and justice for all” while staring out his classroom window at armed guards and barbed wire fences. The following quote from George applies not only to the events surrounding his childhood, but also the world we live in today: “Democracy can be as great as the people can be, but it’s also as fallible as people are.”