KOREATOWN SPEAKS UP

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This is a special rebroadcast episode for the first ever panel-discussion by K-Town Is Oaxacan Korean.

On Thursday, November 2, 2023, K-Town Is Oaxacan Korean, also known as K-Town Is OK, brought together long-time and former residents of Koreatown into conversation. The panel, free and open to the public, was held just over a year after the public release of a private discussion between L.A. City Council Members Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon, and Federation of Labor leader Ron Herrera, in which they dismissed Korean-American residents of the area and ridiculed Oaxacan or Mexican-American members of the community as “short, dark people” and “feos (ugly).” The panel discussion was held online and featured a line-up of guest speakers, culminating a year-long effort by my colleague Helen H. Kim and I documenting Oaxacan-American, Korean-American and other voices in Koreatown through our website and podcast, K-Town Is OK.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Quien Es Tu Vecindario to support this panel and help create more such dialogue for our communities.

J.T.

EPISODE 107 – HELEN H. KIM ON KOREATOWN AS OAXACAN-KOREAN + GIVING TUESDAY

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Yours truly sits down with Helen H. Kim (@theotherhelenkim) to discuss our vision for K-Town Is OK and how donor support on #GivingTuesday can make all the difference. We reflect on Helen’s family life in Koreatown, going on to learn that her dad–like my mom–worked at a sowing factory in downtown Los Angeles during her youth. We also discuss the catalyst for our shirts: the racist L.A. City Council recordings published by the L.A. Times just this past October; other notes include the shirt’s design process, design accessibility for immigrant communities in L.A., local community shop Virgil/Normal’s support, and our privileged position to facilitate each of these processes. To donate to K-Town Is OK, please do so HERE. 100% of donations go towards commissioning more interviews for the project, a new website, and miscellaneous expenses like ink, paper, and other items in the effort to reach Los Angeles.

J.T.