On Saturday, Dec. 9, a diverse group of Angelenos converged in the Tom Bradley Room on top of Los Angeles City Hall for a program exploring Los Angeles’ immigration history.

The fourth in a six-part series exploring race relations in Los Angeles leading up to the 15-year anniversary of Sa-i-gu, “The Rhythm of L.A.’s History” presented the celebration and struggle experienced among all immigrant groups, placing the Korean American experience in the context of the past 225 years.

The program included poetry from Mark Gonzales and HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam” artist Gina Loring; a scene from “La Victima,” telling the story of a Mexican family immigrating to the U.S. during the Mexican Revolution; a modern Korean drum dance from the Sun Wha Dance Studio under the direction of Mi Ja Kim; a video montage including images from the civil rights movement, the United Farm Workers, Cesar Chavez and from the Korean American Foundation of Southern California’s Korean American Day.

Other performers included Billy Sanders on guitar, Danying Wu, who detailed the Chinese Massacre of 1871, Salvadoran artist Fidel Sanchez performing an original composition, a string quartet performing “Deep River,” and the group Afro-Brazil performing on samba drums.

The Koreatown MUN Plus team consisted of (top row, left to right) Rebecca Kim, Danny Stickar, Barbra Kim, Myung-Ji Kim, Marc Lee, Silvia Kim, Ana Miguel and (bottom row) Young Chang and Justin Kwon.

The event was co-sponsored by the KAC’s 4.29 Center, the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations and the L.A. City Human Relations Commission. Major sponsors included the Kambon Family, Inflx Entertainment and the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles. For information about the next event, call (213) 365-5999.

 

 

Koreatown Representing At Model UN Conference

On Dec. 9, the Koreatown Model United Nations Plus team represented Nigeria in the 12th annual Los Angeles Invitational MUN Conference at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach. KAC-sponsored Koreatown MUN Plus was the only community-based MUN team competing in the novice conference, where over 200 students from 15 area high schools debated current issues such as blood diamonds, child labor, nuclear non-proliferation and state-sponsored terrorism. Koreatown MUN Plus is a new program focused on developing leadership and critical literacy skills among diverse, under-served high school youth in Koreatown, Los Angeles. KAC-LA is currently looking for additional sponsors to help send the team to the three-day Berkeley MUN Conference at UC Berkeley in March 2007. Please contact Marc, youth development coordinator, at (213) 365-5999, ext. 138, or marc@kacla.org, for more information.

Elected officials and their staff take time to pose for a group photo.

 

Legislative Luncheon

Over 100 community members and public officials attended KAC-LA’s 12th annual Legislative Luncheon on Nov. 16. Part of KAC’s effort to increase Korean American participation in political processes and public decision-making, the annual luncheon provides an opportunity for legislators and other public officials to meet with members of the Korean American community to exchange dialogue on common concerns affecting Korean Americans in Southern California. Elected officials present included Board of Equalization Chairman John Chiang, State Assemblymember Carol Liu, State Assemblymember Judy Chu, City Councilmember Ed Reyes, City Councilmember Tom LaBonge, LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer III, LAPD Asst. Chief Jim McDonnell and LAPD Captain Richard Wemmer. Jamison Properties sponsored the event, which specifically focused on Koreatown development and public safety issues.