KOREATOWN STORYTELLING PROGRAM
Los Angeles, California, USA.
Program Description
“The program promotes greater understanding and respect between generations and documents marginalized narratives for preservation in public archives while also cultivating wellness outcomes for all participants.”
“Many residents of our community understand or practice these cultural traditions, rituals and methods, but these voices are rarely explored, documented and archived. We will invite traditional healing artists to lead workshops and demonstrations in their areas of expertise and are excited to learn from and with our Koreatown community.”
-source: koreatownstorytellingprogram.org
The Koreatown Storytelling Program works with high school students and neighborhood elders in Los Angeles’s Koreatown to celebrate and document stories.
Students participate in workshops on oral history, journalism and photojournalism, community history, interview skills, technology how-tos, and dialogue around cultural traditions, immigration and civil rights.
Each semester focuses on a different theme in the community. Past storytelling themes have included:
Food in our neighborhood - K-Town’s famous KBBQ spots to Guatemalan traditional street food. Interviews with foodmakers, servers, small business owners and gardeners were held with the goal of sharing and preserving local culinary art.
Social construction of race - how neighborhoods in Los Angeles came to be, the historic 1992 civil unrest and protests that resulted in widespread arson, looting and destruction.
LGBTQIA+ community in Koreatown - recording of multiethnic and multilingual LGBTQIA+ older adults on their life experiences, home countries, cultural traditions, childhood, faith, family, immigration and coming out (and not-coming out) narratives, intersectionality, discrimination, milestones and celebrations.
History of the Garment District in Los Angeles - through workshops and interviews with the many Korean American and Latinx workers who live in Koreatown and work downtown.
Elder Care in Koreatown, Los Angeles - interviews with elders and elder care workers uncovered their stories and experiences living and working in the nursing homes, elder residences, and assisted living facilities in the community prompted intergenerational dialogue between the youths and elders of the Koreatown community with the hope of increased mutual understanding and connection.
Traditional healing arts in Koreatown - learning from the diversity of healing practices and modalities from acupuncturists, herbalists, shamans, botanicas, curanderas, and kabarajis.
Student participants:
-Must commit to a full nine-month program
-Must live or attend school in Koreatown
-Be interested in engaging with and learning from elders in their community
-Bilingual preferred but not required (Korean, Spanish, Bengali, etc.)
Elder participants:
-Must commit to one interview and a culmination event
-Must live/have lived in Koreatown (or immediate surrounding neighborhoods)
-Interested in giving back and sharing experiences with the community
-Language: Korean, Spanish, Bengali, English, and open to all
-Stipend available for elder participants
The Koreatown Storytelling Program holds several multigenerational workshops and records a podcast.
The Koreatown Youth and Community Center is a nonprofit serving that has been serving Koreatown since 1975.
source:koreatownstorytellingprogram.org
Senior Activities
Intergenerational Programs
Seniors Helping Youth
WATCH VIDEO ON MULTIGENERATIONAL KOREATOWN STORYTELLING PROGRAM |
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