Today’s Global Intergenerational Week #GIW24 theme is focused on combatting loneliness and social isolation through intergenerational connections! In honor of today’s theme, KSP wants to highlight KSP elder participant Ms. Cathy!

It’s Day Two of Global Intergenerational Week! Today’s theme is the importance of building effective intergenerational partnerships. One of KSP’s partnerships this year was with artist and muralist @DaveYoungKim and the amazing Korean Resource Center (@krclaorg), a nonprofit community organization empowering low-income immigrants, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and people of color communities in Southern California.

It’s Global Intergenerational Week! This week we’re joining organizations across the world in celebrating the power of connecting younger and older people. At the Koreatown Storytelling Program, we know that it has never been more important to combat loneliness and isolation.

Throughout the past month, KSP has been partnering with Sequoyah High School’s Gryphon Ensemble to fundraise through a Quilt Auction! Freshman Isha Agrawal, who organized the project, also hosted three sewing workshops at the KSP treehouse to teach participants and community members how to craft tote bags, drawstring bags, and other fun items!

On April 19, KORYO (Koreatown Organizing to Reduce Youth Opioid Use) joined fellow KYCC youth leadership groups and youth from the community at Unwind Your Mind Koreatown Youth Summit, an event for high school students to build community and focus on their mental health through art, workshops, and connection. It was a treat to hear actor Ki Hong Lee and Councilwoman Heather Hutt speak about how they unwind and care for themselves! 

In April, KSP traveled just a few blocks to the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) where we joined their Youth Advisory Council to lead two workshops on oral history ethics, how to conduct oral history interviews, and the oral history editing process. Our partnership aims to preserve and document the narratives and voices of Central American immigrants and their family’s experiences in their country of origin and transition to the U.S.

On Fri., March 15, KSP wrapped up our 2023-24 Cohort on the LGBTQIA+ community in Koreatown with a big celebration. Our students, narrators, and community members came together for tacos, tanghulu, and stories!

On Tues, Feb. 27, KSP had a food-making workshop with the lovely Ms. Cathy! She taught us how to make miyeok-guk (미역국) or seaweed soup, a traditional Korean postpartum dish.

On Tues, Jan. 30, our friends at Las Fotos Project led a Photography 101 workshop for KSP students and community members. Since 2010, Las Fotos Project has been mentoring teenage girls and gender-expansive youth from communities of color in photography and self-expression.

On Saturday Jan. 20, KSP was joined by participants, friends, and community members for a screening of the film Coming to You. Directed by Gyuri Byun, the 2021 documentary follows the story of two working class Korean mothers, whose respective children come out to them as gay and transgender.

KSP had our annual holiday party on Dec. 15, celebrating with a Mandu (or Korean dumpling)-making party! The lovely Ms. Yoon, KYCC Senior Accountant and friend of KSP, taught us how to make our own mandu from start to finish.

We’re so excited to announce that the Koreatown Storytelling Program podcast is now available for listening! On our podcast, we will be sharing stories, histories, interviews, and discussions in the different languages that make our city.

On Nov. 28, KSP held our 11th workshop of the semester with one of our KYCC colleagues Nicholas Creason! We discussed the social, health, and financial inequities and isolation in the LGBTQIA+ elder community and the importance of intergenerational connection.

KSP held our 10th workshop of the semester on Saturday Nov. 18, and focused on the topic of religion and evangelism with Professor Judy Han of the UCLA Department of Gender Studies.

On Tuesday Nov. 14, KSP was joined by Olimpia Blanco of CARECEN, who led a workshop on intersectionality and migration. CARECEN, or Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles, works to politically empower and protect the human and civil rights of Central Americans and immigrants in the Los Angeles community.

On Nov. 8, KSP Director Katherine Kim co-presented a workshop titled “Every Place Has A Story,” at the 2023 PastForward Conference.

Koreatown Storytelling Program is so excited to finally share KSP Volume II: The Garment Industry. Following the release of our first volume, which documented Koreatown stories during the COVID-19 pandemic, this second book centers around the diverse voices from Los Angeles’s Garment Industry.

On Saturday Oct. 28, KSP welcomed Multi-Disciplined Drag Artist, Activist, and Cultural Competency Consultant, Sydney Rogers, as she led a workshop on LGBTQIA+ terminology and Trans 101.

On Oct. 24 KSP was joined by Indigenous Pride LA for our sixth workshop of the semester! Indigenous Pride LA celebrates Two Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous LGBTQPAI+ culture, identities, and heritage.

What is the origin of your name? You have 2 hrs to live, what would you do in those two hours?

These are some of the writing prompts KSP students and community members answered last Tuesday, Oct. 17, during our queer storytelling and poetry workshop led by Katherine Bahena-Benitez.