Koreatown Storytelling Program producer Tony Morales, sat down with Recovery Services Coordinator Jennifer Avilez to talk more about recovery. They begin by asking: what is recovery and why are these services important in Koreatown? We learn more about Recovery Month, the stigma of substance-use disorder, recovery testimonies, and how the recent raids have ripple impacts in a recovery process.

The Koreatown Storytelling Program Podcast interviews Koreatown’s very own Jonnie Park, also known as Dumbfoundead.

A Koreatown icon, acclaimed rapper, actor, and podcast host, Jonnie uses his voice to uplift community stories and Asian American narratives on a global stage. Jonnie has recently appeared in hit shows and movies like Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens and Anderson .Paak's K-Pops!, and is currently a writer on the upcoming season of Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Beef.

He recently co-MCed KYCC’s 50th Anniversary Benefit Concert on August 21st at 7pm at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. KSP audio producer, Tony Morales, sits down with Jonnie at the KSP Treehouse to talk about growing up in Koreatown, the importance of community centers in his creativity, and rap helped him gain confidence in identity.

Many students in Los Angeles return to school this week, from the first day of grade school to first classes at a college campus. Perfect timing to have educator and musician, Victor Campos, on our series. Victor runs a nonprofit called Mosh for Youth, where they donate scholarships to students entering their first year in college. How do they raise their funds? Through the intense energy and support from the harcore music scene. 

We spoke with Victor to learn more about Mosh For Youth, supporting students and communities, and the power music has in this moment. 

On the show we have Valeria Gonzalez, a prevention specialist at KYCC that works with the MacArthur Park Community Initiative. The initiative focuses on strengthening youth activism and leadership development among Westlake residents and the surrounding community. KSP intern Cira Mejia, asks Valeria how the MacArthur Park community has responded to the recent raids and the sweep that happened last month. 

This week we spoke with a community member within our organization KYCC, Jeffrey Mashburn. Jeffrey is a manager in our Enhanced Care Management OR ECM unit. ECM focuses on providing support and resources to our most high-risk community members with Medi-Cal. In our conversation with Jeffrey, we learn about the impact raids have be having in the ECM unit. 

This week student intern Cira Mejia and myself Tony Morales spoke with Lyzzeth Mendoza and Quetzal Flores from the eastside organization Community Power Collective (CPC). Their mission is to organize with tenants, street vendors and transit riders in communities of color to create a solidarity economy, win community control of land & housing, and form dignified public systems that facilitate a culture of radical care.  For the second part of our series “Que Podemos Hacer?” focusing on the community's response to I.C.E raids, we spoke with CPC to learn about their fund and to support street vendors at this moment. 

In this episode, student-intern Cira Mejia and audio producer Tony Morales speak with KTown Local organizer Fernando to learn more about their Community Defense Center, the hub's goal, and his views/experience on community's response to I.C.E raids.

Before we shared our conversation with Fernando, Cira and Tony had the opportunity to speak with community members. Out of concern for their own safety, the people they spoke with declined to be recorded, but still shared their experiences

In this episode, we want to give you all an inside look and speak with our KSP team who took part in making this project happen. The guests include our director Katherine Kim, project-interviewers Jonah lee and Jane Lee, and social media coordinator Janice Yun. We spoke about what Western Ave means to them, their experiences meeting the business owners, and the project’s impact online and with the store owners interviewed. 

We interview healer Edith Rincon from our most recent cohort on “Traditional Healing”. Edith is an Intuitive Energy Practitioner with over 20+ years of teaching experience in the public school system. She now teaches alternative healing methods, mental well-being, and simple daily self-care rituals. Her training and certifications include Reiki Levels 1 and 2, Crystal Healing, Curanderismo, and Yoga. In this episode, Edith reminds us of the power we hold in our own healing. 

KSP is proud to finally introduce Notes from Koreatown, our latest interview series with artists creating Koreatown’s music.

In our first episode of the series we learn about our narrator and series producer, Cira Mejia. We learn how her love for music begins, grows from admiration to creation, and the soundtrack that comes along with it.

Happy Thanksgiving! This week on the show KSP intern Jane Lee, and program coordinator Dilan Askew interviewed Kija Kim. Kija is was the founder and CEO of Harvard Design & Mapping Co., served on the Massachusetts Asian American commission, and has also been a board member at multiple institutions including.

This week we share a Spanish interview with Koreatown gay elder Venus. It is a honest conversation with Venus about his life migrating from El Salvador to the U.S., and what Los Angeles in the 80s was like for him.

Earlier this year, the KSP team took a trip to watch the Korean supernatural film Exhuma, which translates to exhuming and relocation of a grave. After watching the film, the team got together to talk more about the film and what we know/don’t know about shamanism and its influence in Korean culture.

Minye Cho has helped KSP produce video interviews in collaboration with Korean American Story. She has produced videos for global companies Samsung and Spotify and for kpop musicians such as Aespa. To name a few… Today we share a part of her journey from studying engineering in Korea to making her short film “Invisible” in Atlanta, and now managing a production company in Los Angeles. We hope you enjoy this conversation! 

BHB and KSP students are recent high school graduates heading off to college. We are collaborating on this podcast to share and process their thoughts as they embrace new beginnings at college.

Director Katherine Kim, Program Associate Dilan Askew, and Tony Morales spoke with Jordyn Sun about her religious upbringing, underground organizing at a Christian college, and creating a dancefloor for K-Town's QTBIPOC community.

Food Vendors are an undeniable part of Los Angeles history and culture. As part of our food cohort last year, we highlighted the experiences of Koreatown street vendors at the Salvadoran Corridor. Next week we will share a couple of those interviews by our KSP students.

In this episode, KSP Intern Janice Yun interviews journalist Jeong Park. Jeong has written for the Orange County Register, Sacramento Bee, and was an Asian American Communities Reporter for the L.A. Times. He currently works at the Seattle Times as the Assistant Metro Editor.

Today we have a special interview in Korean by our intern Jonah Lee. Jonah interviews his aunt Amy Lee, a radio host  who was live bradcasting the civil unrest, informing the Los Angeles Korean community as events unraveled.

We interviewed 4 Koreatown high school students about their experiences in the city. First we hear from Brianna Rizo and Diana Kim, two students who participate in KORYO, Koreatown Organizing to Reduce Youth Opioid Use. They talk about the changes and connection they have with Koreatown.