Скачать или смотреть A Korean Woman’s Journey From Grief to Belonging in America | Legacy Project East Bay

Yonsuk Dallas was born in Tokyo, Japan, in May of 1940. She and her family resided in Japan until she was six years old; during World War II, she recalls hiding inside the closet of her kindergarten class as air sirens warned of planes flying overhead. In 1946, her family moved to Seoul, which she considered her second hometown. After finishing school, she was married and had four sons.

Her husband, who had been diagnosed with diabetes, passed away in 1996 from medical complications, and her second son tragically passed away a year later after a hard-fought battle with leukemia. Her cousin, who at the time lived in Los Angeles, invited her to stay a while with her in the United States, where Yonsuk has resided ever since. She attended church, joined a music club and art exhibition club, and one day found herself enamored at a gallery with a painting created by a stranger with whom she later would share an extremely close companionship and later marry. Though they later separated, Yonsuk and he remained close friends until his passing.

She expresses gratitude for everyone she’s met in the United States who helped her adjust to life here, particularly the workers and volunteers at the Korean Community Center of the East Bay, a place she describes as giving a sense of peace during trying times. Having immigrated to expand her own cultural experiences, she takes pride in the fact that Korean culture is appreciated by a diversity of people, and tells the younger generation of Korean Americans to never forget their roots.

In collaboration with Koreatown Youth + Community Center of Los Angeles, Koreatown Storytelling Program is an  intergenerational,  multilingual and multiethnic oral history and digital media program that teaches ethnographic and storytelling techniques to high school students and elders to investigate cultural practices and racial, economic and health inequities in our community.

Special thanks to Korean Community Center of the East Bay for hosting this Legacy Project recording. Funding made possible by Korean American Community Foundation of San Francisco.

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CREDITS
Interviewer: Jonah Lee
Video: Janice Chung @janicekaramchung & Kimberly Young Sun @kimberlyyoungsun
Audio: Tony Morales @tony___m
Editor: Sarah Park @lalaspark
Production Manager: Kimberly Young Sun
Motion Designer: Aj Valente https://ajyval.myportfolio.com
Music Composer: Jang Hyeong Yoon
Executive Producer: HJ Lee

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience.