Today on the KSP Podcast, we premiere an interview from our most recent cohort on “Traditional Healing”. We spoke with healer Edith Rincon, who taught a workshop at our fair El MERCADITO MÁGICO. 

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. 

This interview was led by our KSP student Timothy Lee, and UCLA Spring intern Raphael Low.  

This is the last episode of our "Notes From Koreatown Series" with another amazing intergenerational program, Heart of L.A. Eisner Intergenerational Music Programs.

Heart of Los Angeles is a non profit organization that gives underserved kids an equal chance to succeed through a comprehensive array of after school academics, arts, athletics, and wellness programs.

We will be interviewing members of its intergenerational big band and choir. We'll dive into how these programs bring together musicians of all ages, celebrate the transformative power of music, and create a lasting impact on the Los Angeles community

Thank you so much for listening to Notes From Koreatown. A series where we highlighted the music creation in our community. 

We hope you enjoyed the stories and soundtrack that connect our community. 

This series was produced by Cira Mejia and Tony Morales

Communications Associate: Janice Yun

Director of  Koreatown Storytelling Program: Katherine Kim Program Coordinator: Dilan Askew

KSP Interns: Jane Lee and Jonah Lee are

In a community where stories connect and collide, we bring you our episode on hip hop in Koreatown through a musical technique used in hip hop: the remix.

In this episode we learn more about hip hop stories in Ktown through four artists: 

Omar from Hist City LA, 

Rappers Preservear and Rez

and producer Jonathan.

All artists are connected through Hist City LA. They are a clothing and media company that hosts rap freestyles around the city, called “101 Freestyle”. 

Join us as we remix their journeys, creative process, and the culture they showcase through hip hop.

Tracklist

101 Freestyle Ep. 2 KAOZ

101 Freestyle Ep 5 Preservear

101 Freestyle Ep. 6 Dazy Lyn

vanessa (ft. kaoz) (prod. by 8een)

Hip Hop Is Dead - Nas 

Sounds like Love - J. Dilla

Rewind - Nas

Preservation - Wu-Tang Clan, Del the Funky Homosapien, Aesop Rock

Me Against the World  - Tupac

Preservear - Preservear

I Against I - Jedi Mind Tricks

Y Volvere - Los Angeles Negros

Best Rapper Alive - Lil Wayne

Yesterday & Today - Murs

Dancing in the Rain - Blu/ Exile

Episode produced by Cira Mejia and Tony Morales

Interns - Jane Lee & Jonah Lee

Communications Associate - Janice Yun

Program Coordinator- Dilan Askew

Program Director - Katherine Kim

"Notes from Koreatown" is our latest interview series with artists creating Koreatown’s music.

Today, we will be talking with garbagebarbie, a dynamic indie-rock group  featuring Fletcher Malloy, Daniel Khorashev, Anson Knopp, and Brayden Huff.

 They were recently signed to State of the Arts and known for their bold creativity through their incorporation of quirky AI intros and high energy music.

Cira connected with the band through Open Market, a sandwich shop on Wilshire in Koreatown. On the shop's website they state, "Open market is a space where you can have a coffee, a conversation and leave with a connection."

Listen to the band's journey from Arizona and Minnesota to Koreatown, and how the music has been influenced.

Episode produced by Cira Mejia and Tony Morales

Interns - Jane Lee & Jonah Lee

Communications Associate - Janice Yun

Program Coordinator- Dilan Askew

Program Director - Katherine Kim

KSP’s Notes from Koreatown, is an 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. 

Cira is a KSP student turned intern, preparing for her cross-country move to college. But before she leaves, she would love to take notes from her city with her. 

This episode was produced by Cira Mejia and Tony Morales. 

Episode Tracklist 

Lento - Julieta Venegas 

Las Mañanitas - Lali Torres

gotta get it [freestyle] (prod. bvtman) - Rez

vanessa (ft. kaoz) (prod. By 8een) - Rez

Astray - Wednesday Again

“Notes from Koreatown” Theme - Cira Mejia

plasmaraye - garbagebarbie

101 Freestyle Season 2 Ep.1: Jakarta Slim

Heart Of Los Angeles’ Intergenerational Big Band

Late Drive Home - Wednesday Again 

Today 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. Most recently she has added “author” to her CV, writing and publishing “meridian” a memoir that details her childhood in Korea, her coming to and coming of age in the U.S., and both the losses and successes that have shaped her adult life. She also just happens to be our program director Katherine’s Mom!

We spoke with Kija about the process of writing a memoir, the importance of writing as a healing process, and navigating abusive relationships as a woman. Kija emphasized the power of sharing your story with your friends and family and encouraged me to ask my grandmother questions about her life! As a lot of us are spending time with our family, friends, and loved ones for thanksgiving take some inspiration from Kija and explore a family story! Happy thanksgiving and we hope you find strength in storytelling in this interview!

[Spanish Interview]

Before we begin this episode, we would like alert you all that this episode is not recommended for Children. It contains strong opinions, language and mature subjects. Listener discretion is advised.  

It is important for us to share trigger and content warnings on the topics discussed in this episode including deportation, death, and sex work. If you would like confidential free help or some one to speak with. The national helpline for substance abuse and mental health services is 1-800-662-4357. Additionally,  LA’s LGBT Center also has a warm line for those facing violence and assault at 323-860-5806. Please Know that you are not alone. 

Today 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. Due to the length our interview, we have decided to break it into two parts. 

In this first part of our conversation, you will hear Venus talk about his upbringing in his grandmother’s bakery, the relationship with his mother, and opinions on queer identity.

In the snippet to begin the episode, Venus spoke about his home birth. Halfway out during birth, The midwife who delivered Venus thought he was female. This was believed because of his positioning. Once fully out, the midwife realized he was male. From there he says, “There is where the myth of my life begins, I’ve been happy being gay." 

We began the first part of our conversation talking about what Venus had for breakfast and how she learned how to make make tamales from her homeland of El Salvador. 

Happy Halloween! 

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. In summary,, shamanism is a practice that involves a person called a shaman, interacting with the spirit world to help people, heal, or perform other tasks. 

We hope you enjoy this conversation on the team’s experience talking with family about shamanism, and grappling with what makes a practice authentic. More than anything, the film was a doorway for the team to begin thinking about this year’s theme, traditional healing.

Episode produced by Tony Morales

Guests:

Interns - Jane Lee & Jonah Lee

Communications Associate - Janice Yun

Program Associate - Dilan Askew

Program Director - Katherine Kim

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! 

Join us on Saturday October 19th 2024 to El Mercadito Magico, a traditional healing arts community festival. We will be having workshops from local healers such as acupuncturists and herbalists. Come enjoy great food from local food vendors. We will be at MacArthur park from 10am to 4pm. For more information, check out https://www.koreatownstorytellingprogram.org/ 

Boyle Heights Beat is a bilingual community news project produced by youth, offering “noticias por y para la comunidad,” or “news by and for the community.”

Koreatown Storytelling Program is an intergenerational, multilingual and multiethnic oral history and digital media program that teaches high schoolers how to document, investigate, and interpret the stories of marginalized members of our community for public benefit.

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.