Our family of 7 consisting of my parents, grandmother, 2 older brothers, an older sister and myself, immigrated to a small town in Wisconsin in 1973. As you can imagine our family faced many challenges as one of few Koreans in a predominantly white community. Despite these obstacles I have always felt a strong sense of pride in my Korean Heritage. This belief was instilled by my parents who reminded us the importance of holding on to our Korean traditions through storytelling and celebrating Korean Holidays. But what influenced my Korean American identity the most was witnessing the enormous sacrifices my parents made in order for my siblings and I to experience a better life here in America.
My father passed away in 1996 without experiencing the many blessings of his hard work and sacrifice. However, one of the ways that I can express my love and thankfulness to my parents is to record and preserve their incredible journey of courage and resilience through the Legacy Project. Through the Legacy Project my mother had an opportunity to share her story. It was especially important for me to have her story recorded so that it could be passed down to the rest of my family members and especially to my daughters. I believe it is powerful and meaningful to capture and to share these narratives as part my Korean heritage and identity.
I am thankful for and a huge supporter of the Legacy Project that I have helped organize recordings at my home and with other Korean American Organizations in Chicago. The stories that were shared and recorded were truly inspirational and deeply moving. Additionally, I am also part of the ROAR Story Slam organizing team and it is one of the most significant events for Korean Americans to express our rich culture! It is a really empowering experience to have hundreds of people from your community gather to hear heart-warming personal stories.The works of KoreanAmericanStory.org is to humanize our collective experiences while honoring the diversity of our stories. Now more than ever it is important to raise our voices and proudly share what it means to be Korean Americans. Please use this unique opportunity to double your donation when you join the Storytellers Circle to ensure our stories and experiences are celebrated and preserved.