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27</title></head><body>
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<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000"><b>KOREAN
AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS AND WRITERS ASSOCIATION<br>
</b>745 Buchanan Street, San Francisco, CA 94115<br>
Phone: (415) 252-5828 Fax: (415) 252-5829<br>
<br>
<b>IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000">DATE:<x-tab>
</x-tab><x-tab>
</x-tab>APRIL 18</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-1"
color="#000000">TH</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000">, 2002</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000">RE:<x-tab>
</x-tab><x-tab>
</x-tab><b>10 Years after Sa-I-Gu</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000"><b
> <span
></span
> <span
></span>
Commemorative event on April 27, 2002</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000"><b><br></b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000"><b><br>
</b>Contact:<x-tab>
</x-tab>KSA: Omar Han, (510) 427-4313, E-mail:<u>
Repatlarge2001@yahoo.com<br>
</u>KAWAWA (415) 252-5828, E-mail address:<u>
kawawa@kawawa.org</u></font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000"><u><br>
</u>On April 29, 1992 a tragedy more commonly known as the L.A. Riots
struck our nation, forever scarring the African and Korean American
Community. This event commonly known in the Korean American
Community as Sa-I-gu (pronounced sa-ee-goo), literally meaning
"4-29" is a date that will remind us of lost lives, the
fire, looting, and chaos that lay rampant in the South Central Los
Angeles vicinity. After the decision in the Rodney King beating
Trial was given and the four Los Angeles police officers involved in
it were acquitted, all hell broke loose within the African American
Community and Koreatown in Los Angeles.<br>
<br>
The media wrongly connected socioeconomic issues into the bigger
picture of racial injustice. The African American Community and
Korean American Community were controlled like pawn pieces in a chess
game by the overpowering media. This created Korean shop owners as
targets to unleash a fury that had been building up since the Rodney
King beating videotapes were first aired on national television.
Neither African Americans nor Korean Americans were to blame. We
can only trace this catastrophe back to the initial mishap of airing
the Rodney King beating tapes on national television by the media and
failed government economic and social policies. <br>
<br>
In 1993, KAWAWAıs (Korean American Women Artist and Writers
Association) Intercultural Program was instituted with the help of
African American leaders. Min Paek from KAWAWA and Lefty Gordon from
Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, following the aftermath of the April
29, 1992, Los Angeles riot, initiated a program dedicated to educating
children from diverse backgrounds to learn new and different skills,
while raising awareness and appreciation for oneıs own heritage and
culture. This program was able to successfully educate youth and
their families on the importance of peacefully working and living with
members of a diverse community and has received praise from the
Mayorıs office for its dedication and foresight in the promotion and
recognition of racial harmony in the city.<br>
<br>
Korean American Women Artists and Writers Association (KAWAWA), Ella
Hill Hutch Community Center, The Bethel AME church, Korean American
Grocers Association (KAGRO), Korean Community Agenda Council (KCAC),
KACC (Korean American Community Center), and KSA (Korean Student
Association), Committee for Korean Youth (CKY) will be holding a
commemorative event dedicated to this American social upheaval that
has deeply affected our community.<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>We are living in a time where tolerance and
peacekeeping efforts are more critical than ever. Please come
and join us on Saturday April 27, 2002 from 10:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M.
at 745 Buchanan St. San Francisco, for a day of remembrance, healing,
and empowerment. A barbecue lunch and refreshment will be
served. The Program will include keynote speech, panel
discussion, Korean and African drum and music performance, a prayer of
healing/blessings led by Rev. Edgar Boyd from the Bethel AME church.
For more information please contact Omar Han, KSA at (510) 427-4313 or
call KAWAWA at (415) 252-5828.<br>
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