A chat with Bryant Kim of the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center

On July 14th I sat down with Bryant Kim, Cultural Programming Director of the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center (KRCC), at their Youth and Culture Office. After my tour of the office, Bryant began to tell me all about what the KRCC does, its mission, and its relationship with the Alliance. Bryant explains that the KRCC's mission is to empower the Korean American community through education, social service, organizing/advocacy, and culture. Bryant believes that every single community member has the ability to contribute and the KRCC offers them the perfect outlet to do so.

The KRCC places a great deal of emphasis on youth development, which Bryant believes is necessary in order to nurture the future leaders of our world. The Center's Youth Empowerment Program strives to help youth develop public speaking, critical thinking and community organizing skills in order to foster sense of community and to promote youth leadership with the focus of cultivating the next generation community advocates. Members of the Center's Youth Council, Fighting Youth Shouting Out for Humanity (FYSH), choose a different issue each year and then plan and organize around it to educate the community and gain support for the cause while After School Matters and Community Development Block Grant provide a safe space for young people and allows any high school students residing in the city to take different classes free of cost all year round. This summer there is even a group of youth interns busy helping out at the KRCC!

In addition to its strong youth development programs, the KRCC offers programs for other members of the community including the New American Initiative, which assists community members in gaining citizenship, and the Workplace Justice Campaign, which provides education for small business owners and employees. English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are also offered to the community.

Being a part of the Chicago Cultural Alliance has ultimately given the KRCC the opportunity to organize with other communities of Chicago as a collective body. Through programming such as Cultural Connections with the Field Museum, the KRCC has been able to come together with Chicago's other communities to create continued dialogue. It is this continued dialogue, according to Bryant, that ultimately leads to social change.

The Korean American Resource and Cultural Center is an exciting place to be--be it to take a poongmal (Korean drumming) class or just have a comfortable space to hang out--the KRCC has so much to offer!