"K-Town Hotties" by Danny Cho

HatTip to Esther S. Amusing...

The KYOPO Project Fundraiser Benefit in SF This Wednesday, May 6th!

Some of our friends are involved in an art & culture photography project related to Korean Diaspora called THE KYOPO Project. The artist is Cindy Hwang, which you can read more about here.

The fundraiser for the project is this Wednesday, May 6th, in San Francisco. It will be held at VESSEL, which is located at 85 Campton Place.

Registration starts at 5:30 and the event starts at 6 pm and continues until 9 pm.

Cost:
$100/Entrance Ticket (100% Tax Deductible)
$200/Vip Ticket, $1500/Table (100% Tax Deductible)
$50/Entrance Student Ticket (Valid Id Required) or for those 21-25 Yrs Old (100% Tax Deductible)

More from the event site...

Attend this night of entertainment and festivity to support the first project of its kind. Help realize a publication on multiculturalism and immigration illustrated visually and textually through the lens of the Korean Diaspora.

Guest Emcees And Keynote Speakers:
Yul Kwon, CBS’s “Survivor” Winner: Cooks Islands, Community Leader
Sue Kwon, Reporter, CBS5 Eyewitness News

Guest Performers:
Bobby Choy (Big Phony) – Singer, Songwriter
Maggie Kim - Singer Songwriter & Her Band
Susie Suh - Singer, Songwriter

Silent And Live Auction:
Meals With Mayor Jun Choi, Yul Kwon, Actress, Comedian Suzanne Whang, Author, UC Berkeley Professor Elaine Kim, Autographed Original Jersey By Hines Ward, Fine Art By Casey O’Connell, Ski Chalet One Week Vacation At The 5-Star, 5-Diamond Stein Erickson Lodge, Special, Exclusive Meal With Wine Pairing In The Kitchen Of The French Laundry, Meet And Greet With Chef De Cuisine Corey Lee, Meal For 2 At Gary Danko Restaurant, Meal For 4 At Laiola Restaurant, HBO Dvd Sets, Whistle & Flute Cascade Collar Coat, Jennifer Loomis Photography, Peekadoodle Kidsclub 1 Year Family Membership, Etc.

Kyopo Consultants:
Joy Yi Boatwright, Linda Kang Chong, Joseph Chong, Yul Kwon, Kevin Kim, Clara Chung, Eunyoung Byunn, Bibiane Choi, June Choi

Host Committee:
Claire Chang, Sunwoo Hwang, Bill & Mary Kim, Michael & Letitia Kim, Sarah Kim-Lee, Sophia Kim, Andrew D. Ko, Consul General Koo, Daniel S. Lee, Teresa Lim, Phillip F. Shinn, Jiin Son, Juliana Youn

RSVP to kyopoproject@gmail.com


**If you cannot attend the event but wish to contribute a donation online, instructions can be found on the KYOPO website at www.kyopoproject.com

Korean American Association Race in NYC... Embarrassing for This Korean American

HatTip to Adrian. Seriously embarrassing article in the NYTimes, "A Heated Campaign for a Ceremonial Post"

"More than 1,000 Korean associations in the New York region, more than half of them Korean churches..."

This fact might be even more embarrassing, especially since as a Korean American I know many of those churches exist due to splits and conflicts. Also approximately 90% of church lawsuits are in the U.S. are due to Korean American churches. Hopefully the 2nd and 3rd generation of Korean Americans are not following the first waves' mentality and patterns.

"So you think they can break-dance?"... Koreans Leading Break-Dancing

Fun article on break-dancing in Korea. When I was in junior high (early 80s), there were a fair amount of Korean Americans crazy about break-dancing so it's funny to see this dance form making a come back over the years. It seems dancing is an Asian thing too. During high school, I remember the best dancers in various contests in Chicago were either African Americans or Filipino Americans, and in MTV's America's Best Dance Crew there is a disproportionate number of Asian Americans relative to their population numbers.

So you think they can break-dance?
Forget the Bronx and South Central. If you want to find the best hip-hop dancers in the world look farther east, to South Korea.

By Jeff Chang

This summer, the United States is reaching new heights of dance fever as TV shows like Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" and MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Top Dance Crew" have returned to the airwaves. MTV's runaway hit is considered especially cutting edge, showcasing hip-hop dance groups from across America. But if MTV really wants the best dance crew, it should be looking in South Korea.

"Of the top six or seven crews in the world, I'd say half of them are from Korea," says Christopher "Cros One" Wright, 33, an American dance promoter and b-boy who was recently in Suwon, South Korea, to judge the second annual global invitational hip-hop dance competition, called R16, that was held at the end of May. (full article)

THOUGHTS AFTER THE HORROR AT VIRGINIA TECH

Adrian, a fellow board member of The Mirae Foundation, has an op-ed in The Washington Post today. Spot on. I agree with his take and a bit embarrassed by the South Korean President, South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. and first-generation immigrants apologizing for Cho's actions. It's awkward and seems misguided to me as an American.

On the other side, I understand from their perspective since they are a people with strong nationalistic thinking and the initial emphasis by the U.S. media that Cho was South Korean. Anyway, here is Adrian's piece:

Koreans Aren't to Blame

By Adrian Hong
Friday, April 20, 2007

Monday's events at Virginia Tech were tragic. As our nation mourns, countries around the world continue to send condolences and words of encouragement to the American people.

Included in the aftermath of these shootings has been the response of Koreans in the United States. Many first-generation immigrants, part of a diverse and vibrant community, have taken it upon themselves to apologize for the actions of gunman Cho Seung Hui, citing a sense of collective guilt and shame simply by virtue of a shared ethnicity. (full article)

Also Dinesh D'Souza, one of my favorite policy wonks, has a good blog post, "Where Is Atheism When Bad Things Happen?"

Chuck Colson wrote a good article called, "Something Horribly Wrong"