NAKASEC
TThe National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) was founded in 1994 during a political turning point for Korean Americans. The LA Civil Unrest of April 29, 1992 and the subsequent anti-immigrant wave in Congress, precipitated by Prop 187, posed tremendous challenges to Korean Americans as people of color, working families and immigrants. It forced Korean Americans to rethink notions of “home,” “social responsibility,” and “political power.” The state of America at that time led a group of local grassroots community based organizations to come together to form NAKASEC --- with the purpose of projecting a national progressive voice and promoting the full participation of Korean Americans. This work that NAKASEC does is part of our greater community goal of building a national movement for social change.
NAKASEC is based in Los Angeles and a D.C. office opened in September 2008. NAKASEC also has affiliates in Los Angeles (The Korean Resource Center) and in Chicago (The Korean American Resource & Cultural Center).
Korean American Youth and the DREAM Act
KRCC’s mission is to empower the Korean American community through education, social service, organizing/advocacy and culture. They began in 1994, when a group of low-income, immigrant Korean American youth began to meet regularly to discuss issues facing their growing community. Recognizing the need for a space where community members could develop needed programs, KRCC opened its doors on March 1995. Today, KRCC serves the Korean American community of greater Chicago which is now estimated at 100,000.
KRCC’s youth program, called Fighting Youth Shouting Out for Humanity (FYSH) is made up of 18 Korean American and Asian American Pacific Islander high school students. Their mission is to empower youth to work on issues important to their community, peers and other communities of color. Every year, members choose an issue, then plan and organize around it to educate the community and gain support for the cause.
Korean Resource Center
KRC was founded in 1983 and has been a space of dialogue on questions of identity, representation and appropriate political systems & structures as well as a center for activist training, education and community base building. KRC empowers the Korean American, low-income immigrant and people of color communities through social services, education, culture, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. KRC is guided by the principles Live Rightly, Know our Roots, Empower Ourselves, and Live in Harmony
KRC’s College Dream Network is made up of 20 student leaders from eight college campuses in Southern California. They provide a support network for AB540 and undocumented Korean American students and educate the community for the passage of comprehensive immigration reform and DREAM Act.
