2019 My Name is Kim Bok-Dong Film Screening
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My Name Is Kim Bok-Dong gave Chicagoans an intimate insight into the life and struggles of the late Kim Bok-Dong, a Korean human rights activist and survivor-leader of the movement. Throughout the film, Kim Bok-Dong’s courage, determination for change, and love for other survivors brought the audience to tears and sparked inspiration in the hearts of the more than one hundred audience members gathered. Afterwards, audience members engaged in a Q&A session with Grandmother Yoon Mee-Hyang of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. When asked whether there is any hope for the resolution of this issue, Grandmother Yoon explained that before Kim Bok-Dong passed away, she told them that she had already won, because she has the solidarity of countless survivors and supporters across the globe. We at KAN-WIN are also in solidarity with Kim Bok-Dong and other survivors of sexual violence. We will follow in the footsteps of Grandmother Kim Bok-Dong, a revolutionary peace activist, freedom fighter, and our fierce leader.
Thank you to the audience who filled all 150 seats in the auditorium, and Dr. Elizabeth Son for leading the event, and Ms. Yoon Mee-Hyang from Korean Council for the Q&A.
Special thanks to the co-organizers and co-hosts: 정의기억연대 Justice for the “Comfort Women,” The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean Council), UIC Asian American Resource and Cultural Center, UIC Women's Leadership and Resource Center, HANA Center, Center for Asian/Asian American Ministry Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community-CBCAC, The Network - Advocating Against Domestic Violence, Korean American Women's Association of Chicago, Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, Inc., Kappa Pi Beta, APhiG UIC, Resilience, Korean Nurses Association of Chicago, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago. Kim Bok-Dong (1926–2019) was among the first to break the silence and talk about what happened to her and tens of thousands of young girls in Asia during World War II. Born under Japanese colonial rule in Korea, she was taken by the Japanese government as a military sex slave at the age of 14. After decades of silence due to the shame and stigma of sexual victimization, Kim began her work of public testimony and activism in the early 1990s, traveling around the world to tell the truth about war and sexual violence, so that future generations will remember and hence such atrocities will not be repeated.
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2017 The apology Film Screening
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The Apology is an award-winning documentary film by Tiffany Hsiung about three “comfort women” survivors—Grandma Gil in South Korea, Grandma Cao in China, and Grandma Adela in the Philippines. Over 120 attendees joined KAN-WIN’s screening of the film at Northwestern University on August 19, 2017. A Q&A session with Director Hsiung was held during which she spoke candidly about her time spent with the grandmas as well as her own experience as a survivor of sexual violence. |
