2021 bookclub "lola's house: Filipino women living with war" by M. evelina galang
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In March and April of 2021, we held two discussion sessions on the book Lolas’ House: Filipino Women Living With War by M. Evelina Galang. The discussions garnered a lot of attention and were well-attended by community members old and new, and of all ages and backgrounds. The format of a book club provides a brave space for readers to dive deeply into the experiences of “comfort women” survivors, transforming our time together into a space where they could receive emotional support from each other, open up about their own experiences and memories, and receive collective healing. Throughout the planning and execution, it was important that we approached the discussions with trauma-informed intentions and measures to not objectify the lolas’ (Tagalog for grandmother) testimonies--to that end, we implemented community guidelines, a set of expansive guiding questions, no required reading minimums, a confidential counseling room for disclosures, and a breathing meditation to close. Furthermore, in the April session, we explicitly made room for readers to draw connections between the violence against the “comfort women” with the massage parlor shootings in Georgia in March 2021. |
2015 "Calling for Peace"
KAN-WIN collaborated with the Korean American Association of Chicago and the Korean Cultural Center of Chicago to invite for the second time to Chicago Grandmother Kim Bok-Dong and the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. The event on July 5, 2015 included a first-person account of Grandmother Kim’s experience of the “comfort women” system during World War II and a Q&A session with Yoon Mee-Hyang, the then-representative of the Korean Council.
2013 "Calling for Peace: Confronting The Legacy of 'comfort women'"
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KAN-WIN collaborated with Northeastern Illinois University on July 25, 2013 to organize a community forum titled Calling for Peace: Confronting the Legacy of “Comfort Women.” KAN-WIN invited Grandmother Kim Bok-Dong and the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan to this event to educate Chicagoans about the “comfort women” history. Grandmother Kim spoke about her experience of Japanese military sexual slavery and her activism to seek justice and to educate the next generation. The then-representative of the Korean Council, Yoon Mee-Hyang, provided historical background on the “comfort women” system. KAN-WIN community members were actively involved in organizing this event, including putting on a pung-mul performance to begin the program. |
