APA Spotlight is a weekly interview of Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) community leaders. It is a spotlight on individuals who have dedicated their careers to issues surrounding the APIA community with the goal of bringing much deserved recognition to their work and cause(s).
EunSook Lee knows firsthand the many difficulties facing immigrants in the United States. As a young girl, EunSook emigrated from South Korea to Toronto; she later moved to the United States where, for a time, she experienced the same fears as other immigrants in the face of routine activities such as driving, renting a video, or opening a bank account. Her personal experiences have led her to become a leader in the immigrant rights movement, particularly among fellow Asian Americans. Though the movement for immigrant rights is typically associated with Latinos, EunSook’s dedication to Korean Americans, a “minority within a minority,” ensures their valuable perspective will be heard: “As Korean Americans, we speak, understand, and work directly with our communities at a local level; we are, therefore, the most effective organizers.”
From 2003 to 2010, EunSook was the executive director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), which aims to promote the full participation of Korean Americans in American society, including the immigrant rights debate. Since its founding in 1994, NAKASEC has worked to ensure that Korean Americans and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of all generations are represented at immigrant rights campaigns. EunSook has been a social justice organizer for more than 20 years and since 1993, she has worked with Korean American communities in Los Angeles through NAKASEC and in Chicago through Korean American Women in Need, a service and prevention organization for victims of domestic violence.
The 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. 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 on major civil rights and immigrant rights issues and promoting the full participation of Korean Americans with the greater goal of building a national movement for social change.
What is the mission statement of your life?
I want to live a life that I believe in. I want to be able to enjoy it and know that I didn’t have to compromise to live a life I want to live.
How did you end up doing what you’re doing?
Because of my strong interest in Korea issues, I became a member of Young Koreans United (YKU), a membership based political organization that provided oversees solidarity support to the Korean people’s struggles for democracy, human rights and reunification.
All of the issues YKU worked on moved me personally and politically. After 1992, YKU members believed that there was a need to have a strong national Korean American organization working on civil rights and human rights issues domestically. I was one of few members who spoke English fluently and was asked to take on that job.
By working at NAKASEC, I began to understand more intimately the challenges that some Korean Americans faced and the need to counter the existing narrative and narrow image of Korean Americans and help promote the progressive agenda for Korean Americans.
If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
Sandra Oh.
How can people find out more about your organization or get involved?
There are so many volunteer activities available through our centers and through NAKASEC. People should visit our websites and inquire.
NAKASEC – www.nakasec.org
Korean Resource Center – www.krcla.org
Korean American Resource & Cultural Center – www.chicagokrcc.org
If you had a crystal ball, what do you see for the future of the Asian Pacific Islander American community?
I hope that there will be a realized and unified political power. We really need to assert a strong progressive agenda and there is so much potential in our communities to project that.
Bonus Question: What advice do you have for young professionals? Would you give different advice for young Asian Pacific Islander American professionals?
They should try considering volunteering at their local organizations or a senior center – a place that serves low-income, immigrant and refugee communities where they are able to interact with community members. They should also talk to their family about their immigration history.
Bonus Question: What are your comfort foods and what memories do you have associated with them?
Sik hae (Korean sweet rice punch), hobakjuk (Butternut squash porridge), boong uh bbang (“carp” bread) — these are all comfort foods for me. They all remind me of Korea, of the past when I was a child.
Bonus Question: What’s your guilty pleasure?
Watching TV shows online! My family just finished watching Parks & Recreations and now we’ll be going into 30 Rock. I’ll also watch Korean dramas from time to time.
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