You Decide if You Belong | Vida Marie Adams | Legacy Project Los Angeles

Vida Marie Misook Adams was born in 1977 in Los Angeles, California, to a Korean mother and a Black father. An only child, she grew up in Koreatown before moving to Canoga Park in the Valley. As a Korean American of mixed heritage, she recalls how she often felt as though her maternal relatives were not as accepting of her, an unspoken racism which was realized in her exclusion from birthday parties and family photos. Yet at the same time, Vida has maintained a strong and profoundly intimate connection with Koreatown, the neighborhood she calls home and where she attributes the happiest days of her life to. Out of every place she’s ever been, she shares how it was in Koreatown that she felt like she “had the right to belong,” taking pride in the community’s history, and expressing an acute sadness at the fact that it has changed so much since her childhood.
Special thanks to the Koreatown Storytelling Program (www.koreatownstorytellingprogram.org) and the Koreatown Youth and Community Center (@kyccla ) of LA for hosting this Legacy Project recording #koreatownstorytellingprogram #kyccla
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CREDITS
Interviewer: Dilan Askew, Nathalie De Mata and Isleen Lee
Editor: Cedric Stout @cedricstout.official
Videographer: Kimberly Young Sun @kimberlyyoungsun and Minye Cho @chominye
Audio: Celine Son @clnsn
Production Manager: Kimberly Young Sun
Motion Designer: Aj Valente ajyval.myportf...
Music Composer: Jang Hyeong Yoon
Executive Producer: HJ Lee
KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience.

[@misosoup8030]

Thank you for your story. I was captivated from the beginning. I’m sorry that you had to go through such discrimination with your mother’s side of the family. I’m glad that you’re having a better understanding and sense of where you belong. You’re a beautiful person, inside and out, no matter what. What do you think of all this Hallyu wave going around the globe?