Black History Month celebrations will take place in Seoul next week, with further recognition coming in May.
The American Center Korea will be hosting their Mission Speaker Program on Feb. 25 in honor of Black History Month, pinned each year to February, to encourage understanding and awareness of an important component of American history.
Robert Ogburn, head of public affairs for the American Embassy, has said their program will reach out to those in the Korean community hoping to find out more about the United States.
The two-hour program will welcome Georgia Scott, a writer, consultant and teacher, as the guest speaker. Scott will speak on the topic “15 Years at the New York Times: Where Skill, Talent and Ambition (Mostly) Outweighs Race and Gender.”
“I wanted to do something that gave Koreans who attended an opportunity to understand a little bit about American culture, and to understand a little bit about corporate culture, so (that was) my motivation in building the program”
Ogburn, who was adopted from Korea at 10 months old and grew up in the U.S., hopes that the ACK’s event and social media efforts will encourage learning about a fundamental part of American culture.
“(We want) to say this is what America is about, and what kind of makes it exciting and hopeful about being in the U.S., that it’s the kind of place where you don’t have everybody who looks alike, or thinks alike, has the same beliefs, the same family background and is successful, but you have a country from all different backgrounds and all different experiences.”
A separate celebration of black culture will be held May 7, with the third Black History Month Festival.
The festival was originally held in February in Daegu in 2014 and 2015, but was moved this year to try to fit participants’ schedules and attract a wider audience.
“Last year (in Daegu) was nice because we did get a really diverse expat community, we got teachers, students, soldiers, but we didn’t get a lot of Koreans,” said Arria Washington, who cochairs the event with Zerin Tasnim.
Washington explained that February did not fit well with the Korean academic calendar, making it difficult for some teachers to take part. She added that the warmer weather in May would hopefully attract a bigger crowd.
“All of us moved to Seoul, so it was hard to keep it in Daegu. The good thing about Seoul is that there is a lot more university access, I think there will be a population that is more open to just being there, and coming to the festival.”
The festival, made up of workshop-style discussions and performances, will be themed “more than my skin,” which Washington hopes will encourage open discussions on diversity.
“I really like this year’s theme because it makes it not just about African-Americans or non-Korean people of color, but it’s more a focus on how everyone is their skin, and we really think Koreans can relate to this as well.”
“I really hope that it will help people to see the importance of diversity. Korea has such a strong culture, which is great, but one lacking aspect is that they can’t see through a lot of other people’s eyes,” she said.
For more information about ACK’s MSP Program and other events, visit http://seoul.usembassy.gov/americancenter.html. More information about the Black History Month Festival in May will be released in the upcoming months.
By Zoe Samios (
zoesamios@heraldcorp.com)
