Emergency Teach-In: Buddhists Wage Peace in Korea
Emergency Teach-In:
Buddhists Wage Peace in Korea, Say NO to Nuclear War
You might have heard the news about Trump's "fire and fury" dick-swinging toward North Korea, and threats of escalation that could go nuclear.Did you know that the controversial, hyper-militarized, and locally reviled THAAD missile defense system is also slated to be built on a site that is sacred to Won Buddhists?Wanna know how you can support fierce and inspiring Korean movements — not only to resist militarization, but to unify the peninsula, heal trauma that separates families and loved ones, and ultimately end all wars?[divide]
Learn from Korean diasporic solidarity groups about the front-lines struggle for peace in Korea!
Sign up for BPF's emergency teach-in on Korea recorded Thursday, August 17. This class was generously offered by rad friends from Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans (HOBAK) — an intergenerational, U.S.-based social justice group focusing on Korean diaspora and solidarity.
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Have a square of blue paper?
Join us in origami to fold blue butterflies — a symbol of the growing peace movement in Korea.
Dispel Ignorance & Delusion:
Read up to learn more about the situation.
The Nation
Buddhist Door Global
New York Times
The Intercept
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HOBAK Educators:
Marie Choi is a member of Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans, a political community of Koreans in the Bay Area. She is also a mama, researcher, and radio producer. She likes cooking, swimming, and children’s audio books.Michael Hong is a long-time Buddhist, supporter of Buddhist Peace Fellowship and East Bay Meditation Center, and, generally, a nice person that really loves Oakland. As a Korean immigrant in America, he is very confused and conflicted about all things Korean, but slowly trying to make sense of it all by building radical Korean community, studying Korean history, and working to shape the future.
Origami Instructor:
Jun Hamamoto teaches origami in San Quentin California State Prison as a volunteer with the San Quentin Buddhist Sangha, Mindful Peacebuilding, and other organizations. She has been teaching inside San Quentin for 17 years, is active in the Buddhist Church of Oakland, and is a two-time beloved facilitator in BPF's Block Build Be leadership retreats.[divide]
About HOBAK:
HOBAK (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans) brings together Koreans in the Bay who are working toward liberation, tongil, and self determination.
Our group is mixed race, mixed class, adoptees, queer, trans, and multigenerational.
We identify the roots of oppression to be systems of domination: imperialism, colonialism, racism, neoliberalism, and patriarchy.
We want self determination for all formerly colonized people. We believe in peoples' ability to make decisions together about the things that impact our lives.
Our vision of tongil requires healing and reconciliation not only between Koreans in the North and South, but also in our families, within Korean communities, and between Korean Americans and other communities of color.
Our structure is horizontal and we encourage a model of collective decision-making.
Our work includes stopping THAAD and US missile programs, supporting the resistance in GangJeong to remove the naval base, Black Lives Matter, amnesty for immigrants, an end to policing and prisons, and carrying on political traditions through KEEP, political study, and drumming.