Mission Statement and History
The Korean Resource Center was founded in 1983 to empower immigrants and people of color communities, particularly Korean Americans through education, advocacy and grassroots organizing. It has also been a space for dialogue on questions of identity, representation and appropriate political systems & structures as much as it was for actual activist training, education and community base building. Events such as the Los Angeles Civil Unrest of 1992 and the anti-immigrant wave starting with Proposition 187 during the mid 1990s steered the organization's course to focus on educating and organizing Korean Americans on major civil rights and immigrant rights issues.
KRC's mission is as follows:
- Educate the public on issues affecting Korean Americans
- Advocate for the civil rights and immigrant rights of Korean Americans
- Facilitate grassroots organizing and electoral/civic participation of Korean Americans
- Initiate dialogue and build coalitions with other communities of color
- Preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Korean Americans as part of multicultural America
- Provide needed social and community services to traditionally marginalized groups
KRC is also one of the founding affiliates of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC). NAKASEC was founded to advance a national progressive Korean American agenda.
