Korean Peace Day

Last night, I went to the Korean Peace Day event. It was held at the Silver Center from 6:30 to 8:30. I went by myself but ended up seeing a lot of people from our classes at the event. First, there was food. It was delicious! I had never had Korean sushi before and Esther explained to me that the vegetables inside were pickled in soy sauce. After snacking, the event was comprised of three parts. The event was organized by Nodutodol for Korean Community Development, which is an organization based in Queens. For the first part of the program, a professor from NYU spoke about the history of the US-Korean War and some events that have taken place this year. He explained why this war poses such a threat and why it is important that these two countries make peace. Secondly, a member from Veterans for Peace spoke about his organization's involvement in The National Campaign to End the Korean War. Thirdly, there was a panel discussion. The panel was comprised of Korean American individuals who traveled to North Korea with a people-to-people connection program meant to educate people about North Korea and why it is important to support a peace treaty with Korea.

I was really glad that I had the opportunity to attend this event. Something that I've begun to recognize through participating in this course, and reflecting on my own education, is that history is often taught as if it is over. Certain events and laws that have occurred in the past are included in instruction, but there seems to be great neglect in teaching about issues that are ongoing in the present. Before attending this event, I knew very little about the Korean War. I wasn't even sure why it was started or that it is still technically labeled a war because only a temporary armistice was signed; no formal peace treaty has ever been signed. After going to this event, I've learned that it is actually the longest war that our country has ever participated in - 60 years next spring. As an educator, I want to make sure that I don't neglect to teach about history that is being made right now. I want to teach about current events so that my students understand their contribution to current history.

Also, I just want to mention one thing that I noticed on the hat that the speaker from Veterans for Peace was wearing. He wore a baseball hat with all sorts of anti-war slogans. One of the pins was actually a plastic name tag holder where he had inserted a piece of paper that read "5297 US Military Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan." The numbers were each individually cut and it was clear that he monitored the number of US Military Deaths and changed the number accordingly. I've been against the Iraq war since it began, but it is honestly quite easy for me to forget that it is even going on. Aside from reading about it in newspapers, I don't spend much time thinking about it. I've been lucky that it hasn't affected me on a personal level, and while I have gone to anti-war demonstrations in the past, I haven't been to any recently. Seeing this veteran's home-made pin gave me a moment to self-reflect. I think his dedication to remain constantly aware is very poignant.