00:00:05.190 - 00:00:17.130

All right. Today is May 27th , 2022. My name is Sonia He, and today I am interviewing Ms. Hyun Ja Norman for the Houston Asian American Archive. Thank you so much for your time today, Mrs.

00:00:17.960 - 00:00:33.530

Norman. First, could you tell me a little bit about your early life? When and where were you born? Oh, okay. I was born in South Korea. When? 1968.

00:00:34.960 - 00:00:47.920

1968. All right. And could you kind of describe the household you grow up in? Parents, or grandparents? Okay. What did the—long time ago

00:00:50.530 - 00:01:09.240

. My parents–my parents has nine children. Yeah, I am number seven, but my—also, my–my grandparents had eight children.

00:01:10.480 - 00:01:29.600

At the very beginning, they lived in the same town. But when they grow up, they moved out to cities, right? But basically, we lived in the same town.

00:01:31.300 - 00:01:50.260

And my grandmother—I remember my grandmother. She also lived very close to my–my home. So we frequently just see—we stopped by my grandmother's house, and so—anytime

00:01:53.120 - 00:02:08.660

. Yeah. Yes. My grandmother has a big front yard. So, I remember she grew tomatoes and vegetables.

00:02:10.730 - 00:02:32.850

Yeah. So, a lot of things to do over there. And if you don't mind me asking, what was the name of that town? Oh. My town is so small. Gudam. Okay, nice.

00:02:34.040 - 00:02:48.730

And did you have a lot of neighbors growing up? What was the neighborhood of your town like? You have a lot of friends that you hang out—hung out with when you're a child? Okay, Gudam is like a center of a

00:02:49.460 - 00:03:10.890

commercial hub around the surrounding area, okay? So, in—my father was butcher. We had meat shop, right? So we sold meat, and then

00:03:11.530 - 00:03:27.590

my friend is—also my friend has a house. And their parents are also shop owners, small business owners in Gudam. And then, yes, I have many friends.

00:03:27.690 - 00:03:48.030

We went to same elementary school, same middle school, and then when we grow old, we have to go to high school. Our town does not have big schools, like high schools.

00:03:48.870 - 00:04:03.600

But only we had elementary school. So, from elementary school, when we go to middle school, we have to go 30 minutes away. There is a bigger town, right?

00:04:04.060 - 00:04:22.300

In surrounding area. So every small towns’ kid, they come to bigger town’s school. That–that is—our middle school located over there, from—30 minute from our

00:04:23.030 - 00:04:40.850

hometown. So, yeah. And then high school I have to go one hour away from home. So, back then we did not have much public transportation, okay?

00:04:40.850 - 00:04:58.740

Not very frequently can use this public transportation, so we have to stay high school away from home. So, we have to manage our life by

00:04:58.850 - 00:05:16.640

ourselves, so we have a small room, or small kitchen, and then we basically, like, had a smaller apartment, so—it’s not apartment, but small room and then restroom and kitchen. So, away from home.

00:05:16.770 - 00:05:35.070

So only weekend we can come back, and then college, we have to go to bigger city . It's time. We have to be away from home and then become a more independent.

00:05:37.730 - 00:05:56.790

Okay, so you became pretty independent when you were younger, then. That's correct. Sonia, can I talk to my friend? In–in Gudam, we–we know everybody right?

00:05:56.900 - 00:06:11.340

It is small town. small village. So, almost six years, we–we saw each other every day, at school and after school.

00:06:13.950 - 00:06:32.990

So even–even–even weekend. Weekend. Just, we hang out–hang out together, visiting our friends’ home. So we play together and, you know, when youngsters

00:06:34.520 - 00:06:50.910

sit down together and then playing games, like, you know, one-two-three-four—something like that, you know? So, that was very rich memory .

00:06:54.280 - 00:07:05.860

I'm glad, yes. Yeah. Lifelong friend . Are you still in contact with the friends of—from your childhood? Do you still call them or see them occasionally?

00:07:10.710 - 00:07:31.100

Oh, no. Okay, when I go back to Korea, I call them. And then we try to meet, but here, I was so busy having family

00:07:31.170 - 00:07:49.160

and raising kid and studying. Until now, I was quite busy, so I didn't do much to reach out my old friend. But when-whenever I go back to Korea,

00:07:50.440 - 00:08:04.210

so I always reach out to them. That’s very nice. You mentioned that your father was a butcher. What was your mother's occupation? What did she during— Oh .

00:08:04.420 - 00:08:19.420

My mother is superwoman, because–because she has husband is butcher. She has to help everything what he does, right?

00:08:20.610 - 00:08:39.480

So, my mom is a housewife, and then, I can say, she was co-owner of butcher shop, and then, we also run the restaurant. So, my mom ran restaurant.

00:08:44.400 - 00:08:56.670

Also, she was a farmer. She– she had to do everything. Yes, yes. Definitely a superwoman, yes. On top of raising kid.

00:08:59.130 - 00:09:20.960

Nine kid . Very nice. And what were some of the values your parents emphasized? My father has a very—he has empathy for people who do not have

00:09:22.840 - 00:09:45.260

food, place to go—not–not having place to go. So, what I learned from my father is a that kind of thing. Helping others. My mother? Patience.

00:09:50.520 - 00:10:07.460

Patience, and then never complain anything. Okay. All right, and then, I guess, transitioning into, kind of, college and your career,

00:10:11.680 - 00:10:28.380

where did you go to college, and what did you study in college? Hey, yes. I went to Seoul. Seoul is, you know, capital of South Korea. It’s long—away from home.

00:10:29.960 - 00:10:45.720

So, I went to university—Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. I studied Spanish over there. Okay. Before we continue, I wanted to ask you, do you want to take a couple

00:10:45.990 - 00:11:06.010

minutes, or take a few seconds? Oh, yeah. Okay. I know some of these questions can be a little emotional, so. Yeah, I mean only—when we’ve been busy every day, we do not sit down and think about these kind of

00:11:06.010 - 00:11:23.500

things. When you suddenly you have a think, and then–then we become—I just—I think, just, what is it? Sometimes, we think our parent didn't give much

00:11:25.010 - 00:11:42.880

to us, but–but that is not very true. It's already very nice to reflecting. What—how was my life back

00:11:43.710 - 00:12:01.760

then, where I come from. Yeah. Yeah. Really something that—as someone who is a child of immigrants, that I can relate to. I feel like, because leaving home, leaving parents,

00:12:02.030 - 00:12:14.420

moving far away, yeah. Yeah. Yup. And you said you studied Spanish? What made you want to study Spanish?

00:12:14.460 - 00:12:32.620

Why Spanish? Why not other languages or other subjects? Oh, okay. Back then, in 1980s, in Korea, we—learning Spanish got quite popular,

00:12:38.570 - 00:12:59.320

or because—many people–many people and many companies are going to South America. To go South America, you needed to speak Spanish, right? So, it—I can say demand was high.

00:13:00.860 - 00:13:19.370

If you study and speak good Spanish, you can find a job in anywhere, you know, in big com–big company. And then, even you can go to South America. That, I think, that–that drove me to

00:13:19.370 - 00:13:30.200

study Spanish, I think. Okay. And did you have a particular industry you wanted to work in? Was it business? Was it engineering ? Was it finance?

00:13:30.260 - 00:13:45.880

Like, what did you want to do? What kind of company do you want to go into? I always wanted to be a diplomat. I mean, public service, you know?

00:13:46.470 - 00:14:04.840

So after graduating college, I went to South America as a Korean–Korean Peace Corps. Like, doing a Peace Corps in America. American young people go to third country to help

00:14:06.840 - 00:14:20.070

indigenous people. Poor country, right? So, that was my idea, you know? So, I went to South America, Bolivia, for two

00:14:20.360 - 00:14:37.170

years to help people. Actually, I–I taught Korean over there in the college. So, I think for me always—my

00:14:41.100 - 00:14:58.500

interest was helping people and contribute my talent in some way to helping people who–who—helping

00:15:03.950 - 00:15:18.760

people, yeah. That's a very good passion. Very good motivation, to help others. So, after Bolivia, did you go back to Korea, or did you immigrate to the US? So, what happened after you were in Bolivia?

00:15:21.200 - 00:15:43.080

Actually—okay. In Bolivia, I met my future husband. He's an American. So, I went—after my assignment, I went back to Korea for short period, and he invited me to

00:15:43.120 - 00:16:02.210

come to Chicago, for his family's Fourth of July celebration. And then yeah, I came to Chicago to celebrate Fourth of July. Yeah,

00:16:03.640 - 00:16:23.010

after that, we went—he was actually working in Trinidad and Tobago, in Caribbean. So, later on, I joined him in Trinidad and Tobago, and actually, we married

00:16:23.770 - 00:16:46.750

there, in Trinidad and Tobago. Wow. What your did y’all meet, and what year did you guys get married? I met my husband 1997. We got married in 1998, and

00:16:49.480 - 00:17:09.350

then—so, 1999, December, we came to United States through Miami. Okay. And when you started living in the US, was there, like, a big culture

00:17:09.350 - 00:17:23.380

shock? Were there any surprises as to living here? What was it like when you first moved? Okay. Culture shock. Yeah, there are many, many culture shocks.

00:17:23.700 - 00:17:45.870

Okay, first of all, I have to—okay, supermarket. When we go to supermarket, near Galleria—I lived in Galleria, in small apartment, okay? There are so many things.

00:17:46.780 - 00:18:04.920

So many cereals. Always—I like to give this example: Koreans, we only eat Fuji apple. But even apples, there are so many different type of apples.

00:18:06.290 - 00:18:22.660

That was a very surprise. And I have to—I am very—I like to walk around, okay?

00:18:23.910 - 00:18:45.560

I—normally, I go a lot of times, just go somewhere by walking. But here, it's very difficult. But I did not have a car for many years. So, I have to plan

00:18:47.890 - 00:19:04.030

with my husband. When I really need a car, maybe I have take my husband to his office early morning, and I use his car, and then just I do things,

00:19:04.670 - 00:19:18.660

and afternoon I have to pick him. That kind of things. Also, I didn't have many—I didn't have anybody, you know? At the beginning,

00:19:21.740 - 00:19:42.850

for me—okay. But somehow, my husband company—his coworkers wifes, we met in Trinidad. When they came back, we actually

00:19:43.170 - 00:20:02.950

continue to meet and socialize, so—later on, I tried to find the Korean church. Because I am–I’m Korean, and so Kor—every Korean is going to church.

00:20:03.290 - 00:20:23.000

So, I tried to find a church, but maybe six months, I did not know which church I have to go, so I have to search. So, I was almost alone—just

00:20:25.950 - 00:20:43.280

do with my husband. Building the social connections, I guess, when you move to a new country is a little hard. What city did y’all—did you move to when you first came to the US?

00:20:43.280 - 00:20:52.250

Was it Miami, or did you move to Chicago? Oh, we came to Houston. You Oh, okay. You—oh, okay. Did your–did your husband have work here?

00:20:52.250 - 00:21:08.530

Is that why you came to Houston? Yes. He was working BP. BP. Okay, and so when you came to Houston, did you

00:21:09.200 - 00:21:29.300

decide to stay at home for a little bit, or did you go look for a job? Like, what did you—did you have a first job when you came to Houston? When I came to Houston, I was–I was pregnant, very early stage.

00:21:29.820 - 00:21:49.560

So, I have to stay few months at home, and–and then I decided to go to language school. So, I'm not sure how many months I attended language school, but I attended—I learned

00:21:51.330 - 00:22:10.370

English, and then I think before I give birth, I continued to study English. After that, after babies, actually, I didn't–I didn't look for job or anything.

00:22:11.710 - 00:22:26.870

But, I raised kid, okay? So, my husband, also, he frequently just traveled. So, I stay home with my kid. But when I–when

00:22:31.100 - 00:22:46.960

I was over forty years old, I decided to go back to school . When my son just—when they did not need my help,

00:22:49.900 - 00:23:09.380

greatly, in—anymore, so I decided to go back to school. So, I studied in Houston Community College, learning English, and then taking math class, algebra . No, no, I think pre-algebra, you know?

00:23:12.370 - 00:23:33.170

After the—I finish associate degree in Houston Community College, and then one year, I rested. But I continued to study

00:23:33.360 - 00:23:52.060

paralegal program in University of Houston's Continuing Education. That was almost four months—twelve weeks training. Yeah, after that, I actually transferred to University of Houston

00:23:53.640 - 00:24:13.180

main campus. Okay, and did you continue studying to become a paralegal, or did you decide to pursue another degree from–from the University of Houston? University of Houston, I studied political science.

00:24:16.230 - 00:24:36.520

Political science. Yeah, my original goal was going to law school, but I changed my mind, so inst—because English was still

00:24:37.120 - 00:24:54.650

hard to me, obstacle. So going–going back to—going law school was quite challenging, and I decided, “Okay, no more law school, but why don’t why I use what

00:24:55.830 - 00:25:12.330

I learned?” And how did you decide to use what you learned? Did you—when you joined Woori Juntos, or did you do something before? Oh, before this one is 19—okay,

00:25:12.370 - 00:25:31.190

2015, I graduated from University of Houston. And since then, I just got involved with community–community activities. So, I joined the

00:25:33.140 - 00:25:51.280

Korean American Association’s board. I become board member, and then I have to—I helped running Korean American grassroots internship program

00:25:53.070 - 00:26:13.830

for high schoolers to learn about civic participation and civic–and civic engagement. So, we recruited 13 high schoolers. So, we did a lot of—that summer, we did a lot

00:26:14.020 - 00:26:34.180

of community service work. We—I took kid—this one was a—this program was not well-prepared, but so we have to do a lot of community

00:26:36.520 - 00:26:56.090

services. I took them—put some food bank, many, many times to serve, so they can have volunteer service hours. And then, children's museum, library, a lot of service work,

00:26:56.290 - 00:27:11.810

okay? So, they can have more service hours. After that, we went to Washington DC to attend the Korean American Grassroots Conference. So, visited

00:27:15.090 - 00:27:49.600

Houston’s—what is it—congress members, so…my internet is not quite stable at this moment. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you now.

00:27:49.850 - 00:28:05.640

You were frozen for a little bit, but I can hear you now. You were saying that you went to Washington DC to talk to the Congress members, and then I think you got cut off after that. Oh, yeah. After that I really

00:28:07.750 - 00:28:26.720

become—really got involved with the civic engagement, voting, and get out the vote efforts. Okay. So, kind of moving back—going back a little bit, what made you interested in

00:28:27.030 - 00:28:38.450

civic engagement? And was this because you wanted to help others, like you were mentioning, after college, or is it because it's something related to legal matters, like law, that you were interested in pursuing but ended up not?

00:28:39.250 - 00:28:57.680

What got you into civic engagement and grassroots events? Oh, civic engagement. I think we do not participate in civic engagement that is affiliated. Without that,

00:28:59.610 - 00:29:16.110

if we do not participate, what I learned—we do not get anything. So, that is how I—when I compare—when I see Chinese community center and Vietnamese community center,

00:29:17.460 - 00:29:35.130

they have a—they provide a lot of services, but Korean community, we do not provide any services. That kind of things is unacceptable. Also, our community, when I meet

00:29:38.530 - 00:29:57.030

our seniors, I work a lot of times with the seniors, they are really low income. They really need help, but I cannot help everybody, you know? So, we have to have some kind of organization.

00:30:00.370 - 00:30:17.080

I needed to do—I want to do this kind of things, but I cannot do by myself. So we need do this kind of things together, okay? Even Korean community. And then, we want to work with other Asians.

00:30:17.800 - 00:30:31.690

Then, we can bring changes. That’s how I–I felt, you know? So, we do not get our share. How–how—that’s my thing.

00:30:32.170 - 00:30:52.090

We didn't get anything, so I want to my share, our share. That is how I got involved in it—with this. So, to do that, we need elect our officials who actually help

00:30:52.090 - 00:31:07.540

us. How do we do that? By voting. Participate in civic engagement. That's what I learned in college. In America, actually.

00:31:14.060 - 00:31:34.290

Yeah, voting is definitely a–a big thing to consider. Especially since there's a lot of Asian Americans in general, I feel like, not just Koreans or Chinese or Vietnamese, but a lot of people who don't feel like they need to vote. So, can you talk to me

00:31:34.290 - 00:31:49.600

a little bit about the difficulties of having—advocating for people to vote? What are–what are some of the challenges, trying to— Challenges? Okay. Possible. Everybody is very busy.

00:31:53.310 - 00:32:11.050

So, we do not think—we are busy to get by every day, okay? So, we do not think this is important. That is difficulty. People not knowing importance of voting and civic engagement.

00:32:11.470 - 00:32:28.940

That is important—that is difficult. Another thing is language barrier. As you see, in Harris County, we can see—we can find four different language, right?

00:32:31.280 - 00:32:45.660

English, Spanish, and Chinese and Vietnamese. But even we want to vote, there is no Korean, right? No Korean sample ballot, okay? So, that–that is difficult.

00:32:49.760 - 00:33:10.620

That—I think that is, I think, the most challenging thing. So, to overcome that kind of things, so we have to get out to vote, and then demand, “We need Korean voting. Korean ballot.” Okay?

00:33:11.160 - 00:33:29.260

So, until we reach a certain numbers, I think we—our struggle will continue. When you say certain numbers, do you mean population-wise or voting-wise?

00:33:30.110 - 00:33:46.610

Okay. This is what I understand. Ten thousand, I think, eligible voters who do not speak good—do not speak and write

00:33:46.800 - 00:34:06.580

English. Then–then, they can—county have to provide Korean language in their ballot. Okay. And so—and some of the materials you sent over,

00:34:06.730 - 00:34:20.920

said that there was difficulties allowing translators into voting booths. Can you kind of talk about this problem? Why that–why that is a problem, seeing that there's no Korean language ballot. Okay.

00:34:21.430 - 00:34:40.050

Sonia, can you tell me once again? Yeah, so in one of the articles you sent over, you mentioned that it was difficult getting Korean translators into the booth—voting booth with the voters.

00:34:40.880 - 00:35:02.140

You’ve kind of talked about why this is a problem, why we need translators allowed, when there's no Korean language on the ballot. I think language assistance is very important, because Harris County does not provide any Korean

00:35:04.600 - 00:35:22.880

ballot, right? So, normally, who needed language assistance? Seniors. Seniors need language assistance. So, having–having just

00:35:23.540 - 00:35:42.720

language assistance is important, but also, you know, when you go someplace in the government building, just knowing you do not understand what they said what is going to happen, that gives a lot of anxiety.

00:35:45.240 - 00:36:03.130

But if you have someone who can, when you have a question, easily understand—easily can explain, and then just, like moral support, you know? So that give people confidence.

00:36:03.790 - 00:36:21.370

That is why, for me, it is so important, yeah. Sometimes–sometimes I do—they do not need lot of assistance, but they need courage. So, we provide being

00:36:22.500 - 00:36:42.110

together. Not being alone at the polling location. I think that gives a lot of confidence to our people. So, they can whenever—whoever—the experience this kind of experience, they come back to vote, because they know

00:36:43.520 - 00:37:00.250

when they go to this polling location, they have somebody, okay? To get assistant. So, for me, that is a main thing. Of course, just, we help how to use the machine and then everything,

00:37:00.940 - 00:37:23.380

but giving—providing confidence to our—voter who do not speak English. Yeah, confidence is a lot, especially when you don't really understand the language. Yeah. Okay, so could you tell me a little bit about Woori Juntos?

00:37:24.040 - 00:37:36.300

Like, what does the name mean? What is the mission of the organization? When did it start? How did you become involved? Oh, okay. I’m a founder of Woori

00:37:36.300 - 00:37:54.530

Juntos. We started Woori Juntos 2021, after we successfully complete 2020 election and ‘22 census.

00:37:57.430 - 00:38:14.720

And the—Woori Juntos is, like—“woori” is Korean. “Woori” means “we.” “Juntos” means “together” in Spanish.

00:38:15.470 - 00:38:33.130

So, Korean and Spanish. “We together.” It means, “we go together,” or “we rise up together.” Something like that. Because I saw the need of working together, the

00:38:34.280 - 00:38:54.800

Asians and Latino communities, because wh-where our office is, Spring Branch, a lot of the times, there are many, many Latino community actually come to our Korean Community Center to rent the building.

00:38:56.360 - 00:39:14.550

That is how I figured out “Oh, people needed this kind of things.” So, that is–that’s how I come up with Woori Juntos’ name. And then, Woori Juntos is

00:39:17.300 - 00:39:34.280

community-based organization, founded by the community member, like me and my friend. So, how can we help our community? Not only Korean community—Asian community, immigrant

00:39:35.520 - 00:39:50.570

community, and all Texans—to achieve racial and economic and immigrant justice. Something like that . Okay, nice.

00:39:51.530 - 00:40:06.170

And you said your office is based in Spring Branch? Okay. All right. And then, what is your role as founder, or do you have another title, like president or board member?

00:40:06.170 - 00:40:21.570

What do you for Woori Juntos? Woori Juntos is—I’m an executive director, but I am also a board member of Korean American Association and Community Center of Houston.

00:40:22.930 - 00:40:43.060

So, I serve many Korean community, a lot of things, okay? My role is—I’m a visionary. I think big things: how to connect dots, what can we do for—connect

00:40:43.200 - 00:41:01.270

Korean community and then mainstream, and how to connect our community elected officials, how to connect to USCIS citizenship surveys, and then that kind things, you know? My goal is—what I do is this: we need help.

00:41:02.000 - 00:41:17.820

Our seniors need this, but we do not speak good English, but you do not provide any Korean services. What can we do? Can we provide any translation or anything? So, how can you help us?

00:41:18.090 - 00:41:35.110

That is my–my thing. So, also, working with many, many different organizations in Asian community like Chinese Community Center, BPSOS, , Houston In Action.

00:41:35.500 - 00:41:56.080

And a lot of different immigrant organization in Texas, and also Houston–Houston: TOP—Texas Organizing Project, Workers Defense Project, FIEL, and Unidad 11. And actually, we also working a lot of times in

00:41:56.240 - 00:42:11.360

Houston endowment project. So, I go a lot of meetings to find out our common ground, where we can work together.

00:42:12.160 - 00:42:30.790

But I always represent Korean community, but from now on, we are representing beyond the Korean community, okay? So whenever need is there, we want to step up. That's a very good

00:42:30.790 - 00:42:47.980

goal. Does Woori Juntos work specifically for voter turnout, or does it work in all areas of community service and engagement? We are doing year-around voter engagement.

00:42:50.060 - 00:43:06.480

First of all, Korean community are not provide any services. That's what I told, right? But Woori Juntos is now providing services. So, we—our focus group is first-generation, Korean-speaking,

00:43:07.850 - 00:43:24.610

Korean immigrant, right? So, for them a lot of things—obstacles, like they bring letters, okay? Letters. And then, we read

00:43:27.440 - 00:43:47.320

into Korean—English into Korean. We translate a lot of things for them, and then we make hospital appointment for them, and then whenever they need translation, when they are at the hospital—so, we—they

00:43:48.010 - 00:44:02.630

call us, and then we translate. We provide translation. We provide the Medicaid, ‘specially Korean seniors are very—they have a limited income.

00:44:06.940 - 00:44:28.780

So. we do provide Medicaid application process. And then, what do we do is—in the future, what we like to do is this: so, when-whenever people come to our office, we ask—we help this,

00:44:29.650 - 00:44:45.950

but it–it doesn't end there. Then, we provide a service to do—create a walk. Like, portal, tunnel

00:44:50.600 - 00:45:05.320

. So, we ask people, “Are you US citizen? Have you vote? If you don't, this is a very important, and so why don't you register vote?” Okay? So, we help people register vote.

00:45:05.860 - 00:45:26.740

And then, election comes. “Hey, let's get out the vote.” But, for me, most important is citizenship. Because, many, many people who has permanent residence—I

00:45:31.400 - 00:45:49.540

le—I had a class on immigration. Immigration class with a Catholic charity to become a DOJ, Department of Justice-accredit representative,

00:45:52.640 - 00:46:06.850

okay? Permanent residency mean nothing. When you commit a certain crimes, your permanent residency cannot protect you. You can be deportable.

00:46:09.540 - 00:46:22.430

So, that kind of things is a eye-opening moment. I need to tell people, “You need to become a US citizens. as soon as possible, when you are ready, okay? So, do not wait anymore.

00:46:22.430 - 00:46:40.310

Do not wait.” So, what we wanna do is helping people become a citizen by providing, helping, filling N-400. We cannot do that yet, but that's my goal.

00:46:41.430 - 00:46:57.590

So, we provide citizenship class, and then when they need translators, when they go to citizenship interview, we go with them and help them to become a US citizen.

00:46:58.390 - 00:47:17.780

So, we are building the pipeline—permanent resident, and become a citizen, and an active citizen who vote in American political system. That is what I like to

00:47:17.780 - 00:47:34.620

do. That is what Woori Juntos is doing, okay ? Yeah, I didn't realize that there was a, like, a falling gap where people who were becoming permanent residents aren't–aren't pursuing citizenship. That wasn't something I knew.

00:47:34.690 - 00:47:47.300

That's very interesting. There are many, many, many people, especially older generations. I think a lot people, okay? I cannot remember numbers.

00:47:47.370 - 00:47:59.610

That’s a lot of numbers. So, at this moment, what we are doing is bringing interest in becoming US citizen. So, we provide

00:48:03.010 - 00:48:23.630

citizenship information session so people can come and learn about from USCIS Community Outreach Coordinator. Her name is Rosa Ramirez, okay? Then, she comes through Korean Community Center, ‘specially Woori

00:48:23.630 - 00:48:40.210

Juntos office, provide information session, how to become a US citizen and what kind of requirements you need. So, next time, we are going—maybe we are going to visit USCIS Houston office.

00:48:40.800 - 00:48:59.060

So, that case people get familiar the environment, right? So, I think everything is good exposure to people to these kinds of things. So, if you are familiar with this kind of things, so you will not have

00:48:59.150 - 00:49:18.830

fear, or—then, everything become more comfortable and easy. So, my point is this: I like to use the syst—existing system to make more comfortable or confident.

00:49:20.080 - 00:49:35.780

So, we can use these kind of things without even—we do not speak good English, so if you have some assistant that help, you can have these kind of things without problem. Making life easy.

00:49:35.890 - 00:49:50.550

That is my goal. Is there a difference between the services you provide to the Latino community and services you provide to the Korean community? Are there any overlaps, or are there any differences?

00:49:54.550 - 00:50:12.880

Okay, we–we start last year July. So, we did not have any capacity yet, okay? But what we like to do is, like, immigration service.

00:50:14.760 - 00:50:34.600

I think–I think many people need, and then this is our–our dream—Woori Juntos organization’s dream: we want to have the removal defense attorney in staff.

00:50:34.710 - 00:50:54.370

So, when-whenever people who has a court of appearance order for deportation, we go there, fight for them. Fight for them. That’s a very good goal, and it's definitely something that has been in the news

00:50:54.370 - 00:51:14.450

frequently for different communities, especially the Latino community. How— Go ahead, go ahead. That is how we work with the Latino community. But we are already doing a lot of work with the Latino community, but we do

00:51:14.450 - 00:51:26.950

not provide service. That is true. But we collaborate a lot of things with Houston Lead. We do undocumented immigrant community, whenever

00:51:28.410 - 00:52:03.570

there is rally, we go–we go there and . We—what we—Houston Lead has a project.

00:52:05.680 - 00:52:23.800

So now, we can have enhanced library card as a form of ID. So, undocumented community members go to the library and then get this kind—an enhanced library card.

00:52:24.260 - 00:52:41.580

It has photos, and name, and address, and gender, birthday, almost every information. That one can be used as your form of ID, like a Texas driver's license in Harris County. So, when they pull over by police, they can show

00:52:41.960 - 00:52:59.360

this kind of things. Then, they can—it can—they cannot be deportable. They cannot be deported. So, these kinds of things we—other immigrant community, especially Latino community, closely.

00:53:00.940 - 00:53:19.180

Yeah. Okay. What are some of the challenges of founding Woori Juntos. the challenges of starting these services? At the beginning, let’s see—already—okay,

00:53:24.450 - 00:53:41.720

let others know Woori Juntos exist, right? That is a challenging. But now, we do—recently, we sent twenty-one thousand community survey

00:53:42.620 - 00:53:57.720

to—all throughout Texas, to Korean Americans. So, we try to figure out what is our need, what kind of service they want, what is most important issue in our community, right?

00:53:58.140 - 00:54:15.480

So, we are doing this process, so, we are already collected more than five hundred community survey response. Our goal is three thousand dollar— not three thousand—three thousand response.

00:54:17.310 - 00:54:35.980

So, I think possible—we need to know—we need to let others know about this survey existing. We need collect this survey, and then let them know

00:54:36.240 - 00:54:48.060

we exist. So. we provide services, what they need. That kind of thing is challenging. Another thing is to reach out youngsters.

00:54:49.750 - 00:55:07.750

So, a lot of seniors help this–this first . But we want to reach out to youngsters, too, so they can learn about our community, and then eventually they can—someday they want to serve community, right?

00:55:08.370 - 00:55:29.370

So, that kind of thing is our challenge. Reaching out to youngsters, meaningfully, so they can actually serve our community. All right. And then, I guess we can move on to some questions about the pandemic and

00:55:29.370 - 00:55:46.600

about current events. How—first, how have you been during the pandemic—during COVID-19? What have been some major changes that you've made in your life? Sonia, for me, pandemic was a blessing.

00:55:49.600 - 00:56:10.140

Pandemic happened—what is it—during—before census–census started, okay? So, we prepared this—for census for year before, okay? So, we are well-prepared, but pandemic, we–we

00:56:11.220 - 00:56:26.400

cannot meet. So, my plan was—everything was in-person plan, but because pandemic, we have to stop everything. We couldn't do. We have to shift everything to

00:56:29.260 - 00:56:48.260

digital world. But somehow, we still managing. Okay, so, when pandemic started, we started, “What can we do?” So, we made—we started making Mask of Hope. We made masks.

00:56:48.920 - 00:57:08.780

Back then, we did not have enough masks, right? So, we started making masks with—what is it? White shirt, you know, your father wear the white shirt, bright white shirt. We–we went to dry cleaning—dry

00:57:10.150 - 00:57:30.610

cleaners shop, and then collect that kind of shirt. People who do not—what is it—pick up for many, many years, right? So, with that, we made mask. And then, we also bought—back then, there were not

00:57:30.840 - 00:57:44.910

enough elastic–elastic—what is it—to put in ear, right? We did not have that. We couldn't find the materials. But somehow, we figure out.

00:57:45.550 - 00:57:59.220

We used bed sheet. Bed sheet, you know? We bought a lot of bed sheet and cut–cut it into size—right size.

00:57:59.790 - 00:58:25.070

That's a lot of work, but we made mask and donated police station, fire station, and US–US coastal–coastal–coastal guard. And then our seniors. So, because it's a pandemic,

00:58:27.030 - 00:58:47.890

we–we thought about how—I think many people face difficulties because they lost jobs, right? So, our Korean community raised some money to help people. So, whoever come to our community center to collect

00:58:50.030 - 00:59:04.870

their checks, we always asked them to fill out the census. Or—so, with that, a lot of—always organizing moment. Even pandemic.

00:59:05.570 - 00:59:15.830

So, when pandemic hits hard is—everywhere stopped. But I never stopped. I work harder.

00:59:16.610 - 00:59:38.590

So, that is how Woori Juntos can–can be born. So, because me and my volunteers, my friends, we work hard for community. So, people see that we are valuable partner.

00:59:38.950 - 00:59:56.430

So, we become National Korean American–National Korean American Service and Education Consortiums’ Texas chapter. That is Woori Juntos. It happened during the pandemic, okay?

00:59:59.190 - 01:00:15.100

Yeah, I guess that is—the pandemic has been pretty horrible for most people—for a lot of people, but it does give motivation to do a lot of things, like census, making masks, and volunteering, so. And what about your personal life?

01:00:15.160 - 01:00:38.530

How has your family life, or your association with friends, talking, hanging out with friends—how has that been affected by the pandemic? Pandemic…My—okay, we didn't–we

01:00:40.130 - 01:01:02.220

did not go out to meet people for long time, you know? During the pandemic, my family—just, my husband's health wasn’t quite good, so it's very hard, healthwise,

01:01:02.550 - 01:01:19.580

for my—but not corona, but other health issues. But–but we are just still grateful, and managing treatment, and go to treatment, and yeah.

01:01:22.680 - 01:01:43.870

Be grateful to be alive. Yeah, I’m sorry to hear that. I know, just, yeah, managing other health issues during the pandemic has been hard, because hospitals and clinics in the beginning were

01:01:43.870 - 01:02:03.890

shut down, so. All right. During this–this—my husband–my husband health—the doctor's visit, and many things, I really realized

01:02:04.790 - 01:02:22.920

the importance of having health insurance. Good health insurance. Cheap health insurance, that kind of things, it's nothing. So, health insurance is so important.

01:02:24.440 - 01:02:40.460

So, I think everybody will agree with this. When you are–you are sick, you have to worry a lot of things, but you have to worry about how to pay your bill. That is really

01:02:42.760 - 01:03:02.690

not good. But having good health insurance it is so important. I—once again, I realize it during this difficult time. Yeah, so I guess Woori Juntos working towards Medicaid and helping seniors get Medicaid is a

01:03:03.040 - 01:03:18.130

good step towards getting everybody insured with good health insurance That's correct. What changes out of the pandemic do you think are going to persist? Like, us meeting on Zoom, or wearing masks.

01:03:18.130 - 01:03:42.030

What changes, because of the pandemic, are going to continue after the pandemic? I think it’s—a lot of people now easing—they’ll—what is it—put down their guard. But still, the pandemic is exist, you know?

01:03:42.320 - 01:03:57.580

But my case is, I like to use a mask when a lot of people sitting together. So, I like to encourage that kinds of things in our community event. A lot of people, use mask.

01:03:59.400 - 01:04:23.110

Also, yes, I think–I think it’ll be difficult to go back to before the pandemic quickly, right? So, we are mee—we are so used to meeting Zoom . But I prefer, personally, everything is in-person, you know?

01:04:23.260 - 01:04:39.810

Just—but I cannot—just, I cannot prevent changes. This kind of changes is coming, you know? So, we have to adapt.

01:04:43.650 - 01:05:00.100

Yeah, Zoom was really, really useful for meeting people, like us, or maybe quite far away, but it has diminished a little bit of social interactions between people. But without Zoom, how can we meet?

01:05:00.100 - 01:05:14.860

If you have a news conference in LA, you know? We cannot go, but–but still, we can attend the meeting through Zoom. This is a good thing about having Zoom.

01:05:16.300 - 01:05:35.360

We have to have a good internet connection . Yes. Very, very important. And then, I guess, in relationship to voter turnout and community engagement, how has the pandemic affected voter

01:05:35.360 - 01:05:53.570

turnout, voter accessibility? How do you feel like changes have been made or—for better or for worse, as a result of the pandemic? Of course, pandemic affect everything, you know?

01:05:54.110 - 01:06:07.900

So, I'm also—I have to pay attention, be careful when I hold event. Like, get out to vote event, you know? Even—because when—it

01:06:12.780 - 01:06:30.040

affect a lot. So, I really cannot really encourage people to get out a vote, you know? Moderation. Do not—I do not advertise too big to get out the vote event.

01:06:30.630 - 01:06:48.580

So, I’m afraid they become sick, catch COVID, during the polling location, you know? So everything is–everything is slow.

01:06:49.330 - 01:07:14.010

But, most important thing is—because SB 1, voter suppression law, is very difficult to–to—because it's very difficult to promote this kind of event. Get out to vote. Korean American early voting day, okay?

01:07:16.480 - 01:07:34.650

So, because we have to fill out the form, and then we have to–we have to say what kind of relationship I have with this person. Sometimes, when I have–when I have Korean American early voting days, I do not know them, you know?

01:07:35.150 - 01:07:50.360

They come to vote, but they need the assistance. So, but I do not have a—I do not know their name. I—maybe I know their face, sometimes, because they came to vote

01:07:51.210 - 01:08:04.510

before, right? So, but I do not have these kinds of things. So, it is difficult to–to do my work, actually.

01:08:06.410 - 01:08:20.960

Encouraging community members get out the vote. It's very difficult to do. because I have to sign the paper. Because I did not coerce and persuade this person—choose

01:08:21.840 - 01:08:41.850

me as their voter assistant. But by doing so, I am actually, you know, I didn't coerce, but they make me choose as their voting assistant, right? So this kind of things are a little bit tricky.

01:08:43.350 - 01:08:58.300

So, I have to be careful. But May run-off election, we–we did it with—we have a plan day.

01:08:59.360 - 01:09:19.450

So, people come to our office, and then they check their sample ballot, and then, just, we show how to use the machine. When we visited Harris County website,

01:09:20.770 - 01:09:34.760

there is a “How to use the machine” video, so we saw several times that video. So–so—to understand easily, right? What to expect.

01:09:35.800 - 01:09:57.700

And then, just—a few people they really—I really know them by their name, okay? So, that case, I really do not coerce , pressure them to choose

01:09:58.230 - 01:10:15.760

me as a voter assistant. That is very tricky, because SB 1 is hard to actually encourage people come out to vote. To—when they need assistance, so I

01:10:15.760 - 01:10:31.390

cannot—it is difficult for me. Figuring out. Yeah. All right. And then, kind of moving into questions about your identity.

01:10:31.980 - 01:10:42.630

How would you identify yourself? Korean? Korean American? What would you say to identify yourself? Most of all, I am an American.

01:10:43.610 - 01:10:58.230

I want to identify as me. Me as an American. But when you go down—okay, an American, Asian American, and I am a Korean American.

01:11:01.110 - 01:11:12.390

Okay. And then, could you talk about your family life? Talk about your husband. How many children do you have? How old are they? So, I have my

01:11:12.490 - 01:11:23.890

husband. His name is David Norman, and I have two sons. Should I tell their name? You can say it, if you're comfortable. Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm comfortable.

01:11:24.170 - 01:11:40.390

Alex and Joseph Norman. They are 19 and 21, almost 20 and 22. My older one is—Joseph Norman is the older one.

01:11:41.160 - 01:11:54.950

He—okay, he graduated college with a Masters degree few weeks ago. Actually, last week. So now , he's in New York, okay?

01:11:57.040 - 01:12:13.150

And then my younger one is—was a college student who study—yeah, who study. My husband …

01:12:27.220 - 01:12:42.540

of what I am doing, he supported everything, what I do, what I ask him to do That's good, yeah. All right.

01:12:44.490 - 01:13:02.720

And then, how do you motivate your sons and your husband to vote? Are they—because of your engagement with community, are they really passionate as well about voter—voting and being involved? In my family, voting is a must.

01:13:02.720 - 01:13:20.480

A must. Okay, for example, last week, my son had to go to New York on Friday, okay? So, he does not have time to vote on Friday.

01:13:20.840 - 01:13:34.280

So, I really—I told my kid Thursday, okay? My son went somewhere. He came around six o'clock.

01:13:35.060 - 01:13:52.260

I told him, “You do not have time. So, you have to go to vote. Katy library.” They went to there around six thirty. They voted. This kind of things.

01:13:55.420 - 01:14:15.830

Maybe I did not—they are not enthusiastic like me, but they know—this is—they have to listen to their mother . So, I also—I told them, “Vote.

01:14:16.160 - 01:14:33.710

After that, you have sticker, and then take picture, and send it to me, okay?” So, when they came home, and then—with sticker—Sonia, do you see over there sign?

01:14:35.230 - 01:14:49.390

I took a picture. And then, I posted social media. So, “We vote. I voted,” okay? The youngsters did not participate much, so I try to encourage people.

01:14:50.910 - 01:15:05.940

Voting is important, so, yeah. Yeah. Leading by example. Hey, Sonia. I’d like to mention this one. My sons—I do not

01:15:05.940 - 01:15:20.690

speak good English. Speaking is also quite okay, okay? But writing is not so great. So, whenever I have important message to send

01:15:21.990 - 01:15:39.290

someone, my sons and even my husband always checked spellings, and then sentences. So. when they read it, they do not think other things. “OH, what she talking about?” Right?

01:15:39.680 - 01:15:58.470

So always, even one—midnight, when I called my son, my older one, he come down, check for me. So, they—they is—they are really my supporter, I think.

01:15:59.130 - 01:16:15.240

My editor and then speech writer , too. Yeah, that's very nice of them. Very sweet of them to help out. Out of curiosity, do you speak to your sons in Korean, Spanish, or English?

01:16:15.780 - 01:16:30.400

How do you— Oh, we speak just English. English, okay. All right. And then, could you, just, give your thoughts about the Korean community in Houston, or the Asian American community in Houston , in general?

01:16:30.400 - 01:16:48.620

What are your thoughts? What are your hopes as to how it will change? What are your hopes to see in the future? Houston is—Houston and Harris County is very diversity–diversity community, right?

01:16:48.620 - 01:17:04.260

So, we Asians really growing number. So, we need—we can play important role in here, when we work together. So, for me,

01:17:08.310 - 01:17:42.800

Korean community is tend to just stay . That is—I understand, because we have limited English. We do not speak their language.

01:17:45.160 - 01:18:03.430

It’s—this is comfortable, just staying within community, right? So, but our older generation, that is okay. But youngers, like me—so, we need to work together: Chinese community, and Vietnamese community, and

01:18:05.940 - 01:18:26.730

other—Indian community, Pakistani, and also, we have a lot of refugee community in here. So, we—when we work together and help each other—so, we build our community, and then we can rise together.

01:18:27.940 - 01:18:46.040

So. we can elect our own choice of elected officials in city, and county, and then even statewide. So, I don't know when it will be, but that kind of future

01:18:46.830 - 01:19:00.240

we are—I’m hoping. Okay. So, we—for us is—yes, we are doing okay, a lot of people. But that’s not always true.

01:19:00.860 - 01:19:14.990

We have—some people are left behind. For my focus is those people, okay? Sonia, I'm always telling this. Sonia, you do not need my help, right?

01:19:15.800 - 01:19:35.000

So, but someone need our help. So, seniors, low-income family, and then recent immigrant, undocumented immigrant, they need our help. So–so, they can also live like us, as American,

01:19:36.400 - 01:19:48.590

but because we—I think we are Americans. I am American. You are American. We are Americans. So, my interest is how we can live here better

01:19:49.930 - 01:20:08.290

as American. That is my goal. So, that is what I am trying to do. So, always— think—we share common interests, and then our destiny—I

01:20:10.540 - 01:20:28.350

do sound like a politician. Our destiny is just —so, we need to have a say about our destiny, okay? We cannot silent, because so many things happen in this

01:20:28.790 - 01:20:45.530

Texas. We cannot be silent. If we are silent, they will talk. They will. They will write our history for us. Yeah, that's a very good

01:20:45.530 - 01:21:01.130

message, and, I guess, kind of goes really well with the purpose of this archive and doing these interviews. To record the histories of Asian Americans in Houston, so that history can be written by us, instead of by others.

01:21:03.050 - 01:21:20.670

Oh, I like to mention this one. We–we Asian Americans—we really need to think civic engagement important. And then public service is also very important, okay?

01:21:22.900 - 01:21:39.100

From the very beginning, when I go to elementary school or middle school, Americans is only talking about how to serve others, you know? How to raise money for people, you know? For fire department, police department, and who has cancer,

01:21:39.100 - 01:21:58.310

all like this. I think our kids, they are, like, grown like this. We need to nurture them, and sometimes they need to stand up. Stand up, and then do things for our community.

01:22:02.710 - 01:22:18.880

Just our—young leaders, like you. Just, we need to find young leaders and then provide that kind of opportunity, you know? To help and serve community and become a community

01:22:19.860 - 01:22:37.390

leader and, yeah. Yeah, that’s something that I’m sure a lot of young people should definitely be nurtured towards to make a better future. Yeah. And so, I guess, second to last question:

01:22:38.580 - 01:22:52.280

is there any message that you would like to leave for, say, your great-great-grandchildren, people interested in pursuing public service? If they were ever to see this archive or learn more about your story, what would you like to tell them?

01:22:57.520 - 01:23:12.980

What I like to say is Asians, we con—we are considered as foreigners, right? But I came late, okay? I came here twenty-some years.

01:23:13.510 - 01:23:31.500

But my ancestor, Korean ancestor, came to Hawaii hundred years ago, built Hawaii and plantation. We worked and built Hawaii, and then Korean people came to California.

01:23:33.580 - 01:23:53.830

Our one of—early pioneer, Dosan Ahn Changho, came to United States when Korea has—Korea was under Japanese occupation. He—what he did is building community and helping country to become

01:23:54.200 - 01:24:07.430

independent. When we know this kind of history, we are not foreigners. We are Americans. So, whoever say we are foreigners,

01:24:09.380 - 01:24:16.870

because they do not know our history. So, I'm not foreigner. I am an American. They are Americans.

01:24:17.070 - 01:24:37.050

My sons becoming—of course, they are Americans, okay? They are—they have root in this country. Yeah, that's a very good message. Creating unity. I only talked about

01:24:37.050 - 01:24:50.820

Koreans, but others: Chinese community, Japanese community. What they endured in this country, right? So, our history go—hun—more than hundred years ago. So, we not foreigners.

01:24:52.200 - 01:25:04.060

Yeah. All right. And then, I guess for our final question for today, is there anything else you would like to add? Anything you can think of, anything else that I didn't ask, or you would like to mention?

01:25:09.140 - 01:25:19.260

I think why don't you ask question that is easy for me . Okay. All right, then. In that case, thank you so much, Mrs. Norman, for joining me today in this interview.

01:25:20.480 - 01:25:27.750

Really enjoyed learning more about your life and about how you've been working for the community. Okay. Thank you, Sonia.