AAPI Heritage Month on 23ABC: Dr. Portia Choi
and last updated 2021-05-24 03:44:25-04
She was born in âThe Land of the Morning Calm,â and her life changed as the result of war. Now Dr. Portia Choi resides in Bakersfield with quite a story to tell, one she pens through poetry.
âI am your mother, Oaksun, I will protect you and hide you from the soldiers. I will look for you, so you cannot see the shattered arms. I will cuddle you to sleep,â read Korean-American Poet and Peace Advocate, Dr. Portia Choi from her book of original poems,
Sungsook, Korean War Poems.
Mural painted on Kern Bridges Youth Homes office to stop graffiti
Kern County organizations unite through art
In this Kern s Kindness, 23ABC s Kallyn Hobmann shows us a mural painted on the Kern Bridges Youth Homes office to prevent graffiti in the area.
and last updated 2021-05-01 12:17:42-04
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. â Weâre painting here for Kern Bridges. I created a mural and weâre doing paint by numbers, said Alex Gallardo.
Gallardo is an art instructor. He designed a mural to cover up a wall at the Kern Bridges Youth Homes office previously prone to graffiti.
âWe wanted to create something to kind of, you know, help the community and hopefully inspire them to stop doing that, said Gallardo.
Bloom mural bringing message of hope to girls in East Bakersfield
23ABC News Image
and last updated 2021-02-02 23:48:41-05
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) â Under a noisy overpass in East Bakersfield, one message rings louder than anything else. No matter who they are, no matter where they live that they can be whatever they want to be, said City Councilman Andrae Gonzales.
That message is now linked to a new mural titled Bloom displayed on the overpass on Beale Avenue. Gonzales said this project is meant to send a message of hope and empowerment to the women and young girls of East Bakersfield.
Bakersfield and Kern County will ultimately be judged for the character, determination and rich diversity of its residents. As the year comes to a close, we look back at notable figures from Bakersfield and Kern County whose loss we have mourned in 2020. They were business people, entertainers, builders, police officers and public servants. The list includes a priest, an architect, a basketball coach, a talk radio personality, a journalist and a designer of community gardens. One of those who passed this year was only 11. Another had just turned 17. All were extraordinary in some way. All are worth remembering.
CHARLES FUZZY OWEN
She was a builder of gardens, where not only plants could grow, but people, too.
As a landscape designer and founder of the nonprofit Giving Tree Project, Amber Beeson transformed vacant lots in Bakersfield into community gardens where adults could grow organic vegetables and children could learn about healthy living, healthy eating, and just plain old hard work.
Beeson, a former program director at Kern Green, chairwoman of the Community Gardens Committee for Keep Bakersfield Beautiful, and a onetime board member with the Arts Council of Kern, died Thursday after a grueling and very public battle with cancer. She was 40.