A Korean American-owned convenience store in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Los Angeles is turning years of good will into a model of positive change.
KCRW reports after years of providing low-cost food to residents of the neighborhood and a place to call a second home, May and Bob Park are retiring and have sold their market to the Black-led non-profit, Creating Justice LA.
The area is a food dessert with no other markets serving the area. The Park’s son Danny has been running the store since 2015 and operates the market with a social justice bent.
“Danny [Park] is not just someone who profited from the community,” says Pastor Stephen “Cue” JnMarie. “I think once he took over, he led his family to really understand what the community has been going through, and the trials that the community has gone through.”
Community members say instead of just taking from the Black community, the Parks give back. They’ve flipped the false narrative of Korean Americans store owners exploiting the community on its head.
“This market has been a place that offers store credit when you’re running low at the end of the month, free electricity and water, fresh and affordable products, a sense of safety, security and refuge for folks living on the streets,” Danny said during outside the store to ABC7.
When his parents decided to retire, Danny let it be known he didn’t want to turn the store over to an owner who wouldn’t understand the people the market served.
“He wanted to continue that legacy of taking care of the community,” said JnMarie.
“As a Korean American, this moment feels like a deep bow of veneration, respect and gratitude to the African American community,” Park said.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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