{"id":15141,"date":"2025-11-18T20:51:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/?p=15141"},"modified":"2025-11-18T20:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:51:16","slug":"bridging-cultures-through-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aacyf.org\/?p=15141","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bridging Cultures Through Storytelling\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ByPeter Schurmann<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov 13, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2025 American Community Media Expo & Awards event on Nov. 7 in downtown Oakland shined a light on California’s vast ethnic media landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Credit David Pham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As those in the White House insist diversity is America\u2019s greatest weakness, dozens of representatives from California\u2019s vast ethnic and community media sector gathered November 7 with a powerful rejoinder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen so many hugs in a long time\u2026 and I just got out of a wellness retreat,\u201d remarked one participant at the 2025 American Community Media Expo & Awards<\/a>, held Nov. 7 at the PG&E Conference Center in downtown Oakland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remark captured the spirit of the event that drew more than 250 attendees, including 150 media representatives alongside elected officials, communications specialists, representatives of state agencies, nonprofits, and philanthropy who turned out to meet and celebrate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultural Rediscovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Reporter Yucheng Tang with Chico Sol accepts his award for best story in Arts and Culture. (Credit: David Meza)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a time of growing division, I want to show that even an unfamiliar culture and its tradition, can lead me to my own cultural rediscovery,\u201d said Yucheng Tang, a reporter with Chico Sol in Chico, California and one of two dozen journalists honored at the Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tang, part of the California Local News Fellowship<\/a>, a state-funded program led by UC Berkeley that supports early career journalists, won in the Arts and Culture category for his deeply personal story<\/a> covering Day of the Dead celebrations in Chico, a northern California community where \u201cChinese culture has largely faded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Tang, the sights and sounds of Day of the Dead, or D\u00eda de los Muertos,<\/em> a traditional Mexican festival, brought him back to his own native China and commemorations there honoring family ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to show the possibility of bridging two different cultures and communities through good storytelling,\u201d said Tang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethnic Media a \u201cCritical Part of Our Democracy\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among keynote speakers was Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, whose district includes Oakland, San Francisco and much of the Bay Area. \u201cI am coming to you from Washington DC,\u201d said Simon, in prerecorded remarks. \u201cToday, I am hell bent on fighting for SNAP benefits,\u201d she continued, referencing the month-long government shutdown and the Trump Administration\u2019s refusal to release SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) funding<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all know what\u2019s at stake here. It\u2019s SNAP benefits, it\u2019s health care, it\u2019s the democracy that we have all helped to build,\u201d she added. \u201cThis Expo, bringing together ethnic media makers is more important than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shutdown, which ended Nov. 12 after becoming the longest in U.S. history, also wreaked havoc on travel, with flight cancellations across more than 40 major airports the day of the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CA State Senator Jesse Arregu\u00edn delivers a keynote address at the ACoM 2025 Expo & Awards. (Credit: David Meza)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard the stories of some of those who have fortunately made it,\u201d said State Senator Jesse Arregu\u00edn, whose district includes parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Arregu\u00edn is the sole Latino representing Northern California in the State Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a policy maker in Sacramento,\u201d he said, \u201cI deeply value the role that ethnic media plays in not just communicating with our diverse state, but also as a critical part of our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Touch Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some 70 media outlets working in more than a dozen languages and representing the breadth and diversity of California\u2019s ethnic media sector were on display during the Expo, which at times felt more like a family reunion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by veteran photojournalist David Bacon adorned the halls, their images evoking the quiet resilience of communities across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dong Kim, 77, has operated the Korean language newspaper Hyundae News for more than 40 years. Kim, whose paper is the last Korean language print publication covering the Bay Area, arrived at the event after undergoing minor surgery earlier in the day, a reflection of the commitment many in the sector share to their communities and peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plenary and breakout sessions focused on issues including strategies for building more inclusive communications, and the importance of \u201chigh touch media,\u201d especially in the age of Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FRESNO, CA \u2013 27JULY25 \u2013 Dancers from the many ethnic groups of Oaxaca, now living as migrants in the United States, at the annual festival of Oaxacan indigenous culture, the Guelagetza. This Guelagetza took place while the Trump administration attacked indigenous communities with immigration raids and threats. The Fresno Guelaguetza was organized by the Centro Binacional para el Desarollo Indigena Oaxaque\u00f1a. Copyright David Bacon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jon Christensen with UCLA\u2019s Institute for the Environment and Sustainability shared success stories from the Greening Communities project<\/a>, focusing on efforts to bring greater park access and equity for residents of Los Angeles. The project, involving more than 20 news outlets, has produced more than 120 stories, helping to shift the narrative around parks and what they mean for Los Angeles\u2019 diverse population, noted Christensen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seventy media outlets were on display during the Expo, with more than 150 media representatives on hand to meet and network. (Credit: David Meza)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith Patience and Mission\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ACoM received more than 200 entries for the awards in print, broadcast and radio. Submissions were judged in 9 categories, including Immigration, Health, Education, the Environment and the Economy, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emcees for the awards portion of the day were Michelle Benitez Perez, news anchor with Univision 14 Bay Area, and Martin Reynolds, executive director of The Maynard Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mireya Olivera of Impulso News won for best Environmental reporting for her story on the 15 homes saved by Oaxacan immigrants<\/a> during the Palisades fire that tore through parts of Los Angeles in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is for my community,\u201d said Olivera, speaking in Spanish while lifting her award, \u201cfor my hard-working immigrant community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mireya Olivera of Impulso News accepts her award for best environmental reporting in print. (Credit: David Meza)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kalynh Ngo with the Vietnamese language Viet Bao delivered an emotional address after accepting her award for best print coverage in International Affairs. Her two-part story recounted the \u201csilent\u201d deportation of Vietnamese immigrants<\/a> and the non-profit working to help them resettle in Vietnam, a country most had not seen in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are here today facing a very difficult situation,\u201d said Ngo, \u201cbut with patience and mission, we all persevere because no man in the world can change the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ngo dedicated her award to all those deported from a country many had spent much or most of their lives in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want our community to be heard,\u201d says Katrina Mendoza Ramirez of Radio Balam-Voces Maya, which serves the Bay Area\u2019s Mayan-Mam community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Radio Balam team won for their Mam language profile of Martina Pablo Pablo<\/a>, a student at Cornell who grew up in Todos Santos, Guatemala and sought asylum in the United States after being denied an education in her home country because of her Indigenous heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur community is isolated,\u201d said Radio Balam Co-Founder Esmeralda Mendoza, adding the program\u2019s mission is to deliver her Mam speaking audience \u201caccurate information in a language they understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added, \u201cWe exist. We are here. And we are among all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The team at Radio Balam-Voces Maya accept the award for best broadcast in Education. (Credit: David Meza)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can find the full list of winners here<\/a>, along with photos and videos of the day\u2019s events.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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