The Future of US-China Relations
Governor Gary Locke, who serves as Interim President at Bellevue College spoke on campus about the future of US-China relations on May 16th.
Governor Locke served as Washington State Governor from 1997-2005. He served as the 36th US Secretary of Commerce from 2009 to 2011 and as ambassador to China from 2011 to 2014.
The event was hosted by Bellevue College Business Leadership Community and the Asian Pacific Islander Student Association.
Special thanks to Bellevue College Digital Media Arts Department for the recording.
Transforming Intergenerational Pain into Inspiration and Strength
Northwest African American Museum
Children’s Film Festival Seattle

NW African American Museum’s African American Cultural Experience Choir
The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) is possibly the only museum in the country to house a choir. NAAM was closed for renovation until January, 2023. During the pandemic, the African American Cultural Experience choir became the mobile arm of the museum. The choral group shares Black/US history with the community through music that expresses the Black experience.
Listen in on this excerpt of a KBCS interview with NAAM President and CEO, LaNesha DeBardelaben about the significance of this choir.
Producer: Yuko Kodama Special thanks to Jalisa Bass for contributing to editing
Photo: NAAM
Music Clips: NAAM ACE Choir and KNKX
Open Studio Cambodia Exhibit
How are Cambodian artists approaching contemporary art today? Lauren Iida is an Artist and Founder of Open Studio Cambodia, an artist collective based in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Iida founded this organization in 2018. It mentors, represents, and provides supplies and communal studio and gallery space to a small group of local Cambodian contemporary artists.
KBCS spoke with Iida at The Vestibule in Ballard, where Open Studio Cambodia artists’ work is featured through December 17th in the exhibit, Starting to Work Again: Contemporary Cambodian Art. She describes the contemporary art scene in Cambodia today and introduces some of the artists featured in this exhibit.
Producer: Yuko Kodama
Photo: Lauren Iida
Stand-up Comedian and Writer, Julie Kim
Teaching Lushootseed to Toddlers
Lushootseed is the language spoken by Coast Salish tribes in the greater Seattle area and north to Skagit River Valley near Bellingham and Whidbey Island, and south to Olympia and Shelton. In 1819, Congress passed the Civilization Fund Act to assimilate indigenous youth to western culture. The policy authorized forcible separation of indigenous children from their families to be sent to boarding schools far away, where they were to be stripped of their language, culture and religious practices. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that this practice was outlawed. This caused a severe disruption in likelihood for traditional practices and lifestyles to continue.
Today, members of these communities are reawakening their native tongue through education to everyone from 6 month olds, elementary and high school students and adults.
Jasmyne Diaz is an enrolled Tulalip member and shares a peek into her work of teaching Lushootseed language as a Teacher Assistant to six-month to two-year old children in Tulalip, Washington through the Tulalip Lushootseed Language Program
Producers: Laura Florez and Yuko Kodama
Women’s Voices from the Holocaust
The performance, The Ruins of Memory: Women’s Voices of the Holocaust highlights the experiences of Jewish women throughout the European continent who navigated their way through a horrific time in the 20th century. It’s performed by Talea of the Alchemysts Theatre at Taproot Theater this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can find more information on the event here.
Producer: Yuko Kodama
Photo: by Michael Loggins
Reawakening Lushootseed Language: Language Warriors
Lushootseed is the language spoken by Coast Salish tribes in the greater Seattle region. In 1819, Congress passed the Civilization Fund Act to assimilate indigenous youth to western culture. The policy authorized forcible separation of indigenous children from their families to be sent to boarding schools, where they were to be stripped of their language, culture and religious practices. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that this practice was outlawed. Today, members of these communities are reawakening their native language through educational programs.
KBCS’s Laura Florez spoke with Lois Landgrebe, of Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Duwamish and Nez Perce descendants, and a Lushootseed educator at Quil Ceda Tulalip elementary school in Tulalip, Washington through the Tulalip Lushootseed Program. Landgrebe describes what it means to be a language warrior.
Producers: Laura Florez, Yukiko Arichi and Yuko Kodama