HUMANS OF VC is a snapshot of VC champions who bring their unique experiences and artistic strengths to bridge divides and reflect the scope of our own diversity.

December 29, 2020

Dear Friends of Visual Communications,

I have been a lot of things to many people throughout the many years that I've served as a staff member at Visual Communications: a staff photographer and documentarian; a graphic artist and publications designer; a maker of quirky and decidedly inaccessible graphic arts films; a mentor to a whole generation of emerging filmmakers both young and old via our Armed With a Camera and Digital Histories programs; a grant writer; an organizer of community-based film screening and visual arts events; and for three long decades, a programmer and co-director for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

And yet, my most significant memories of working at VC have been of the many people who have rolled through our doors, whether it was Room 309 at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, the infamous air-conditioning-challenged third floor of the 263 Building on Los Angeles Street that housed the Rafu Shimpo, or our current home in the Union Center for the Arts. From processing hundreds of pages of film in our photographic darkroom, to seeing our former Executive Director Linda Mabalot take in a bored summer-school undergrad, to helping organize a sold-out community screening of a documentary on caring for Asian American elderly; these are just a tiny few of the memories that I've witnessed that define Visual Communications as the place that I have called "home-base" for nearly 40 years.

As a longtime contributor and now steward of our indispensable VC Archives, one of the largest photographic and moving image archives on Asian Pacific experiences in America, I've seen people who are now the pillars of our ongoing movement captured in pictures as youths, who did not know how they would turn out. Angela Nishio. Van Troi Pang. Maceo Hernandez. Tadashi Nakamura. Misako and Chiemi Mori. Kelly and Lianne Soohoo. Naomi Iwasaki. Mayumi Kodani. Akemi Kondo Dalvi. Daniel Masaoka. Michael Premsrirat. Leslie Ito. Robynn Takayama. Jonny Hwang. Kennedy Kabasares. traci kato-kiriyama. Paola Mardo. Sudarat Musikawong. These luminaries are just a drop in the bucket of forward-thinking cultural and community workers that can be found within VC's Photographic Archive.

In order for us to continue VC's mission to develop and nurture a new generation of media artists who are changing perceptions of us, our communities, and our histories, we would like to ask you: Will you make a tax-deductible gift of $50 or more before December 31, 2020? Your donation will help us continue running our valuable artist programs, preserve priceless historical materials within our VC Archives, and catalyze policy-making on behalf of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

If you missed our virtual PAST//FORWARD: 50 MORE celebration on December 1st, you can watch it now on Facebook or Youtube. Join us as we continue our celebration until the end of the year!

In these times when we are seeing how the power of cinematic art shapes perceptions and empowers artists, supporting Visual Communications with your donation will pay positive dividends for years (and generations) to come.

Our challenges at VC are daunting, but vital. We look to your continued support, because YOU are the reason why we do what we do. And why I've been hacking away at this all these years.

Thank You! Huelga! A Luta Continua!

Abraham Ferrer, Archives & Distribution Manager
Visual Communications

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