Kearny Street Workshop

Help us build momentum for our podcast "We Won't Move: A Living Archive," the first multidisciplinary and intergenerational arts podcast in the country centering Asian Pacific American artists and activists.

Together, we'll continue to foster conversation around history, place, and how our cultural work allows us to come to understand these things differently. We step into our highest power when we expand our relationships to our archives as not just a record of the past, but as a living, growing legacy aligned with people-led movements.

At the center of a "living" archive is self–determination where our communities are empowered to articulate, understand, and continuously write our own stories.


Your donation supports:

➼ Interviews with the Bay Area's most inspiring APA artists and activists

➼ An expanded Season 2 with double the episodes (8!)

➼ Paying our volunteer producers and hosts a fair wage

➼ Building internship and community partnership opportunities

➼ Professional equipment to improve the podcast quality

➼ Developing partnerships with Ethnic Studies programs (long-term goal):
We want to build a stronger educational support system to support next-generation APA artists and activists who are early in their careers. We're strategizing curriculum to go alongside our episodes, and working closely with local Asian American and Ethnic Studies programs.

We fully believe in accessibility—not just to the podcast, but to education and resources, and to archives. Every episode will continue to come with a full episode transcript and show notes. We have begun exploring recommended reading lists, and hope to also expand this in season 2.


About the Podcast

We Won't Move: A Living Archive is Kearny Street Workshop's very first podcast series showcasing Asian Pacific American artists of the past, present, and future, whose stories shape the movements and dreams of San Francisco. Hosted and produced by scholar Kazumi Chin, multidisciplinary artist Michelle Lin, and art curator Dara Del Rosario, each episode is guided by research and oral histories, featuring intimate conversations with local artists about their art, activism, and the issues that motivate their work. 

“We Won’t Move” was once the rallying cry of an intergenerational group of protestors fighting to protect the elders of the International Hotel, the first home of Kearny Street Workshop. With this in the podcast title, we commit ourselves to uplifting stories of radical Asian American art history, organizing, and dreaming. “We Won’t Move: A Living Archive” is a project of both remembering our roots and building toward a liberatory future.

Where do we remain firmly rooted in across generations, in our spaces, histories, and hearts? What will we refuse to move from?

The first season of the podcast is available now and can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. Season 1 features conversations with scholar and curator Thea Quiray Tagle, activist and historian Estella Habal, artist and educator Erina C Alejo, and artistic director Lenora Lee of Lenora Lee Dance. 


About Kearny Street Workshop

Founded in 1972, during the height of the Asian American cultural movement, Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) is the oldest Asian Pacific American multidisciplinary arts organization in the country. Our mission is to present, produce, and promote art that empowers Asian Pacific American artists and communities. We envision a more just society that fully incorporates Asian Pacific American voices informed by our cultural values, historical roots, and contemporary issues. We offer classes and workshops, salons, and student presentations, as well as professionally curated and produced exhibitions, performances, readings, and screenings. Learn more about KSW here.