As the Ukrainian conflict continues to escalate, Nidhi Prakash speaks to Ukrainian American women across three generations about politics, history and doing what they can from far away. Multimedia piece here.

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Across the United States right now, there are around 160 North Koreans, quietly building very different lives after fleeing a country the world looks upon as shadowy and repressive.

It’s a treacherous journey, and getting over the border is only the beginning. In China, refugees run the risk of being intercepted by human traffickers, or sent back by Chinese authorities reluctant to grant them asylum.

Those who find their way to the U.S. still have a long road ahead of them.

“The things they struggle with, most of them, they are alone in the U.S. – it might be loneliness, and they know that unless their family members come out, they will never be able to see their family,” said Hyerim Ko, U.S. Resettlement Coordinator for Liberty in North Korea, a California- based group.

Ko works directly with North Koreans arriving in the U.S. She says they keep a low profile here, fearing repercussions against the families they have left behind. It’s a threat that has become particularly daunting since Kim Jong-Un took power after his father’s death two years ago.

“He [Kim Jong-Un] has been extensively hunting down family members of defectors and expelling them from their homes,” said Ko. “They are sent to collective detention centers… it’s been reported that hundreds of households in Pyongyang have been exiled.”

Recently Pyongyang agreed to allow meetings between family members separated by the Korean War over 50 years ago. It’s a gesture that doesn’t signify any larger change in the regime, according to Ko.

“I believe there’s been reunions before,” said Ko, I don’t think this is really a softening – even if they’re softening, they’re not changing anything inside North Korea on behalf of the people,” she said.

Byong Sun Soh, President of Save North Korean Refugees, lived through the Korean War. He said the reunions are still fraught with danger for anyone who takes up the offer.

“Once they go to Pyongyang they take away their passports. You never know what will happen,” said Soh.

Byung Sun Soh, President of Save North Korean Refugees, with one of his dogs in his Manhattan apartment. Photo by Nidhi Prakash

While the dictatorship in North Korea is now in its third generation, Soh is optimistic that something will change eventually.

“Some day it will happen that they [the North Korean people] will all walk together and destroy [the dictatorship]… they cannot go on to a fourth, fifth, sixth generation,” he said.

Ko’s organization is intent on North Koreans driving change from within their country.

“I can’t speak on behalf of the North Korean people, because I don’t know what they want for their country, so what we’re doing is working with them so they can drive change in their country,” said Ko, “So that at the very least they will be able to meet their basic needs, and they will be able to have food and water, and have basic human rights, the ones that they don’t have now.”

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Strong global sales put fur industry back on the agenda from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

Fur may be experiencing something of a resurgence globally, with the industry worth over $15 billion and showing growth in the last two years.

The U.S. industry has had a stronger season so far this year than last year according to industry body FICA (Fur Information Council of America). The winter fashion runways in London, Paris and New York all featured more fur than in previous years.

While a lot of the demand is being driven by Chinese and Russian markets, local retailers also say they’re seeing a younger clientele who are influenced by fashion shows and want both new and re – tailored products.

But the ethics of wearing fur is still an issue. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a video they say was captured in a Chinese Angora rabbit fur farm. The gruesome video recently made its way around Twitter and Facebook, and reopened the discussion on animal cruelty in the fur industry.

While the fervent anti- fur campaigns of the nineties might be over, this contentious industry is still under scrutiny – and still attracting plenty of clients.

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It’s not quite an art gallery, not quite a language school, and not quite a music venue.

But El Taller Latino-Americano is a little bit of all those things, and most of all it has become a cultural institution on the Upper West Side over the last two decades. With rising rents, it’s about to be driven out of the area.

“Despite the fact that we are a not-for-profit educational organization, the rent which we engage in with the landlord is commercial,” said Bernardo Palombo, a founder of El Taller.

It’s expected to rise from $8000to $22,000 per month next year.

“What for us is human space is for others mathematics and numbers,” said Palombo.

This is not the first time Manhattan’s property market has forced them to move.

El Taller: language, culture and community on 104th Street from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

They started out on 19th Street and 7th Avenue almost 35 years ago, before moving a little further uptown, then across to the basement of a Russian cathedral in the Lower East Side. They’ve been in their current space on 104th Street and Broadway for the last 22 years.

“Now we are here, and probably next year we will be in Canada, because the whole history of gentrification pushes people to el norte, so we are going to el norte again,” said Palombo.

He has a plan for El Taller – to develop an urban garden, community kitchen, centre for immigrants’ rights and a three-penny university – if he can find a way to stay in the building.

The three-penny university would include workshops from current and former Columbia University professors and community members.

“Dona Maria, a Puerto Rican woman who lives next to my house, will teach handy 22 point crochet,” said Palombo, “And the younger characters that are selling drugs in the avenue will teach texting to the old farts like me.”

El Taller has submitted the proposal to two different arts foundations, suggesting they buy the building and help expand the organization.

But if the rent rises as expected, it is likely Palombo and El Taller will have to find a new home for these big ideas to unfold.

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