Destigmatizing Poverty: The Cost of Living Documentary, Narrative Change, and Organizing

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Friday, February 28, 2025 | 6pm to 7:30pm

25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000
between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan

In-Person: RSVP | Zoom: RSVP

This presentation examines survey results from three screenings of The Cost of Living (2023, Sixty First Productions), a documentary highlighting the financial struggles of three families in Flushing. The film is part of the Undo Poverty: Flushing (UPF) collaborative’s efforts to combat poverty and reduce stigma through a narrative change approach. The three separate screenings featured subtitles in Chinese, English, and Korean, respectively. UPF also organized community organizing training sessions for local residents during the 2024 grant cycle. The presenter will discuss key findings from the surveys, including community perceptions of poverty, primary concerns, and proposed solutions for addressing financial hardship in Flushing. The presentation will also assess the impact of the community organizing training sessions.

Author Bio

Thomas R. Chung is a research consultant for the Undo Poverty: Flushing collaborative and an adjunct instructor in the Department of Sociology at Queens College/CUNY. His research interests include subcultures, race/ethnicity, media studies, and cultural sociology. Thomas has co-edited two anthologies about Korean Americans and is in the latter stages of earning a sociology Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center. In his spare time, he enjoys writing fiction and playing guitar and tennis.