Next 10 Exits: Reflections on Race and Resilience in Vallejo, California

Trauma + Cultural Pride = Art of HealingAccording to the 2010 Census, Vallejo, California has the most racially diverse zip codes in the U.S. As a third-generation Korean Chinese American growing up in 1960s-1980s Vallejo, the Elizabeth Ching's lenses have been shaped by race and resilience. Now-defunct Mare Island Naval Shipyard brought good paying work during World War II; this was why so many different racial and ethnic groups lived in this small city, current population of 122,000. After the closing of the Naval Shipyard, hospitals are the largest employers in Vallejo. The flip side of trauma can be healing or trauma-informed art. Ernest J. Gaines, author of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," lived much of his life in Vallejo. Perhaps that is why so many hip-hop artists like E-40, Baby Bash, SOB x RBE, R & B artist, H.E.R., plus athletes C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Anderson, and Natalie Coughlin are Vallejoans. "Strength through Diversity" is on a plaque at the Vallejo Naval and