Commentary
A New Pride in America?
I read the Eugene Robinson (pictured above) piece, “Obama Campaign Instills New Pride” and felt the need to comment here at Black Tokyo. Mr. Robinson writes for the Washington Post. His column is distributed by the Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th NW, Washington, DC 20071. You can reach him at eugenerobinson@washpost.com. Please feel free to leave your comments!
Obama campaign instills new pride
Whoever wins this election, I understand what Barack Obama meant when he said his faith in the American people had been “vindicated” by his campaign’s success. I understand what Michelle Obama meant, months ago, when she said she was “proud of my country” for the first time in her adult life. Why should they be immune to the astonishment and vertigo that so many other African-Americans are experiencing? Why shouldn’t they have to pinch themselves to make sure they aren’t dreaming, the way that I do?
I know there’s a possibility that the polls are wrong. I know there’s a possibility that white Americans, when push comes to shove, won’t be able to bring themselves to elect a black man as president of the United States. But the spread in the polls is so great that the Bradley effect wouldn’t be enough to make Obama lose; it would take a kind of “Dr. Strangelove effect” in which voters’ hands developed a will of their own.
Zurui’s comment: Not only white Americans but other Americans that tend to vote Republican and not for a “normal” candidate.
I’m being facetious but not unserious. In my gut, I know there’s a chance that the first African-American to make a serious run for the presidency will lose. But that is precisely what’s new and, in a sense, unsettling: I’m talking about possibility, not inevitability.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Clam Magazine interviews Black Tokyo’s Zurui
Founded by film producer Andy Okoroafor,CLAM is a unisex magazine whose goal is to promote creativity, concepts and ideas in fashion, architecture, music, design, the arts, free-time, travels and African design…. these different themes are approached in two main areas: Lifestyle and Trends.
Each subject is part of an original and conceptual artistic direction. The concepts are presented through the expression of the artists and creators coming from very different horizons.
The place accorded to the image is central: she wants to be unusual, so as to create constant surprise for the viewer.
Experimentation is one of the characteristics of CLAM which explains its layout: always changing, never fixed. Clam wants to encourage creative reflexion.The presentation is based on ideas and not the seasons.
This concept confers to the magazine a collector’s status.
In the interview, Zurui discusses his background, life in Japan as a US Marine, expat worker, actor; and of course, the Black Tokyo website. You can purchase CLAM online or in: Paris, France; Italy, Sweden, Hong Kong, Japan, the U.K. and in the USA.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Land of the Rising, Son
View the podcast below:
[display_podcast]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Yajima Biyoshitsu
The talented and sometimes funny owarai duo, Tunnels, have recently hooked-up with DJ Ozma (former Kishidan band leader) to form and produce a temporary female trio called Yajima Biyoshitsu (Yajima Beauty Salon). The female trio is actually the three men in drag. Here is the official website.
The Yajima Biyoshitsu new song ties into a new Lotte chewing gum commercial (the CM schedule can be found here) starring actress Masami Nagasawa. The debut song, “Nihon no Mikata – Nevada Kara Kimashita,” debuted on TV the day before and saw a reportedly 14,000 chaku-uta (ringtone) downloads in the hour after its premiere, taking the #1 spot on the Recochoku daily charts.
[display_podcast]
Now I do not mind comedy but I do mind the direction that the group, Avex and Lotte took in putting this commercial together.
According to the story line, the trio is supposedly made up of a family from Nevada, consisting of a 36-year-old former stripper named Margaret Yajima (played by DJ Ozma) and her two daughters, the 17-year-old Naomi and the 11-year-old Strawberry both played by Tunnels. The mother a.k.a. Black Bolt (her stage name at the shake joint) brought her daughters to Japan to look for their father, a Japanese barber or beautician named Yajima.
I worked with the Tunnels twice in the late 90’s and their current comedy to me is mediocre at best. These guys are known for pushing the envelope or being over-the-top when it comes to stereotypes. To see DJ Ozma come out of retirement to do this gig is sort of a disappointment since I have been a fan of his since he was a leading the band Kishidan. Additionally, I have done a print, television and internet campaign for Lotte’s restaurant chain, Lotteria.
Now unlike the Gosperats, no black face is involved in this current CM and it seems that men (on television) dressing up as women in Japan is sort of a norm. What I find extremely distasteful is the description of the faux black women, the implied teenage pregnancy and the husband that left the US (his family and his business) to return to Japan. What’s up with that?! (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Black Scholars Who Make a Specialty of Asian Studies
Black Scholars Who Make a Specialty of Asian Studies
Posted using ShareThis
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Is Gaijin a Racist Word or are N*ggers Over Reacting?
There has been much debate on the terms “gaijin” (foreign/outside person) and “nigger” lately in Japan among the foreign community. In a series of articles published in the Japan Times, professor, activist, and coauthor of the “Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants, Arudou Debito comes out swinging. Here is his latest article: THE CASE FOR “GAIJIN” AS A RACIST WORD: THE SEQUEL – LET’S COME CLEAN ON “GAIJIN” [Published September 2, 2008 as “The ‘gaijin’ debate: Arudou responds”]
Last month’s column (JBC August 5) was on the word “gaijin”. I made the case that it is a racist word, one that reinforces an “us-and-them” rubric towards foreigners and their children in Japan. It generated a lot of debate. Good. Thanks for your time. Now let’s devote 700 more words to some issues raised.
Regarding the arguments about intent, i.e. “People use the word gaijin, but don’t mean it in a derogatory way”. The root issue here is, “Who decides whether a word is bad?” Is it the speaker using the word, or the person being addressed by it?
Ditto for the word gaijin. People like me who have lived here for many years, even assimilated to the point of taking citizenship, don’t want to be called “gaijin” anymore. We can be forgiven for taking umbrage, for not wanting to be pushed back into the pigeonhole. Don’t tell us who we are–we’ll decide for ourselves who we are, especially in our own country, thanks. So stoppit.
Now for the more controversial claim: my linking “gaijin” with “n*gg*r”. Although I was not equating their histories, I was drawing attention to their common effect–stripping societies of diversity.
You can read the rest of the article and numerous comments here.
Here is the response that I (Zurui) sent: (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Japan Newspapers and News Media
A great resource for those that want more on Japan!
| Japan Newspapers and News Media – National and Foreign |
| Japan – Broadcast News Media |
| National National National National National National National National National Foreign |
CNN Fuji TV Fuji TV NHK NHK NTV TBS TV Asahi TV Tokyo Radio Japan |
BC BC BC BC BC BC BC BC BC BC |
GI GI GI GI GI GI GI GI GI GI |
JPN ENG JPN ENG JPN JPN JPN JPN JPN ENG |
TV TV TV TV TV TV Radio TV TV TV Radio |
Chinese Authorities Order Bars Not to Serve Black People
Received this from Lord Phat, our resident Chinese linguist and MIT Sloan School of Management graduate that has lived and worked in China:
“I originally got this from the webmaster of Afroshanghai.com. It is from the South China Post, a reputable Hong Kong based newspaper. The webmaster is asking the Africans living in Beijing to confirm this and if it is completely true it is very disturbing.” Read below.
“Authorities order bars not to serve black people” reported 18 July 2008 in the South China Morning Post by
Tom Miller
In our series looking at preparations for the Games, Tom Miller reports on plans to crack down on “undesirables” in the bars of Beijing
Beijing authorities are secretly planning to ban black people and others it considers social undesirables from entering the city’s bars during the Olympic Games, a move that would contradict the official slogan, “One World, One Dream”.
Bar owners near the Workers’ Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Italian Vogue
« 前のページ
![Lake Dillon and a Tree [In Explore]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53731226172_4004cbfea4_s.jpg "Lake Dillon and a Tree [In Explore]")
Black Tokyo Japan 
Commentary: What Barack Obama means to me
Posted on 11月 6, 2008. Filed under: Black Resources, Commentary, Government, Politics & Security | タグ: abroad, America, american, barack, biracial, black, Blacks, change, children, clinton, culture, election, envy, family, foreign, government, hate, intelligence, interpretation, interpreter, japan, Japanese, jobs, korean, language, learn, media, military, multiculturalism, nationalism, negro, obama, politics, poverty, president, race, racism, relations, rights, stereotypes, translation, Translator, usa, vote, war, women, world |
When President-elect Barack Obama and his family take up residence in the White House it means that he will move into every household in America. He will not be just some Black dude that moved in down the street in a predominately White neighborhood and his family will not become the new Cosby Show. The Obamas move on big time to prime time on the biggest channel watched by millions in the world.
I am a child of the 60’s and a US Marine Corps veteran that served and fought for America much like my father, uncles and cousins did during the Korean War and conflict in Vietnam. The biggest difference in the conflicts during my military service and theirs is that they fought wars abroad only to return home to fight various forms of in your face racism in America.
I am a product of the Detroit public school system and moved from the ghetto to the top flo’ (and at times back down) because others broke various glass ceilings. There was a school house in Little Rock, Arkansas that had its glass ceiling broken by some black children which ultimately allowed people like me, opportunity. There was a young lawyer that had only lost one case out of 30 who went on to become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in American history. His tenacity ended segregation in public schools. There was a little ol’ woman that rode a bus and refused to give up her seat (and she was not the only one, just the most famous) that translated into people like her being legally allowed to do more than keep their seat. When I headed to a school full of people that I predominately saw on television, in magazines, downtown or at the “white” shopping center, it was like being in a different country. A glass ceiling broke in my house and let in the fresh air of hope when I accomplished things that a couple of generations in my family had not. They paved the way, I just followed the path. Like a young Barack, I had a mother that shoved when I need a push and a family that supported me when I needed.
As a 16-year-old college freshman exposed to something new, I made the most of it. Barack Obama attended the some of the best schools in America and is headed as uptown as one can go in America. I am sure that he will take advantage of being exposed to something new and that he and the in-coming First Lady, Michelle Obama, will expose something new to many in America and around the world. (さらに…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )