so i finally got to see Black Panther again ( #WAKANDAFOREVER AHHHHHH–) and am now at a Starbucks basking in the afterglow of the movie, about to attempt to herd my thoughts into a more coherent cacophony of words than exists in my head at present. wish me luck.
a while ago i wrote a random post titled “story time: when “African” is more important than “American””. well, it’s time to follow that up with another even more random post. back when i lived in Brisbane, Australia i used to use public transportation (photoed) a lot to get around before eventually getting up the courage to drive on the “wrong” side of the road. i met people from all over while living in Australia, but in so far as i can remember, i only ever met one African-American person during the 3 years that i lived there. bad luck on my part, perhaps. maybe. not exactly. but i tell myself that it is to ignore the other factors at play because the truth is that no matter what country i’m in, it’s a novelty to meet another African-American abroad and i’m well aware of the various reasons for that.…
aaahhh, more annoying Japanese TV. despite what i said (in Japanese) while letting off steam livetweeting on Twitter, i know it’s not fair of me to expect anyone, let alone this guy (Jun Soejima, an actor / “talent” btw), to react any certain way or educate the people around him on behalf of other black people in Japan. i really don’t actually expect that or anything else of him, despite my whining, but it does admittedly annoy me when people on Japanese TV just laugh off some really shitty, problematic stuff that people say or do to them, be it re: racial issues, trans issues, or anything else. they’re in a difficult situation and have all kind of things to consider when they react to something, whereas i can huff and puff at the TV saying all the choice words i like without consequence. i get that…. but meh. it was…
a former coworker (W) and i were in Tokyo today at Sensoji, a major tourist trap in Asakusa that’s in every foreign EVERY guidebook ever. a place that i generally avoid except i was playing tour guide for the day. i was off somewhere snapchatting, as i do, and when i came back to where W was there was a random middle-aged Japanese man excitedly talking to him about where he was from (Colorodo). i’m standing there for a minute or two half listening to their convo while taking random photos, as i also do, when the man realizes that i’m with the guy he’s trying to chat up in broken English. he decides to do the same with me, except… man: ooh, where are you from? me: Las Vegas. man: no, where?? me: Las Vegas…? America…? *confused as people generally know Las Vegas* man: no no, where are you from long…
it’s been over a year since i made this channel about being non-binary, queer, panromantic / biromantic asexual and a person of color, but there’s more to me than just my gender, sexuality and ethnicity. mind getting to know me a little? i’ve even added timestamps to make doing so easier. 😉 ======= Navigation ======== @00:00 – Channel introduction @00:39 – About me ========= Q & A ========= @03:00 – What are your favorite books/literature/authors? @04:02 – Who’re your top 3 musical artists? @04:26 – What are your favorite anime series or manga? @05:13 – Do you/did you play any instruments? @6:16 – What inspires you? @7:59 – Any dreams for the future? @08:50 – Do you consider yourself African American or just American or what? @10:46 – Is Japan expensive? @11:16 – What’s your other YouTube channel? @11:54 – What’s been the most difficult thing about living in Japan?…
i’m all over the place in this video. i rant about my personal experiences with the policing that takes place within the black community, concepts of “blackness” (and in turn, “whitewashing”) in the black community, being a black asexual, fears of transitioning as a black non-binary person, being black abroad and intersectionality, to varying degrees. i’m sure i’ll get ill feelings directed at me for some of the feelings and views expressed in this video, but whatever. my feelings and experiences are what they are and they needed to be (and deserve to be) expressed. that said, got your own personal experiences with race/ethnicity and sexuality/gender that you’d like to share? i’d love to hear about them. 🙂 sigh! this is why i don’t generally talk about this kind of stuff. “too much feels”…
all too often people take for granted the fact that they know their family history, can trace their heritage and are able to identify as a member of an ethnic group (or ethnic groups) with any sort of conviction beyond appearance.
