Fast and the Furious Foregrounding

Stitch

In this installment of What Fandom Racism Looks Like: Antiblackness in the K-Pop Industry and its Fandom Spaces, we’ll be doing some fast and furious foregrounding.

The point of this foregrounding essay isn’t to provide readers with an exhaustive and complete history of Korean and/or African American hip hop and popular music. 

Here are the goals of this furious foregrounding essay:

  • to provide some context when it comes to what K-pop generally is for folks with a wobbly grasp
  • To briefly cover the history of Black creativity being exported to South Korea and beyond without Black influence (but with antiblackness),
  • To foreground myself and my experiences with this genre and the fandom spaces.

Let’s start with a quick coverage of what k-pop is from two experts who’ve written books on it.

Context Matters

In the introduction to his monograph Sorting out K-Pop: Globalization and Popular Music in South Korea, Michael Fuhr writes that:

K-Pop is mainstream music in South Korea. Initially modeled for the teenager market, this music of the country’s youth has become the most pervasive music in Korea, effectively shaping the sonic public sphere, the musical tastes among different generations, and the imaginative worlds of its consumers and producers. (3)

Then in Suk-Young Kim’s K-Pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance, she writes that:

In the broadest sense of the word K pop as an abbreviation for Korean popular music includes all genres of popular music that emerge out of South Korea. […] But in from 2009 onward, when the term entered a wide circulation, it came to designate a much smaller fraction of south Korean music. according to pop music critic Choe Ji-seon, it references “music dominated by idols dance music which strives to gain a competitive edge in the international market .in this respect indie music or rock or anything that does not belong to dominant Idol music usually is not characterized as K pop”. (8).

K-pop – as an industry and as a genre (smush), is a multifaceted [thing] that really dates back to just under thirty years ago with the term itself dating back to the mid-nineties. (Suk-Young Kim traces the term to Hong Kong’s Channel 5 in 1995 and mentions that it follows in the footsepts of the already coined and widely used “J-pop” [8]).

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[VIDEO] A Bitter (Sweet) Summer Package Unboxing

Stitch

I promised y’all a bitter unboxing and that’s…

Mostly what you’re getting.

One thing I and other Black K-pop fans – especially those a bit further along on our own journeys to unlearn internalized antiblackness – have come up against as we make our way through these fandom spaces and enjoy content form performers is that we’re constantly put into positions where it feels like we have to choose between our identities as fans of a group or the industry and our identities as Black people.

So when a performer or a group of performers does something that’s antiblack or that makes Black fans feel like they’re not being seen as actual fans or even as people, that sort of feeling rears its icky head.

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What Fandom Racism Looks Like: PickMe POC

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When I used to be on Tumblr, I’d get a lot of messages and reblogs from people who made it a point to let other people know that I didn’t speak for all POC.

I was never arguing that I did, of course, but it was imperative to these other people of color to let me and white people in fandom know that they were here, they weren’t white, and that they thought I was full of shit about fandom racism. 

Which is their right as people on the internet, let’s be real here. 

But it’s interesting:

I, a queer Black person with most of a lifetime in fandom and an entire academic career focusing on media criticism and representation, couldn’t possibly speak for every single person in fandom when I talked about racism I witnessed in fandom… but they could speak over me in order to let other people in fandom know that I was a POC Not To Be Trusted.

“Pick Mes” have a home on the internet. It’s a term borne from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) that calls to mind the mental image of people jumping up and down and begging to be picked for a game. (“Pick me! Pick me!”) Only, in the usual context, it’s someone leaping up and down and trying to get the attention of someone that treats them with disdain. 

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Stitch Does Stuff in October 2019

Stitch

Dear pumpkins,

You can probably tell from the spoopy header I made just for this, but October is my favorite month of the year.

I’m gonna be real here: it’s Halloween month and Birthmonth wrapped up into one super spooky package and I always tend to go overboard with everything. It’s what we all deserve, after all. October is the real spiritual start of fall here in the US (sorry September) and I put my all into being the embodiment of that spooky, post-summer sensation.

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Urban Fantasy 101: Bitchin’ Witches (And Wizards)

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I grew up reading Harry Potter in the Virgin Islands. 

I think Rowling’s work was the first “witchcraft and wizardry” book I read as a child. Despite all of Rowling’s many (many) faults, that book series that’s now viewed as part of the Western canon helped nudge me on towards a deep love of urban fantasy that’s still obviously present to this day. 

One of the coolest things about witches and wizards in urban fantasy is that there’s often an element of “anyone could be one” across the narrative. Even in blood-focused societies, there’s always a Hermione who doesn’t need to be genetically gifted because she has skills. 

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A WFRLL TIMELINE: FOREGROUNDING HIP HOP HISTORY

Stitch

Note: This timeline is an attempt on my and Jaeyoung’s parts to show a trajectory and some major moments for hip-hop that potentially put these cultures into conversation.

As a result, timeline does not cover every single event that happened across Black and Korean hip hop history. Otherwise, it’d be book-length and I would be a hot mess from having to wade through my sources even longer.

(Please let me know if you need or want a PDF copy of this timeline and source post!)

1974 – The birth of “hip hop” as a genre in the United States.

While the foundations of hip hop music were laid in 1972/1973, multiple sources claim that the genre didn’t take flight until 1974. Further sources claim that Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins (from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) actually came up with a name for the genre four years later in 1978

1978 – “Rap music” as a term coined in the United States

This source claims that in 1978, the music industry coins “rap music” and shifts from DJs towards MCs. However the etymology of the word “rap” and the African (and African American) tradition of rhythmic speech (often) alongside beats dates back way further and we have evidence of Black artists dating back to the Sixties performing a spoken word style that they called “rap”.

1978 – Afro-Korean singer Insooni debuts as part of the Hee Sisters in South Korea

Born in 1957 to a Korean mother and an African American GI, Insooni is a soulful diva that remains one of the most well-known performers in Korea. She’s a still-active singer who performed at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She’s important to mention at this point of the project because she’s also a household name and cultural icon within Korea now and a sign that Black people from Korea are known to the citizens.

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Dear Comic Fans, Don’t You Have Better Things To Do With Your Time Than Whine About Racebending?

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Last year, I said I wasn’t going to do this again.

I made a whole thing about it.

I was going to pretend that y’all were capable of seeing a racebent character – usually played by a Black character – and not going into a frothy rage. Y’all were going to pretend that it’s not about race, but that redheads/blonds/people with freckles all deserved representation that couldn’t come from a Black person in a wig or with a stellar dye job playing them.

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[Video] Black Women, Hated: Layers of Misogynoir in Fandom Spaces – PCA 2019

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Abstract Black Women, Hated: Layers of Misogynoir in Fandom Spaces As fandom spaces become even more active in asking for and creating positive representation about underrepresented identities (i.e., disabled people and queer people), one notable weak spot in fandom representation politics revolves around the reception towards and portrayal of Black women in fandom. Black female […]

[Stitch Unboxes Stuff] From Korea With Love Subscription Box (Sept 2019)

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Spoilers abound in this unboxing of my first box from @fromkoreawithlove_. This box was a sweet treat for myself and a great deal over on Crate Joy.

All of the stuff in the box was fantastic and I’ll definitely be sticking around for another month or two.

I’ll also be taking photos of how I put this awesome stuff to use in my day job and planner. Keep your eyes peeled, pumpkins!

Fleeting Frustrations #9: “Really? That’s What Y’all Got Out of Black Panther?”

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I know what you’re thinking: this my third or fourth “Fleeting Frustrations” post in a row to talk critically about fandom or something a particular fandom does. I know it doesn’t seem all that fleeting and well… you’re right.

Because every single time I try to settle in the squee and have fun in my fandom(s), I’m reminded that Black people and characters aren’t respected in fandom.

This latest incident?

A Black Panther post-film story that pairs M’Baku up with a white female reader and portrays the Jabari as primitive and an author who apologizes to the person who requested the story – not the Black fans rightfully offended by the racist fanwork.

I don’t know about y’all, but I am tired.

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On Oppression Olympics and Black Hypervisibility

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If you’re online, you probably have heard about the incoming talent for SNL’s future lineup.

One new face was Bowen Yang, who’d be the first Asian performer on the show’s regular lineup in its 44 year history. Another was Shane Gillis, a comedian with a reputation for using racist jokes and other offensive statements as part of his act and in his personal conversations on his podcast.

One of the Democratic candidates for president, Andrew Y@ng – who aspires to appeal to whiteness at pretty much every step of the way – received some of Gillis’ ire as Gillis used a racial slur to refer to him earlier this year. He addressed Gillis’ racism in multiple tweets earlier this week/end.

One part of his response to Gillis’ racism towards him and other East Asian people was to compare racism towards East Asian people and the reaction from the general population when racism happens to Black people, tweeting that, “If Shane had used the n word the treatment would likely be immediate and clear.”

The idea of anti-blackness like a minor celebrity using the n-word being met with “immediate and clear” punishment is laughable.

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Tiny Titans S2 E1 Reaction Post

Stitch

Titans was the reason why I signed up for DC Universe in the first place way back when the platform was first announced. I’d been in the DC fandom as a fic writer and frequent shouter, so I was prepared for the worst with the show… but I wanted to watch it anyway.

For the most part, I really liked a lot of the first season. It has its issues – and, I have like three posts in-progress about it that I may finish eventually and post on here – but for the most part it’s the kind of show that I like. It’s a show made with fandom in mind, not just fans so definitely it has a lot of content that feels tailor-made for me.

So here’s the thing with the first episode of Titans‘ second season: it feels like the finale of the first one. I think that’s because… that’s what it actually was.

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[Video] Stitch Tackles TK Park’s K Pop in the Age of Cultural Appropriation

Stitch

Some commentary on this whole thing and why these conversations are necessary:

The way Blackness is portrayed & performed across kpop is impossible to miss unless you work at being ignorant. Appropriation of Blackness – hair, slang, aesthetic, etc – is infused into the past what… 30 yrs of kpop?

I made a point of making “Cultural Appropriation” one of the main article segments in this series as I was planning it because I got sick and tired of seeing how kpop fandom at large refused to learn and listen – especially to Black fans – about why cultural appropriation hurts.

“But as Americans who shape American pop culture, African Americans’ power is incomparably greater than any non-Americans’, including Koreans’.”

A thing that came up across the research for this segment in TK Park’s quote in the above tweet and several Korean & Korean Americans scholars, performers, and fans is I’ve come across involves them assigning tons of privilege to African Americans because of their US citizenship.

Like TK Park and a ridiculously wide amount of people – especially in conversations about cultural appropriation and Korean pop/hip hop – genuinely seem to think that being Black in the US negates the fact that we live in an antiblack world where we’re oppressed endlessly.

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Stitch Does Stuff in September

Stitch

Sup sweeties?

In case you didn’t know (possibly because you’re not on the US’ East Coast or because you’re not in the US at all), September (the peak month for the Atlantic Hurricane season) started with Hurricane Dorian inching its way up across the Bahamas towards Florida.

While Florida has yet to feel anything resembling its full force, the Bahamas have been devastated due to the storm landing and then stalling as a Category 5 and then 4 for about two days. The images of destruction from the high winds and storm surge that I’ve seen so far are horrifying and the island nation will be recovering from this storm for years to come. (And note that this is just the start of peak season. There are other hurricanes just waiting to form and the Bahamas generally gets some level of storms as the season progresses.)

If you’re looking for a way to help the Bahamas, National Association of the Bahamas is collecting donations. This article from Local 10 in Miami has a list of local donation drives and other places collecting financial and physical donations and I’m sure there are other official sources that’ll come up once the Bahamian government is able to see exactly what it needs.

If you can donate to help the Bahamas, please do.

Now on to the less serious stuff: September will be shaped by what storms we get and how much work I can get done before the storms start forming in seriousness after September 10th. So, while my goal is to stick as closely to my schedule and get content out when they’re supposed to be out, hurricane season is not on my side.

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