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COMMENTARY: Black Representation and Appearance in Japanese Pop Culture

NNPA NEWSWIRE — We as Black nerds are entitled to characters that we can identify with and can show to children for them to take pride in. Growing up I loved Goku, Cloud, and Sora. But it would have been nice to have a stalwart and cool character that I was a kid could look up to that I could identify with that looked like me.

Published

5 years ago

October 14, 2019

Oakland Post

This issue extends outside of classic cartoon anime. Japanese video games are also guilty of unequal and stereotypical representation. There are many different types of representation and all of these entertainment companies are missing the mark on all of them. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

THE BLERD BINDER

By Noah Washington, NNPA Newswire Pop Culture Contributor

With the release of Netflix’s “Cannon Busters,” we go back to the age-old conversation of representation of African Americans in anime. The most well-known characters in Japanese pop culture have often been represented with European features and fairer skin tones such as Naruto, Ichigo, Luffy, or Spike Spiegel. Even in live-action adaptations, some of these characters have been played by Caucasian actors.

Even when there is a Black character written into a storyline, their features are often exaggerated or they are made into a stereotype, most infamously with Mr. Popo of “Dragon Ball” fame; his dark as night skin and big red lips reminiscent of Blackface.

The closest thing we have gotten to a fair and entertaining anime representation is in Aaron Mcgruder’s “The Boondocks.” Yes, I know that The Boondocks is not considered an anime, but it has anime influences, and development by Madhouse Studios made it the closest thing we have gotten to an enjoyable anime with a predominantly Black-filled cast.

Unfortunately though, as much as I enjoyed “The Boondocks” and how it cleverly portrays stereotypes, they are stereotypes nonetheless.

“Cannon Busters,” which is a part of Netflix’s anime initiative to bring about more original content was recently released, and I have to say the quality of it and the writing are outstanding.

“Cannon Busters,” has all the qualities of a traditional anime, giant mecha’s, over the top protagonists, and a dramatic impossible plot, but I am disappointed with “Cannon Busters” in one aspect. In Episode two of the series, we are introduced to the Gearbolt Empire. “Cannon Buster’s” has Black Warriors, a Black Prince, a Black King and most importantly a Black hero named Odin. I see Odin as a double-edged sword.

This presented a chance to show off powerful deities with African origins. There are plenty of gods to choose from in the Yoruba and Egyptian pantheon such as Ogun, Sango, or Horus. On the other side of this problem is the fact that a Black man is depicted as a powerful larger than life figure named Odin who has traditionally looked like a grizzled caucasian male with an eye patch.

Video games also have their own role in this dilemma. Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy are two of the most popular video game series and have cemented themselves in American pop culture.

Kingdom Hearts is a joint venture with Disney Interactive and Square Enix. Kingdom Hearts combines the worlds of Final Fantasy and Disney films. The third entry in the Kingdom Hearts series was released early in 2019 and the game overall is good, but yet again another missed opportunity.

Several Disney worlds were featured in the game, but the easy slam dunk world that is missing is “The Princess and the Frog.” For some fans of the series, this was a disappointment.

Kingdom Hearts is overflowing with the themes of dark vs light, love conquers all, magic (good and bad), and whimsically simple-minded villains such as Dr. Facilier. Even the Bayou would have made a great location for the main characters of Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy to play around in, you could have even turned them into frogs like the design mechanic that was done when the characters went to see Simba from the Lion King in Kingdom Hearts II which visualized them as Lions.

Final Fantasy faces a different issue. More than thirteen plus games make up the Final Fantasy series and there has barely been a handful of memorable characters. Barret Wallace and Sazh Katzroy are practically the same characters. They both use guns as their main style of fighting and have operated as comic relief at various points in the main story.

Sazh is a mild-mannered character who represents a big problem. Sazh himself isn’t a bad character, but it’s what he is carrying around with him constantly: A Chocobo.

Chocobo’s are like horses in the Final Fantasy series and to any uninformed viewer, kind of cute, but to the informed it carries the stereotype that Black people love chicken which is an insulting character choice. Barret Wallace, on the other hand, is made to look like a stereotype, a muscled up Black man with a gun (as I previously stated).

I hope they treat Barrett a cut above his old self in the Final Fantasy VII remake set to release March 3, 2020. I just want a Black Final Fantasy character that has a slim muscular build who carries around an awe-inspiring sword that one day my kids would want to dress up as for Halloween.

Is this an issue of the Japanese studios not interacting enough with people of African heritage or is it a matter of malevolence?

We notice the trend of African American stereotypes even outside of Japanese anime and video game culture. In Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed movie “Get Out.” There is a scene where the main character Chris, played by Daniel Kaluuya is attending a “get together’’ for his girlfriend’s family which is filled with nothing but Caucasian Americans with the exception of a man played by the Japanese actor, Yasuhiko Oyama.

On IMDB the character is listed as Hiroki Tanaka, a Japanese name. Is this a commentary on how Asian Americans are allowed opportunities that African Americans are not? Is this a way for Jordan Peele to say that the Japanese see African people the same way Caucasians do? Or is this a way of saying that the Japanese identify with Caucasian Americans more than the other marginalized and oppressed groups due to their colonization by the English?

We as Black nerds are entitled to characters that we can identify with and can show to children for them to take pride in. Growing up I loved Goku, Cloud, and Sora. But it would have been nice to have a stalwart and cool character that I was a kid could look up to that I could identify with that looked like me.

The good news is that the release of Marvel’s “Black Panther” brings in a new era of representation that does not have the word “stereotype” anywhere around it. The bad news is that there is not a character of color that stands out in the world of anime like Goku or Naruto.

Noah Washington was born in Richmond, VA. Noah has been a black nerd since birth. He is a Media Entrepreneur major at Georgia State University. He loves everything in from “Ant-man” to “Z-Gundam” He has written for the SCADCONNECTOR writing exposés and TV interviews such as NBC’s “New Amsterdam. Follow him on Instagram under Riotboyatl and on Facebook.

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PRESS ROOM: Clyburn, Pressley, Scanlon, Colleagues Urge Biden to Use Clemency Power to Address Mass Incarceration Before Leaving Office

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Mass incarceration remains a persistent, systemic injustice that erodes the soul of America. Our nation has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with nearly two million people locked in jails and prisons throughout the country.

Published

6 days ago

November 21, 2024

Oakland Post

Read the letter here.

Watch the press conference here.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) led 60 of their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging him to use his executive clemency power in the final months of his presidency to reunite families, address longstanding injustices in our legal system, and set our nation on the path toward ending mass incarceration.

The lawmakers hosted a press conference earlier today to discuss the letter. A full video of their press conference is available here and photos are available here.

“Now is the time to use your clemency authority to rectify unjust and unnecessary criminal laws passed by Congress and draconian sentences given by judges,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “The grant of pardons and commutations and the restoration of rights will undoubtedly send a powerful message across the country in support of fundamental fairness and furthering meaningful criminal justice reform.”

Mass incarceration remains a persistent, systemic injustice that erodes the soul of America. Our nation has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with nearly two million people locked in jails and prisons throughout the country. The extreme use of incarceration has resulted in one in two adults having had an incarcerated family member. People of color are disproportionately put behind bars, along with individuals from low-income communities, LGBTQIA+ folks, and those with disabilities. The bloated prison system reflects and emboldens biases that undermine the ideals of our nation and diminish trust in the rule of law. Mass incarceration attacks the most vulnerable Americans, thereby destabilizing families and inflicting intergenerational trauma.

In their letter to President Biden, the lawmakers praised the President’s efforts to create a fair and just criminal legal system by pardoning people convicted of simple marijuana possession and LGBTQ+ former servicemembers and urged the President to use his clemency powers to help broad classes of people and cases, including the elderly and chronically ill, those on death row, people with unjustified sentencing disparities, and women who were punished for defending themselves against their abusers. The lawmakers also outlined the fiscal toll of the growing mass incarceration crisis.

“You have the support of millions of people across the country who have felt the harms of mass incarceration: young children longing to hug their grandparents, people who have taken responsibility for their mistakes, and those who simply were never given a fair chance,” the lawmakers wrote. “These are the people seeking help that only you can provide through the use of your presidential clemency power.”

Joining Representatives Clyburn, Pressley, and Scanlon in sending the letter are Representatives Joyce Beatty, Sanford Bishop, Shontel Brown, Cori Bush, André Carson, Troy Carter, Yvette Clarke, Jasmine Crockett, Valerie Foushee, Al Green, Jahana Hayes, Steven Horsford, Jonathan Jackson, Pramila Jayapal, Henry Johnson, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Robin Kelly, Summer Lee, Jennifer McClellan, Gregory Meeks, Delia Ramirez, Jan Schakowsky, Robert Scott, Terri Sewell, Marilyn Strickland, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

The lawmakers’ letter is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union; Center for Popular Democracy; Last Prisoner Project; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Death Penalty Action; The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls; The Faith Leaders of Color Coalition; Second Chance Justice of MCAN; JustLeadershipUSA; FAMM; The Episcopal Church; The Bambi Fund; Free Billie Allen Campaign; People’s Coalition for Safety and Freedom; Prophetic Resistance Boston; and Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

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Tennessee State University Set to Debut the First Division I Hockey Team at An HBCU

THE AFRO — “I am incredibly excited to embark on building this program, supported by God, my family, TSU students, alumni, and all those eagerly awaiting this moment,” said Duanté Abercrombie, the head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers ice hockey team, in a press release courtesy of TSU Athletics. “I firmly believe that one day, TSU will be recognized not only as a powerhouse on the ice but also as a program whose student-athletes leave a profound legacy on the world, enriched by the lessons learned at TSU.”

Published

6 days ago

November 21, 2024

admin

By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com

Tennessee State University (TSU) continues to break ground on a historic journey to become the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to field a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I ice hockey team. Alongside some assistance from the National Hockey League (NHL), the NHL Players’ Association and the Nashville Predators, the TSU Tigers have already named their official head coach, unveiled their jersey and received their first official commitment from a student-athlete.

TSU held an official press conference to announce the plan in June 2023. Their first official season as a sanctioned Division I program is planned to commence in 2025-26. On April 18, TSU named Duanté Abercrombie as the head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers ice hockey team.

“I am incredibly excited to embark on building this program, supported by God, my family, TSU students, alumni, and all those eagerly awaiting this moment,” said Abercrombie in a press release courtesy of TSU Athletics. “I firmly believe that one day, TSU will be recognized not only as a powerhouse on the ice but also as a program whose student-athletes leave a profound legacy on the world, enriched by the lessons learned at TSU.”

Abercrombie was raised in Washington, D.C., and was mentored by hockey legend Neal Henderson, the first Black man to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Abercrombie attended Gonzaga College High School and graduated from Hampton University, where he was a track and field athlete prior to retiring due to an injury. After college, Abercrombie briefly played professional hockey in both the New Zealand Ice Hockey League as well as the Federal Hockey League.

After his career as a professional hockey player, Abercrombie moved onto coaching, including stints with his alma mater Gonzaga and Georgetown Preparatory School. In 2022-23, Abercrombie was a member of the coaching staff for NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

“We are no longer doing club play in 2024-25. We are going right into D1 play for 2025-26,” Nick Guerriero told the AFRO. Guerriero is the assistant athletic director of communications and creative content at Tennessee State.

On Jan. 19, TSU got their first official commitment from an ice hockey recruit, Xavier Abel. Abel played at Drury University and scored 12 goals in 34 games, including three game-winning goals. Abel was recruited by Guerriero.

In July, the Tigers got their second commitment from forward Trey Fechko. In October, Trey’s brother Marcus Fechko also committed to Tennessee State. Since, the Tigers have also signed forward Greye Rampton, goaltender Johnny Hicks, Grady Hoffman and four-star forward Bowden Singleton. Singleton flipped his commitment from North Dakota to Tennessee State. Guerriero said that TSU has a “few” other recruits that they are waiting to announce during their November signing period.

“I think it’s important to invest in these unorthodox sports for Black athletes because it allows Black children to have more opportunities to play sports in general,” said Zion Williams, a 2024 Gettysburg College graduate and former collegiate athlete. “The more opportunities that children have, the better. They won’t feel like they are boxed into one thing or sport.”

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HBCU Champions Advance to Postseason Play

WASHINGTON INFORMER — From HBCU football teams, to the University of the District of Columbia’s soccer program, and Howard University’s volleyball players, athletes are still working to capture titles and garner bragging rights in their various conferences.

Published

6 days ago

November 21, 2024

admin

By Ed Hill | The Washington Informer

As the semester quickly winds down, several teams at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are hoping to find success in the postseason.

From HBCU football teams, to the University of the District of Columbia’s soccer program, and Howard University’s volleyball players, athletes are still working to capture titles and garner bragging rights in their various conferences.

South Carolina State proved all the prognosticators wrong by winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular season title after being picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll.

As a result of their success, defeating the Morgan State Bears 54-7 on Nov. 16, the South Carolina Bulldogs now qualify for the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Dec. 14 in Atlanta, kicking off at noon and streaming on ABC.

However, another game between Jackson State and Southern University must happen a week before the big matchup in Atlanta, before the Bulldogs (8-2, 4-0 MEAC) know who they’ll be going against.

The Bulldogs, who have one game remaining on the schedule against Delaware State on Saturday, Nov. 23, will square off against the winner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title game between Jackson State and Southern University on Dec. 7.

The Southern Jaguars (7-4, 6-1 SWAC) won the West Division, while the Jackson State Tigers (9-2, 7-0 SWAC) captured the East Division and the two will now meet up on Jackson, Mississippi at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, kicking off at 1 p.m. and streaming on ESPN2.

In the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championship game, it was Virginia Union University that defeated rival Virginia State 21-17 for the title in Salem, Virginia, on Nov. 16.

Virginia Union University celebrates after defeating Virginia State University, and winning the regular season CIAA title in Salem, Virginia, on Nov. 16. (Courtesy photo)

It was the Virginia Union University Panthers’ second straight CIAA title, avenging a 35-28 loss to the Virginia State University Trojans on Nov. 9. The Panthers (8-3 overall, 6-1 in the CIAA) got an effort of 178 yards rushing on 32 carries and a touchdown from Jodo Byers.

Virginia Union will open the playoffs with a road game at Wingate in Wingate, North Carolina on Nov. 23, with kickoff at 1 p.m.

In the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAC) championship, it was Miles College (9-2) overwhelming Clark Atlanta (7-3), 53-25 in the title game. The Miles College Golden Bears piled up over 430 yards of total offense, giving them a NCAA Division 2 bid as they host Carson-Newman on Nov. 23 at 11 a.m.

Miles boasts one of the top defenses in the country in Division 2, having forced 33 turnovers.

University of the District of Columbia Soccer Team Defeats Molloy

In men’s soccer, the University of the District of Columbia defeated Molloy University in the East Coast Conference (ECC) championships final on Nov. 17.

The University of the District of Columbia men’s soccer team celebrates after winning the East Coast Conference championship game on Nov. 17 (Courtesy photo)

Mustafa Tahir scored the game-winning goal in the 100th minute. It was Tahir’s third game winner of the season.

The Firebirds (8-7-4, 3-4-1 in the ECC) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division 2 tournament against the No. 7 seed Post University. on Friday, Nov. 22. UDC enters the game on a four-game win streak.

Howard University Volleyball Dominating in the MEAC

Howard University is one of the hottest women’s college volleyball teams.

Howard University’s volleyball team has been on fire at 21-5 overall and undefeated in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. (Courtesy photo)

The Bison (21-5 overall, 14-0 MEAC) went undefeated in league play and are on a current 15-game game win streak headed into Friday’s tournament in Dover, Delaware.

The final is scheduled for Sunday at 8:30 pm on ESPNU.

Howard is the top seed, and they will be looking to capture their sixth tournament title and NCAA bid in the past nine years.

The Bison boast one of the top players in the country in junior outside hitter Rya McKinnon, who is headed for an unprecedented third straight Player of the Year honor.