It’s been a year since Black Eye hit the streets. In that time, we’ve profiled provocative and accomplished people, tackled complex issues including identity crisis in Japan and the brain drain in Jamaica. We’ve put a major Japanese TV network on blast, and even covered the coronation and ramifications of a new “Blasian” beauty queen.
I think it’s safe to say we’ve been getting it in! But to convey what keeps this column aloft, I have to take you back a bit, to 2006.
It was just before my beloved Aiko was taken ill. We were, at the time, in the research phase of preproduction on a documentary. She was going to write it; her brother, a burgeoning director, was going to shoot it; and her friends and I were going to help in any way we could.
Loco and Aiko circa 2005
She was a psych major at a university in Saitama, holding down two part-time jobs, but it wasn’t her workload that presented the greatest challenge to her psyche. It was Japanese people — specifically, the inability of many of them to recognize the individuality, thus the full humanity, of non-Japanese…
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You can find out more about this dynamic woman and her impact on yours truly here on the Japan Times Website!
Just want to say thanks to all the readers and supporters who’ve helped me keep this passion project alive for all this time. Hope you’ll spread the word about Black Eye. Lord knows, particularly in lieu of recent events, the more people understand why Black Lives Matter, the better!
Love,
Loco