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One Sunday in Savannah: A Birthday Post for My Mother
One Sunday, in March of 1941, a child was born to sharecroppers in Savannah, Georgia. They named her Rosemary, and the whole of creation shouted, “praise the lord!” for she was a godsend, like all...
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From 9/11 Til 3/11: An Evolving Relationship with Fear
I was about to leave home for work- my office a mere 5 block walk from my apartment in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn where I had lived on the top floor of a 4-story Brownstone for about 7 years- when the world...
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Butterfly Effect
Yesterday I was sitting in the outdoor section of a Starbucks near Yokohama station sipping coffee, when I noticed a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, checking out the cafe as if to see if it...
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Black Women in Japan are Winning!!
The latest #BlackEye is up! Featuring four of the members of Black Women in Japan sharing the recipe to the group’s phenomenal success! It’s no accident that BWIJ has experienced tremendous growth...
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How Do You Say ‘Dementor’ in Japanese?
This conversation took place today at a cafe in Yokohama between a student and I. Me: Hey, how are you? Student: I don’t feel so well. Me: Physically or emotionally? Student: Emotionally. Me: Sorry to...
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Congolese Architect Builds More than Just Buildings in Japan
Growing up in New York, you tend to turn a blind eye on much it has to offer. Native New Yorkers generally leave all that gawking, oohing and ahhing to the tourists. Celebrities might get a nod…maybe....
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Maintaining Mental Health in Japan
…is not easy but there’s no need to suffer in silence and isolation. Sometimes you just need someone to listen, who gets it. There are services available here in Japan for people who might just need a...
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Is Japan Really a Land of Opportunity?
The latest #BlackEye is up and atcha! This month’s piece tackles the question of opportunity in Japan, and how viewing this country as such (or not) might just be a matter of where you’re coming...
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Who’s Teaching the History and Diversity of “Blackness” in Japan?
#BlackEye is Back! Previously Black Eye has brought you several series. The first (a three parter) on maintaining identity in Japan. The 2nd was another three-parter on Jamaicans in Japan. The 3rd was...
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Are Blacks and Japanese Still Allies? Understanding “Blackness” in Japan
The latest #BlackEye is up and atcha! This month we launch a series on who is teaching “blackness” in Japan, as well as the how and why. We start appropriately with an academic beast! The author of the...
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A Japanese Professor Explains Why it’s Essential that Japanese Learn the...
This month’s #BlackEye, for the first time in its 3-year run, speaks with a Japanese professor, Dr. Keiko Shirakawa! As I explained in the previous column, we’re in the midst of a series on teaching...
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Talking About THIS Japan???
Just wanted to take a moment out to say thank you all for your support of this little enterprise of mine known as Black Eye. When I started Black Eye back in 2014, I only knew one thing for certain:...
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Why Japanese People Fear Black People (Confessions of a former Japanese Racist)
In a recent video on his popular YouTube channel “Find Your Love in Japan“, the YouTuber known as “Nobita” decided to tackle a subject that (as you guys well know) is near and dear to me: Pokemon! Nah,...
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Obstructing Japanese Chikan (Perverts) on the Trains
I could feel the awkward pressure against me, his bodily insistence that I move when moving was unnecessary; ample space awaited him in the other direction I discerned with a glance. If this were NY I...
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My Welcome to Japan
When I first moved to Japan I lived in Musashi Urawa out in Saitama. It’s about 20 minutes from Tokyo on the Saikyo Line. The Ekimae (the area around the station) has a handful of shops and...
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My First Time was Relatively Painless
Dateline: January 9, 2011 Place: Yokohama, Japan Venue: Bad Communication Podcast Interviewers: Andrew and Hiroki Interviewee: Yours Truly My very first live interview! Can’t believe it’s been almost 7...
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Mi Kasa, Su Kasa (Aoi-san’s Last Stand)
As I laced up my boots preparing to leave my house, I realized that the noise that had awakened me an hour earlier than my alarm (and the sound I’d been trying to ignore all morning) was the...
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Is Baye-Sensei a Nee-Gah, Too?
There’s a cute little 13-year old ハーフ hafu (biracial African-American and Japanese) among my 1st year students. Her name is Risa (not her real name) and she kinda favors Rue from “The Hunger Games”....
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Autumn in New York: Advising a Japanese Friend about NYC
This conversation took place between me and a student in a cafe in Yokohama: Student: So, I have some news. Me: What is it? Student: My company is sending me to New York at the end of October! Me:...
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A Chat with the New African President of a Japanese Uni
As teased and promised earlier this week, #BlackEye introduces the first black president of a Japanese university (according to the Japanese Ministry of Education), Oussouby Sacko, who was generous...
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