Episode 19: Black and Asian Solidarity in Cosplay - a podcast by Carmilla Jo
from 2021-02-11T13:00
February is Black History Month. Unfortunately, February 2021 has seen an alarming spike in Asian hate crimes and murders. Racism is an ugly issue that cannot be ignored within the cosplay community, especially in light of gatekeepers and bullies who harass black cosplayers who cosplay non-black characters. Cosplay is for everyone, regardless of race, as it is a hobby that should unite passionate fans who share a common love of geeking out over their fandoms. In this episode, Carmilla Jo touches upon how Black history has shaped American culture and success, how Asian culture and history has played a complicit role in systematic racism, and how we can do better to become better allies and improve as a community.
LETTERS FOR BLACK LIVES is a crowdsourced project started by Christina Xu in 2016 in response to initiating discussions of the Black Lives Matter movement between younger Asians and Asian elders. The letter has been translated into more than 30 languages, including Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Khmer, Hmong, Tagalog, Nepali, Hindi, Russian, and many more.
Thank you Shelli Anpan (@shellianpan on Instagram) and @thekitchengorilla for being my sensitivity readers when I wrote up my draft!
Cover art by @monyeeart
CARMILLA JO is a Bay Area-based cosplayer and model. Growing up with a love for fantasy and animation, she has evolved as not just a model and cosplayer, but also as a costume designer and creative producer. By taking creative control in her works, she has yielded numerous publications and magazine cover features.
As an award-winning cosplayer, her costuming takes inspiration from anime, manga, video games, history, corsetry, and nostalgic cartoons. She plans to continue improving in the craft of cosplay and costuming in the years to come, in addition to collaborating with fellow ambitious creatives for more elaborate and other-worldly photoshoots and projects.
Official website: CarmillaJo.com
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