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What’s successful a name? Well, for Ji-Young, the newest muppet nonmigratory of “Sesame Street,” her sanction is simply a motion she was meant to unrecorded there.
“So, successful Korean traditionally the 2 syllables they each mean thing antithetic and Ji means, like, astute oregon wise. And Young means, like, brave oregon courageous and strong,” Ji-Young explained during a caller interview. “But we were looking it up and conjecture what? Ji besides means sesame.”
At lone 7 years old, Ji-Young is making past arsenic the archetypal Asian American muppet successful the “Sesame Street” canon. She is Korean American and has 2 passions: rocking retired connected her electrical guitar and skateboarding. The children’s TV program, which archetypal aired 52 years agone this month, gave The Associated Press a archetypal look astatine its adorable caller occupant.
Ji-Young volition formally beryllium introduced successful “See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special.” Simu Liu, Padma Lakshmi and Naomi Osaka are among the celebrities appearing successful the special, which volition driblet Thanksgiving Day connected HBO Max, “Sesame Street” societal media platforms and connected section PBS stations.
Some of Ji-Young’s property comes from her puppeteer. Kathleen Kim, 41 and Korean American, got into puppetry successful her 30s. In 2014, she was accepted into a “Sesame Street” workshop. That evolved into a mentorship and becoming portion of the squad the pursuing year. Being a puppeteer connected a amusement Kim watched increasing up was a imagination travel true. But helping signifier an archetypal muppet is simply a full different feat.
“I consciousness similar I person a batch of value that possibly I’m putting connected myself to thatch these lessons and to beryllium this typical that I did not person arsenic a kid,” Kim said. But chap puppeteer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph — who performs Abby Cadabby — reminded her, “It’s not astir america … It’s astir this message.”
Ji-Young’s beingness is the culmination of a batch of discussions aft the events of 2020 — George Floyd’s decease and anti-Asian hatred incidents. Like a batch of companies, “Sesame Street” reflected connected however it could “meet the moment,” said Kay Wilson Stallings, enforcement vice-president of Creative and Production for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit enactment down “Sesame Street.”
Sesame Workshop established 2 task forces — 1 to look astatine its contented and different to look astatine its ain diversity. What developed was Coming Together, a multi-year inaugural addressing however to speech to children astir race, ethnicity and culture.
One effect was 8-year-old Tamir. While not the show’s archetypal Black muppet, helium was 1 of the archetypal utilized to speech astir subjects similar racism.
“When we knew we were going to beryllium doing this enactment that was going to absorption connected the Asian and Pacific Islanders experience, we of people knew we needed to make an Asian muppet arsenic well,” Stallings said.
These newer muppets — their personalities and their looks — were remarkably constructed successful a substance of a months. The process usually takes astatine slightest a mates of years. There are extracurricular experts and a cross-section of employees known arsenic the “culture trust” who measurement successful connected each facet of a caller muppet, Stallings said.
For Kim, it was important that Ji-Young not beryllium “generically pan-Asian.”
“Because that’s thing that each Asian Americans person experienced. They benignant of privation to lump america into this monolithic ‘Asian,’” Kim said. “So it was precise important that she was specifically Korean American, not conscionable like, generically Korean, but she was calved here.”
One happening Ji-Young volition assistance thatch children is however to beryllium a bully “upstander.” “Sesame Street” archetypal utilized the word connected its “The Power of We” TV peculiar past year, which featured Tamir.
“Being an upstander means you constituent retired things that are incorrect oregon thing that idiosyncratic does oregon says that is based connected their antagonistic cognition towards the idiosyncratic due to the fact that of the colour of their tegument oregon the connection they talk oregon wherever they’re from,” Stallings said. “We privation our assemblage to recognize they tin beryllium upstanders.”
In “See Us Coming Together,” Sesame Street is preparing for Neighbor Day wherever everyone shares food, euphony oregon creation from their culture. Ji-Young becomes upset aft a kid, disconnected screen, tells her “to spell backmost home,” an insult commonly flung astatine Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. But she feels empowered aft Sesame Street’s different Asian American residents, impermanent stars and friends similar Elmo guarantee her that she belongs arsenic overmuch arsenic anyone else.
The information that Ji-Young was created to antagonistic anti-Asian sentiment makes her much peculiar to Kim successful immoderate ways.
“I retrieve similar the Atlanta shootings and however terrifying that was for me,” Kim said. “My 1 hope, obviously, is to really assistance thatch what racism is, assistance thatch kids to beryllium capable to admit it and past talk retired against it. But past my different anticipation for Ji-Young is that she conscionable normalizes seeing antithetic kinds of looking kids connected TV.”
Vanessa Leung, co-executive manager of Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, is excited astir Ji-Young. The enactment was not progressive successful Ji-Young’s instauration but antecedently consulted connected anti-racism contented for Sesame Workshop. It matters erstwhile Asian American families, particularly with galore of them being migrant families, tin spot themselves reflected successful an instauration similar “Sesame Street,” Leung said.
“It sparks curiosity and aboriginal knowing of the diverseness of our community, the quality successful the diverseness of our community,” Leung said.
Ji-Young volition beryllium heavy contiguous passim the caller season, Stallings reassured. She besides won’t conscionable beryllium utilized for contented related to radical justice. She volition popular up successful assorted integer programs, live-action and animated.
As the caller kid connected the street, Ji-Young is looking guardant to showing her friends and neighbors aspects of Korean civilization specified arsenic the food. She loves cooking dishes similar tteokbokki (chewy atom cakes) with her halmoni (grandmother). And she already has 1 “Sesame Street” person who wants a sample.
“I would emotion to effort it,” said Ernie, who joined Ji-Young’s interview. “You know, I’ve tried bulgogi. I truly similar bulgogi. I’m gonna conjecture that possibly aged buddy Bert has not tried Korean food.”
Having already made respective celebrated friends connected “Sesame Street,” is determination anyone Ji-Young inactive truly wants to meet?
“The Linda Lindas due to the fact that they’re truthful cool,” Ji-Young said, referring to the teenage punk stone band. “And they stone retired and they’re chill girls and astir of them are Asian. They’re my heroes. If we tin get the Linda Lindas connected ‘Sesame Street,’ I would amusement them around.”
English (US) ·