Photo: Noreen Nasir/AP/Shutterstock
Sesame Streetis making history!
Ji-Young will make her debut onSee Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special, which will celebrate the diversity ofAsian and Pacific Islander (API) communities and feature celebrity guests including:Simu Liu,Padma LakshmiandNaomi Osaka. The special will premiere Thanksgiving day on HBO Max,Sesame Streetsocial media platforms and local PBS stations.
The outlet also reported that Ji-Young is “looking forward to showing her friends and neighbors aspects of Korean culture such as the food,” and loves to craft dishes such as tteokbokki (a.k.a. chewy rice cakes) with her grandmother.
During an interview with AP, Ji-Young explained the meaning behind her name, and shared being on the beloved televised street feels like fate.
“So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables, they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong,” Ji-Young explained, per the AP. “But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame.”
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Kathleen Kim, Ji-Young’s puppeteer, who is also Korean American, was previously accepted into aSesame Streetworkshop back in 2014, which later turned into a mentorship and then a spot on part of the show’s team in the years that followed.
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According to Kay Wilson Stallings, the Executive Vice President of Creative and Production for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behindSesame Street, Ji-Young’s creation came about following theanti-Asian hate crimesthat occurred amid the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic.
“When we knew we were going to be doing this work that was going to focus on the Asian and Pacific Islanders experience, we of course knew we needed to create an Asian muppet as well,” Stallings said, per the AP.
Kim also noted that it was crucial that Ji-Young not be “generically pan-Asian” because, as she said, “That’s something that all Asian Americans have experienced. They kind of want to lump us into this monolithic ‘Asian.'”
Stallings said that Ji-Young will also be featured throughoutSesame Street’s 53rd season next year, where she will appear in various digital programs, both live-action and animated.
If you’ve been attacked or have witnessed an attack, please contact your local authorities. You can also report your incidenthere. To learn more and to report crimes, go to:Asian Americans Advancing Justice,Stop the AAPI Hate,National Council of Asian Pacific Americans,Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA, andAsian Pacific Policy & Planning Council.
source: people.com
