She's here! It is time to meet your new neighbor on Sesame Street. The debut of the neighborhood's first Asian American muppet made a powerful statement about home, belonging, and the impact of abuse amid a rise of anti-Asian racism in America.
The special celebrates the diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander communities. The episode features guest appearances from comic book legend Jim Lee, tennis champion Naomi Osaka, and chefs Melissa King and Padma, as well as a focus on Ji-Young, who is Korean American.
You can watch the whole episode on the internet.
The special is set in the lead up to a Neighbor Day party on the street and tackles an important conversation about racism early on. The beginning of the episode is when Ji-Young experiences racist abuse while on her way home to get a guitar string. A kid yelled at me to go home. She told Alan, Elmo, Tamir, and Canadian To All the Boys... star Anna that it hurt her feelings. It made me sad. And afraid.
Elmo doesn't understand. Elmo asked if Ji-Young was at her home.
Alan says that they meant that she should leave Sesame Street. There are some people who don't believe that Asian people like me and Anna and Ji-Young belong in this country. We should all be very proud of who we are and where we're from.
We should all be very proud of who we are and where we're from.
Alan Muraoka.
In order to support Ji-Young after her experience, Alan takes her on a tour through the neighborhood, meeting neighbors and celebrating the traditions and diversity of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, from a basketball-playing bus driver from the Philippines to teachers from India. The celebrity appearances are strong throughout, but they're all about belonging and celebrating who you are.
Simu Liu is with Big Bird for Neighbor Day. "You're Simu!" Ji-Young is in a fan-out moment when he says "You're an actor and you're doing your own stunts and you're in movies and stuff!"
You know what? I didn't know that I could be that person. When I was a kid, I never saw anyone like me in movies or TV. All of the people I saw were the same kind of character, always in the background. It made me feel like I could only be one kind of person when I was younger. I can show people that our stories matter.
Naomi Osaka makes a brief appearance through video message, and here to talk about how sharing food from different cultures can bring neighbors together.
Cookie Monster is an icon of Sesame Street. Credit: Sesame Workshop.
Jim Lee teaches Ji-Young how to celebrate our differences. Lee's family moved from Korea when he was a child. I used to read comics when I was small. I learned English by reading comic books. I loved them because they were different from other people. Sometimes I felt like I didn't belong.
Ji-Young asked, "So, what did you do when you felt that way?"
I started drawing my own heroes. Lee says that he created stories where his heroes worked with their friends to make the world better. Sometimes what makes you different from others is your superpower. It is important that people hear you. Your voice matters.
"You are here." It is important that people hear you. Your voice matters.
Jim Lee.
Between each meeting, Ji-Young and Alan have a brief conversation, meaning there's room for reflection on Ji-Young's ongoing fear that the person who was racist toward her might be at the Neighbor Day party. Alan reminds her to ask for support from her friends and to stand up to racism, as well as giving her tips on managing experiences like this.
Kathy Kim, the puppeteer behind Ji-Young, spoke to the importance of the character being seen by Asian American kids. She said in a behind-the-scenes video that Ji-Young is proud of her Korean heritage and is happy to share it with other people. "To be able to be the representation that I didn't have as a kid is something that you can't explain."
It's possible that Tweet has been deleted.
"I want Asian American kids to see themselves, because the more they see people who look like themselves in the media, the more they know that they do belong," she said.
You can watch the episode on the internet.
