Music company 88rising, WEBTOON, and advocacy group Asian American Advancing Justice (AAJC) have announced their collaboration on a new webcomic series, Illuminated, which stars Asian women in high-profile fields.
Illuminated aims to dispel false narratives surrounding the Asian identity by featuring stories adapted from interviews with Asian talent. The interviews featured in this webcomic include Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu and music artists Stephanie Poetri, Wolftyla and mxmtoon.
Illuminated will spotlight the challenges of being a minority in the sports and music industries while overcoming Asian stereotypes that are disadvantageous to their careers. These interviews will discuss important and timely topics, such as struggling with identity when coming from an Asian and/or biracial household.
This collaboration hopes to bring attention to the #StopAsianHate movement while empowering those in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. These collaborators are concerned about the rise in violence and discrimination against Asian Americans and they wish to dispel ignorance and hate. These interviews are intended to serve as a source of inspiration to show these communities that they are not alone.
“In light of the rise in anti-Asian violence, we wanted to create a WEBTOON series that gave Asian women the opportunity to tell us, in their own words, who they are and why the #StopAsianHate movement is important to them,” says Susan Cheng, Creative Producer at WEBTOON. “Asian and Pacific Islander people as a group have long been denied the right to make their mark on history, so I hope that those who read Illuminated will feel both comforted and empowered."
Illuminated can be found on the WEBTOON platform starting Friday, June 25.
For more resources or information on the fight against discrimination and violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander people, please visit advancingjustice-aajc.org/anti-asian-hate, StopAAPIHate.org and StandAgainstHatred.org.
Source: 88Rising