Interview with Libera Part 1: Blackness, Intersections, and Personal Growth
We had the chance to sit down with Libera for two in depth interviews over the course of two years (2021 and 2022). In these personal interviews, Libera offers insights on how non-Black people can show up for the Black community, as well as her thoughts about the intersections of identity and navigating racism in Japan and elsewhere.
Interview by : Yume Morimoto (B.G.U.)
Photography by: Karella Mara Raffinan
Assistant: Mayo (B.G.U.)
Interview questions and photography were also ideated by Libera herself.
Also available in Japanese from the button below!
2021
Y: First things first. What’s your name? What are your pronouns and what are you currently thinking about?
L: I often just go as Libera Amadi, but my full name is Libera Amadiwakama Mochihashi. Amadiwakama is my father’s family name and Mochihashi is my mother’s maiden name. My pronouns are she/her. Something I am currently thinking about is the #stopasianhate movement and white supremacy, racism… and how it just sucks.
Last year during the Black Lives Matter movement, a lot of my Asian friends were saying “well, Black people are racist toward Asian people, so why should we protect them?” Things like that. And now, they’re all up on their Instagrams promoting “stop asian hate”. I think the root of the problem is white supremacy.
I’m at the intersection of Blackness and Asianness, and watching this discourse, it feels like white supremacy is making people of color turn against each other.
Even within Asian communities there’s always been anti-Blackness. Historically, East Asian people have been put on a pedestal at the expense of Black people. I understand the notion of “white supremacy is the ultimate evil,” but also, East Asian people in particular have definitely given into white supremacy and benefitted from close proximity to whiteness. I think East Asians also have to be held accountable for that. It’s not a conversation that I see often but I believe it needs to happen.
Y: We got in touch last year and I read your article on “Speak Up Sophia” and that’s how we originally reached out to you. The article was centered around your thoughts and experiences surrounding your Blackness, your relationship with the police, beauty standards, among other really interesting and important topics. You also talked about the intersections of racism and misogyny that you’ve experienced.
L: Yeah, so in the Speak Up Sophia article I think I briefly mentioned how gender roles within Japanese society have affected me, how “women” and the definition of femininity are dictated by men, often seen through this male gaze. There’s this idea that women have to be “pure”, “clean”, and “delicate”. Essentially, it’s someone men want to protect. And growing up, I never felt like I could be that “ideal woman”, mostly because the portrayal of this woman within the media never looked like me. It was often the exact opposite of me: pale skin, straight black hair, a thin body.
I also read this research paper that talked about this myth of “黒人特有の運動能力 (The Unique Physical Abilities of Black People)” which was quite an eye-opening read for me. It was about this myth that black people are innately superior when it comes to physical capability: Black people are inherently bigger, stronger, and are better at sports. The article pointed out that in the U.S., less than half the population believe this myth. In Japan, it was found that the vast majority of people did not doubt this belief. A social psychologist, Wagatsuma Hiroshi, stated that 40-50 years ago, Japanese people viewed Black people as genetically advanced athletes too.
Similarly, this author called John G. Russel, who wrote “日本人の黒人観 (Japanese Views on Black People)” commented that way too many Japanese comics and mangas portray Black people as athletes. It can negatively contribute to this stereotype that all Black people are good at sports.
As I was reading this paper, I thought “wow, I get that a lot”. People would take one look at me and say “you must be really good at sports.” I did do track and field, so they’re not completely wrong. However, even when I was practicing or training, people thought I was good at track just because of my race and ethnicity. People would say to my face, “it's because you’re Black.”
This perspective that Japanese people still have relates to misogyny too.
As I mentioned before, the ideal of being a woman in Japan is being “demure, submissive, pure”. I’m often seen as strong, outgoing, and good at sports. People immediately think that I’m not the ideal woman because I don’t need protection, I am stronger than men. A lot of times people even assume that I’m scary.
Y: I remember when Ariana Miyamato, who is half Japanese and half Black, won Miss World. A lot of people claimed she is not Japanese. They ousted her, saying she’s “not one of us”. Of course, beauty pageants are flawed in many other ways that I won’t go into here. However, it’s worth mentioning that there are contestants who are white, whose blood lines aren’t questioned. The moment it’s Blackness, it’s questioned. I don’t think she would have gotten those nationalistic, racist negative attention if she was half white.
On the other hand, there’s Osaka Naomi who is really successful and excels at sports. It seems like she’s commended and “claimed” as “Japanese”, because it’s in the field of sports. Relating back to what you mentioned earlier about the misconception that Black people are innately good at sports, Osaka is someone that the Japanese people can comprehend through their preexisting stereotypes.
L: It’s frustrating. Osaka Naomi is more palatable for Japanese people, compared to Ariana. Osaka’s image adheres to an existing stereotype of Black people in Japan. Ariana doesn’t, and due to her Blackness, her Japaneseness is questioned.
Y: Growing up in Japan, do you think you internalized these interconnected forms of oppression (racism, misogyny, ethnocentrism) in any way?
L: Because I didn’t feel like I could be the ideal woman in Japanese society, I had this period of time when I would steer away from wearing white or being “feminine”. I felt incredibly awkward and insecure. In my mind, I thought the color white or anything “feminine” was associated with this “pureness” that I couldn’t access. Because of my skin color, because of the way I look, my ethnicity, my race…I thought I wasn’t allowed to wear these things. Japanese society was gatekeeping these forms of expression for me. In retrospect, it sucked.
Y: What are some beauty standards that have been imposed on you? How do they relate to your race, gender, or ethnicity?
L: I get a lot of comments about my hair. People are very curious about my hair. They often compare it to dog hair. It’s dehumanizing… but they think it’s a compliment.
Some people would say you have this curvy body, with big breasts and a big butt. They associate my body type with the fact that I’m Black. Ninety percent of the time, this comes from men. They would fetishize me, and call me “exotic” all the time. What do they expect me to say to that? It’s just the oversexualization and exoticization of what they believe to be stereotypical Black femininity.
I also get comments like “You’re pretty for a Black girl.” It implies that they don’t think Black is beautiful.
I read somewhere that beauty standards in the Western world change quite frequently. This isn’t only for skin color, but for body shape as well: from corsets to Marilyn Monroe, to heroin chic to big butts. Now, everyone wants big lips, big hips, and a small waist. It’s very appropriative of Black culture.
Here in Japan, I have bigger lips. I never liked my lips. I didn’t like my big hips either. Now everyone wants to have this “look”.
They want to get the “look” without having the Black experiences.
Here in Japan, the number of bi-racial and mixed race kids has increased. With that, there’s also the increase in the desireto “look mixed”.
People compliment me and the way I look, but they only compliment the things that they think half white kids would have i.e. long lashes, long legs. People say “I wish I was hafu.” But in my mind, I’m thinking “you don’t want to be half-Black. You don’t want to be Black though. You strive for whiteness.”
They want to get the “look” without having the Black experiences.
Y: The sheer amount of whitening creams in Japan too. The normalization of idealizing whiteness…
L: Whitening creams make me deeply uncomfortable.The other day, I was at a drugstore and all I wanted to buy was mascara.
For me to go buy that, I have to look through products that promote whiteness.
“Bihaku (Beautiful white)”. It feels like they’re pointing fingers at me telling me that my skin tone is bad. It’s honestly sad. They might have more Black models as diversity hires, but where is the representation in the products that you sell?
The beauty industry in general is very racist. A lot of the products that they sell are low-key microaggressions to me. There’s less than a 30% chance that I will find my foundation shade anywhere. Most of the time I have to buy stuff online because they never carry my shade.
What never sat right with me is the labels for these products. I see “健康的な小麦肌 (healthy tan)” for a darker shade which is way lighter than my skin tone. Am I “不健康な小麦肌 (unhealthy tan)?” Even in western countries, they like to label darker shades with food.
It often times sounds weirdly sexual. I’m not “coffee bean” or “hot chocolate” or “honey”. It’s tied to fetishization, consumption, and sex. People of color are associated with food a lot. When Fenty Beauty came out, they just used numbers. I felt I could finally buy a beauty product without feeling uncomfortable.
Y: How do you navigate these beauty standards?
L: It was definitely hard growing up not believing that you’re beautiful, and internalizing this belief that you’re not beautiful. The environment you grow up in has a big impact on how your body image evolves. I grew up in an environment where they continually told me I didn’t fit in, telling me my Black features were not beautiful. To this day, I fail to fully believe that I’m beautiful or that I get to be “feminine.”
I just have to be very conscious of the things that I tell myself when I look in the mirror.
I have to do a lot of unlearning and learning about my own Blackness.
I have to take a step back from the anti-Blackness that I was taught.
One thing that helped was to see other Black and Blasian people thriving on social media.
Representation is so important.
Y: How does colourism relate to these beauty standards?
L: I am mixed race. I have to acknowledge the fact that I do not have the darkest skin.
It’s important to understand that I have that privilege.
In Japan, I think any shade that is not really white has a negative perception. Also, in Japan, the beauty standard hasn’t changed as much compared to “Western” countries. There was a period of time when tan skin became a trend that rebelled against the beauty standard, but it never really stayed in the society. Ganguro! Apparently the trend came about in protest at the image that women had to be white or weak and ladylike. I think that shows the extent to which the status of whiteness has been solidified as the ideal.
In the States, a lot of the time, the spectrum goes a bit further. My skin tone apparently does fit into that Western beauty ideal of Blackness. I heard a lot of comments saying my skin was “honey”, “bronze”, “golden”, “chocolate brown.”
It’s very confusing for me. I have to define beauty within myself. In Japan I’m told that my skin isn’t beautiful. In the States, there are people that compliment my skin, but I still “dull” in comparison to whiteness. Either way it’s the othering of Blackness.
Some people enjoy the aesthetic of Black people, but they don’t actually respect Black people, or the history and culture that comes with it.
There are people who say, “I love rap, I respect your culture. I wear braids because I respect Black people”. I counter by saying “Do you know the history that comes with this hairstyle?” Black people had to braid their hair because they weren’t allowed to shower. For enslaved Black people in the United States, they had to think of a style that could last a long time without showering. They used braids to map out their route of escape when they were captured as slaves. Also, in Africa, hair was used to show social status, it was used as a form of expression. Saying that you respect certain parts of the culture just because you like the aesthetic is not enough.
It’s frustrating to see non-Black people wear braids when at the end of the day they can take the braids out. They get to have non-Black hair.
If non-Black people put on those features, they’re doing it for the aesthetic.
There was a video circulating on the internet, of a Black man (in Japan?) being questioned by the police. The police were saying that people with hairstyles like that often have drugs (he didn’t have any drugs or illegal items in his possession). The way this police officer forced this negative stereotype onto this poor man and justified it showed me how far away we are from winning this battle against racism.
I know it’s not my job to make people realize but it’s frustrating to see this pattern over and over again.
On the topic of me being mixed race, I think I am considered light skinned. Because of this I sometimes felt like people didn’t think I was ‘Black enough’, which invalidates my own Black experiences.
I do acknowledge the fact that colorism does exist.
However, that doesn’t invalidate my experiences of racism because of the fact that I’m Black. No one can and should take my Blackness away.
I have to define beauty within myself.
In Japan I’m told that my skin isn’t beautiful.
Y: What's something you want people to know about you?
L: That I’m more than my race. I’m more than my ethnicity. I want people to know that I’m shy sometimes. I think I’m an introvert but I like music and food. I like fashion, I like makeup. I love reading books. I love pasta.
Y: What's something you want people to stop assuming about you?
L: I'm definitely not a scary or loud person. I feel like I’m quite the opposite.
Y:What's something you want to make clear about being a Black woman in Japan?
L: That it’s not easy, but we’re not lesser than anybody. That we’re beautiful.
Y: What's something you want to celebrate about being a Black woman in Japan?
L: I think as much as I used to hate it, we, as Black women, get to stand out. It’s a blessing. Our Black hair or Black features. A lot of Black people don’t like Black noses. I think they’re very pretty. I wish Black women could look in the mirror and get to see their beauty.
Y: Lastly, do you have any recommended resources for more information on the things we talked about?
L: There’s this research paper that I read called “Multi-Ethnic Japan and the Mono-Ethnic Myth” by Stephen Murphy Shigematsu. I get a lot of information from social media like Japan for Black Lives and the Blossom Project.
There’s this book, it’s not about body image or Blackness but “we should all be feminists” is a great one! I like it because of the content, but the author’s name is the same as my Nigerian name, Ngozi!
