Interview with Libera Part 2: 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!
2022
Y: Hi again Libera! Now that it’s been a year, what are you currently thinking about?
L: Now that I'm about to start graduate school, I'm mostly thinking about things in relation to mental health. I’ve also had a few opportunities to learn/talk about the importance of sexual consent and the prevalence of sexual assaults in Japan.
About mental health, I’m starting grad school soon so that’s been occupying my mind. My thesis is going to be about body image in Japan, specifically, quantitative research about the development of body image in biracial adolescents in Japan. As I also mentioned last year, adolescence is an important period to develop a healthy body image. It’s quantitative research, so I'm not supposed to go into it with a theory. I'm supposed to do research to find a theory. However, personally I feel that biracial adolescents have a difficult time navigating their body image. I think it also depends on their background. I’m sure it will be different according to the mix of races. I find myself going back to a time when I was in adolescence and thinking about how it was for me. It’s going to be very personal research!
The topic of Sexual consent has been on my mind ever since i started my long journey of processing and working through my trauma. I know a few people who have been working incredibly hard to spread awareness about sexual consent in Japan and I’m learning so much from them. They inspire me a lot. Because learning so much, it makes me feel like we have so much work to do for sexual education in Japan. I really wished that I learned about body autonomy in sex education.
Y; Last year, you talked to us about the perception of Blackness in relation to athleticism. In the past year, Japan held the horrid 2020 Olympics. Any new thoughts about this?
L: I'm still saddened by statements like “you’re only good at sports, because you’re Black”. It invalidated the efforts that I put in to get to where I was. Not only that, it invalidates the effort of other Black/biracial players in the field!
With the 2020 Olympics, it really confirmed that this society will only like us (the Black community) only when it’s profitable for them. Although I love Osaka Naomi (she’s amazing!) seeing her tokenized in the Olympics, being used to make Japan look better while the country is doing nothing to protect the Black community… It is extremely frustrating. I love the sport, I wish I could simply enjoy it. However, the show of sports, like the Olympics, are inherently political.
I’m also angered by cultural appropriation that I witnessed. I'm looking at you Hirano Ayumu!!!!!! He had the nerve to go to the olympics with dreadlocks!!
I saw someone online who criticized his poor behavior and used his hairstyle (his dreads) as one of the aspects of his bad attitude. (Someone that Hirano respected had dreads + that person was caught with cannabis + this person also had dreads -> this influenced Hirano’s bad behavior? - sort of messed up rhetoric) He may be wearing the hairstyle because he thinks it's cool, but there's no 'respect' when he doesn't understand the negative impact it has on the Black community.
I'm not denying that he's a great athlete, but it's also true that the “Olympic mood” has made it difficult to criticize him, especially now that he's a medallist. I think that Black people (or at least I), always face this kind of internal conflict not only because of his actions and behavior, but also because of the people who continue to tolerate it.
Respect can mean a lot of things. Let’s say I knew Hirano Ayumu, and I asked him “do you actually respect Black culture” and he said “yes”. I can’t stop him from wearing dreads, but the minute the person who is being questioned gets defensive, that shows it all.
People should first ask “Why shouldn’t I wear Black hairstyles as a non-Black person”. In order for you to actually understand why you partake in appropriation that hurts certain people, you have to do your research, take time out of your life. “Respect” is often a vague term that people use to sugarcoat their appropriation. For me “respect” means giving up your own time to learn about us, to learn about cultures. It takes time and effort from the majority.
Y: And “Respect” is definitely not equal to “liking” it.
Exactly. I read about how In the early 2000s, hip hop gained more popularity in Japan. As it gained a bigger audience, it reshaped the view of Black people in Japan. Previously, their stereotype was just based on physical features, such as the color of our skin or hair texture. After hip hop became a trend, there was an increase of people who wanted to achieve a stereotypically Black “hip hop” aesthetic.
That commodification of Black culture still persists. There’s this convenient picking and choosing of which parts of Black culture to use for personal benefit.
“Respect” is often a vague term that people use to sugarcoat their appropriation.
For me “respect” means giving up your own time to learn about us, to learn about cultures. It takes time and effort from the majority.
Of course, hip hop is a huge part of Black culture. However, when that is the sole representation of what Blackness is, that’s an issue. If that’s the only part you will “respect”, that’s a problem. It’s a superficial tokenized representation.
That’s the issue I have with Black aesthetics being a trend. If you’re Black, you can’t be Black one day, and be something else the other day. It’s always this one tiny, “digestible” aspect of Blackness that’s trending. The type of Blackness that usually becomes a trend within non-Black people includes lighter skin tones, tiny waist, and big butt.
On the other hand (but similarly) British Vogue just recently had a photoshoot where they made the models appear darker (reverse-skin bleaching). I can only think they did that to make them look more strange, sexual, “other”.
Y; You also talked about the oversexualization and exoticization of Black femininity. Do you feel that your ideas surrounding “beauty” in yourself and the society has shifted over the past year?
“Until society makes it easier for all of us, we will not feel fully appreciated and respected.”
L:
Hair: I feel as though black hair and protective styles are a bit more accepted now. However, with this move towards acceptance I see textualism becoming more prominent. I happen to have a curl pattern that is within proximity to the new beauty standard (probably because I can grow it out long, w/o it being an afro). Because of that,I feel like my hair is considered 'good hair'. I wonder what people would say if I had tighter curls.
Body: Last year, I talked about how people associate my body type with the fact that I’m Black. Some people would tell me “you have this curvy body, with big breasts and a big butt.” Comments like this affected (and honestly continue to affect) my self-image and my self worth a lot. When people show their interest in me, I question whether it's because they like what I have (body-wise) or if they are actually attracted to me.
Big breasts are largely celebrated across cultures as a symbol of femininity. However people seem to have mixed opinions on big butts. In the era of the BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) body, I feel like my body type was the beauty standard. (i don't feel comfortable saying that I'm the beauty standard but I recognize that I was temporarily in close proximity to the constructed “ideal”) However, in many Asian countries + different eras,, big butts were and are associated with being 'fat' (fatphobia!!).
I’m also thinking about Black-fishing. Blackfishing is a term created by Wanna Thompson. “Black women are constantly bombarded with the promotion of European beauty standards in the media,” Thompson wrote for Paper Mag, “so when our likeness is then embraced on women who have the privilege to fit traditional standards yet freely co-opt Blackness to their liking, it reaffirms the belief that people desire Blackness, just not on Black women.”
This quote by Thompson sums it up so well. she was talking about white women specifically, but I believe it can be applied to other races too (including East Asians!!).
Nikita Dragun is the Queen of Blackfishing. When Nikita drops in and changes her skin color, appearing darker, to have this ambiguous look without the consequences of being Black, it takes away the opportunity for an actual Black woman to be in that spot. She tries to present herself as Black "just enough to hang on to racial ambiguity without fully dealing with the consequences of Blackness". Honestly, y’all only like Black people when it profits you. When someone takes Black aesthetics, aspects and then uses it for their own benefit, it doesn’t only take away from actual Black people.
Blackness “trending” does not help Black people. It’s always only a small part of Blackness that is “celebrated”. It ends up putting certain aspects on a pedestal, and as a result hurting others who do not fit into that stereotypical ideal created by the majority. Until society makes it easier for all of us, we will not feel fully appreciated and respected.
Y:.You also mentioned how whiteness is idealized in the beauty industry, especially in East Asian countries.
L: It's a tiiinyyy bit better now. If the store carries brands like Maybelline they tend to carry darker shades, but not a full range of dark skin shades so idk how our darker skinned sisters are doing :(
If it's a Japanese brand, the likelihood of me finding my shade is very low even today.
Y: About navigating these toxic beauty standards that are also imposed on us by the beauty industry, media images, etc.… What would you like to see more of? What would have helped growing up?
L: There are many definitions of body image but one theme that seems to be consistent with the research surrounding this topic is the fact that your environment (culture, media, your social circles etc) has an undeniable impact on the development of body-image.
Adolescence is one of the most critical periods in the development of body image. It is a time where people experience physical, social, and psychological changes. Having a healthy body image becomes a key component to navigate those inevitable changes.
As someone who did NOT have a healthy body-image nor a healthy relationship with my body/self image, I can only wonder how things would've been if I grew up in a more inclusive, diverse environment where my blackness was also celebrated.
“I can only wonder how things would've been if I grew up in a more inclusive, diverse environment where my blackness was also celebrated.”
Y: What would an inclusive and diverse environment look like for you?
My very vague answer is “representation through the eyes of the minority and not through the eyes of the majority”. Last year, I saw this image of a textbook on twitter. It was a pregnant person in biology class. The image was of a Black woman. That was the first time I saw my skin color in a text book. Even small things like that would make a huge difference. Having more teachers with diverse backgrounds would have also been great.
In media, I want to see people with all skin colors, hair textures, skin tones, everything. If we could erase this message from society to assimilate to one specific ideal (that’s essentially Eurocentric) that would be nice.
Y: You also talked last year about how always educating people can be exhausting. How do you feel about that now?
Over the past year, I've realised that it's not possible for us to speak up every time we see discriminatory expressions/behaviour. I also still have a lot to learn, and I don't know everything.
I shouldn't have to be the teacher all the time.There is this burden however to be the teacher because what's going to happen if you don't educate these racist folks and they end up hurting another one of us??? Am I partially responsible?? No, but sometimes I feel that I am.
In the midst of BLM movement, there was this emphasis on listening to what Black folks have to say. That itself is great. However, I feel like people took that too literally and superficially. Yes, as a society, people haven’t listened to Black voices. To actually be a good listener, you have to not just “listen” or “listen” passively. You have to listen to understand, listen with compassion, listen to learn. I don’t think that comes easy. I think this connects to respect as well. Neither of them comes easy. That’s why it’s very important to do the actual work! (and also why it’s easy to know whether a person actually respects/listens to us or not)
People need to realize that.
Y: What’s something that you want to celebrate from the past year? Have you made any new discoveries or gained new insight surrounding the Black community in Japan or Black women in Japan?
As I said last year that it’s not easy to be a Black woman in Japan, but we’re not lesser than anybody. We’re beautiful.
The community that we have in Japan is quite beautiful in my opinion.. Thanks to social media I've been finding more and more Black/blasians and I like how a lot of them seem to be very supportive of each other..
From the past year, I realized more and more my privilege as a Black woman too. I know that my being light skinned and having “good hair” means something in this society. I understand my position as a privileged Black woman, I want to use this privilege to help spread awareness. I feel that’s the least I could do for this community. I want to use my privilege to help.
There was this one time I was on the train by myself. I was standing right next to the doors, and there were two Black people on the other side of the platform. They saw me, and even though we’re complete strangers, they started waving to me with huge smiles. They even did a heart sign with their hands. That shows how much love there is within the community, even if it's small.
