Building on the momentum of the summertime marches during which protesters took to the streets of Tokyo and Osaka to speak out against racial discrimination, Black Lives Matter Tokyo, an organization dedicated to spreading awareness of racial prejudice, is continuing the conversation about race with its free webinar series, “RealTalk.”
The aim of the series is to have educational talks about racial inequality and systemic injustice. The webinar’s first installment, which took place in June, was a two-hour panel discussion focused on informing people, particularly in Japan, on the background of the Black Lives Matter movement. The second installment is scheduled to be held on Oct. 18 and will discuss the harmful representation of Black people in media, touching on issues such as blackface, whitewashing and colorism.
Although Black culture is often put in the spotlight, and many people want to understand and show their appreciation for it, cultural appropriation and microaggressions are still common. Such unconscious bias is added on top of those who deliberately attempt to be hurtful, and it's quite an upsetting mixture.