ARTICLE 1 - Asian politicians elected to congress
Written by Kayla Maharani
Edited by Vivian Zhu
Picture credit: https://www.politico.com/.../2022-midterms-new-jersey...
Throughout the years, there has been a constant growing need for Asian representation within the political sphere. Yet to this day, statistics from a 2021 report declared that only 0.9 percent of Congress leaders are either Asian American or Pacific Islanders. This is slightly alarming when put into perspective that Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States in 2019. As they remain severely underrepresented within politics, it is important to recognize the elected officials who made it into Congress and support their causes as we see fit.
Victoria Gu, a Chinese American citizen, was elected as a State Senator in Rhode Island. Before her parents migrated from Shanghai, they worked diligently tending to their rice paddy farm and fishing in local waters. As self-sustaining farmers, they were extremely vulnerable to pollution, and had raised Victoria to conserve and protect natural resources. Due to her background, she fights for climate change causes, which includes expanding public access to the Rhode Island shoreline and protecting it from environmental damage. Victoria also places great emphasis on the importance of a quality education and skilled teachers, as her experience from tutoring students from low-income families shed light on the importance of access to educational opportunities.
Alongside Victoria, Linda L. Ujifusa had also won a seat in District 11 for state senator. As a Japanese American, her election to the state legislature made history and revived the Asian community’s hope for representation. Her priorities include making healthcare affordable for Rhode Island residents by calling for a re-evaluation of the private health insurance companies that govern Medicaid. This was done under the notion that these private entities are making huge amounts of profits while hospitals are closing due to unforeseen financial pressures. Linda Ujifusa also plans to make housing more affordable by putting an end to luxury housing and implementing tax breaks for affluent housing developers.
Additionally, Congressman Andy Kim was recently re-elected in New Jersey’s competitive Congressional District race. His parents immigrated to America from South Korea and chose to raise him in Jersey due to its superior public school system. Andy plans to give back to his community by investing in local families through initiatives such as lowering taxes, offering affordable education, and offering more job opportunities that aid with career advancement. He also plans to prioritize veteran care, by improving healthcare accessibility, establishing suicide prevention programs and bringing an end to veteran homelessness.
ARTICLE 2 - Asian artist recommendation
Written by Jenny Zhao
Edited by Vivian Zhu
Picture credit: https://hypebae.com/.../bibi-sweet-home-season-2-netflix...
ASIAN OUTLOOK RECOMMENDS…
Singer-songwriter, Kim Hyungseo, more famously known as BIBI, is a star who rose to fame in 2019. She originally posted music onto SoundCloud with the username “NakedBibi,” and used the platform as a place to simply place her works, saying that “Art is still art even without an audience.” Through SoundCloud, she was able to find and collaborate with many underground Korean artists, and even eventually reached the ears of a venerated artist, Yoon Mirae, who is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Korean Hip-Hop. BIBI was soon contacted by Yoon Mirae to meet up, not necessarily to sign BIBI as an artist, but as a way to scout her abilities. Yoon Mirae scouted her to aid her and her husband Tiger JK’s company, “Feel Ghood Music,” in producing music. As things progressed, the duo eventually signed BIBI as the youngest artist under their music company.
Under Feel Ghood Music, BIBI has paved a path of her own within the music industry. Her debut single, “BINU,” which means soap in English, is a song about the struggles of trying to rid yourself of the negative outside perceptions of others, with her ending the song by stating to clean using soap in order to see the “beautiful heart” underneath all the judgment. Not only in her debut single does BIBI have thoughtful lyrics, but her storytelling seeps into her more recent works as well. In her first album titled “Lowlife Princess: Noir,” released on Nov. 17th, BIBI creates a world around her alter ego, in which she named Oh Geum-Ji, inspired by Lee Geum-Ja from the movie “Lady Vengeance.” BIBI stated that this character she created was one that was abandoned as a child and therefore craves love. With this character, BIBI takes her alter-ego through her different music videos and songs in general, painting different stories. One such example is in her song “Bibi Vengeance,” a song in which her alter ego acts according to her abandonment issues, only desiring to be loved, but only gaining ridicule and spite in return. In general, BIBI is very open with her topics and visuals in her songs and music videos, creating a world where there is no need to be shy of anything. In BIBI’s words, she wants to show that “sexy” isn’t always a bad thing and that it doesn’t always have to point to something provocative.
Not only is BIBI making her way through South Korea, but she has also found her way through international markets, settling in the United States and signing with the music company 88rising. Within 88rising, BIBI has been able to collaborate and create even more music. One of her top hits, “The Weekend,” released in 2021 hit multiple charts. It hit number one on Genius Korea’s K-R&B chart and peaking at number 29 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay Chart, which was a record she broke as a female K-Pop artist. This song was a collaboration remix with fellow 88rising artist, MILLI, and immediately garnered more than 10 million views and trended as a sound on TikTok. In addition to her achievements on the musical charts, BIBI has also made her way into many famous music festivals, like 88rising’s Head in the Clouds (HITC), the Korean Waterbomb Festival in 2022, Coachella and more.
Overall, BIBI is an incredible musical artist that has been breaking social norms through her elaborate and imaginative storylines. Her openness about not only sexuality but authenticity and being yourself is what makes BIBI a unique artist that should not be skipped out on.
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