MULTINATIONAL PATRIOT: Korean Diaspora Flags by Onjena Yo

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WE ARE KOREA MULTINATIONAL PATRIOT FLAG COLLECTIVE

The more we learn, the more we realize how much we don't know... 

I was informed by family members that the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is no bigger than the state of Ohio with a population of 50 million (Having grown up in Ohio, I knew first hand how small this was). It wasn't that long ago that Korea could barely feed their citizens just after the Korean War of the 1950's. Now, they are the 13th largest economy in the world. And their cultural output... K-Pop, Korean dramas, movies (um, Joon-ho Bong, yes, please)... I am just at the beginning of my binge...  

A recent conversation with a new friend prompted me to research the Korean diaspora. According to Wikipedia, there are over 7 million Koreans, give or take, living abroad. Here are the Top 10: 

  1. China (2.54 Million)

  2. United States (2.09 Million)

  3. Japan (893,000)

  4. Canada (206,000)

  5. Russia (176,000)

  6. Uzbekistan (174,000)

  7. Australia (157,000)

  8. Kazakhstan (105,000)

  9. Philippines (88,000)

  10. Vietnam (86,000)

50,000 Koreans were living in Mexico and Brazil. The United Kingdom was 13th (45,000) which surprised me. And Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in the Top 10? Who knew?

I had to look up "Korean Diaspora Africa" to find the numbers for African countries: 

  1. South Africa (4,000)

  2. Libya (< 1000)

  3. Nigeria (< 800)

  4. Kenya (< 800)

  5. Egypt (< 700)

It seems I may know more about North Korea than South because of the news... I have much to learn and thanks to organizations such as the Orange County Korean American Cultural Exchange (OCKACE), I've already begun the process with some new friends. 

We designed our Korean-American flag many years ago and, based on direct feedback, it appears to have resonated with Koreans in the United States. It's been a long time coming, but we've now expanded our designs to reflect the Korean diaspora for the other 5 million Koreans living outside the U.S. & Korea.

Always lovely to hear from you. Connect with us at @MultiPATRIOT. 

Thanks for reading. 

~ Onjena Yo

#MultinationalPatriot #HonorBoth #OurPatriotism #OurGateways

Additional designs available. Tweet us at @MultiPATRIOT or send us a note here.

WWW.SHOP.KOREA.MULTINATIONALPATRIOT.COM

 
 
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SAY IT LOUD: Black Power in Every Language by Onjena Yo

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These concepts have evolved over many late night conversations... born out of pain and love and laughter. As a Black woman and a Spanish language teacher, it was quite natural that my sister would translate "Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm proud" to Spanish. This and that 30 Rock episode starring Tracy Morgan, prompted me to research how to say "Black" in every language.

“I’ve learned the word ‘black’ in every language, just so I know when to be offended. Russian “tcherny,” Korean “heug-in [hooking],” dolphin “eeee eeee eee eeee.””
— Tracy Jordan, 30 Rock: Season 4: Episode 17

Source: UnlikelyWords.com [*hooking edited to "heug-in" or "흑인"]

I came across an abundance of enthusiastic databases of ethnic slurs (for the sake of academic research, of course..). Digging a little deeper, I found that Black people were often called a term that was rooted in racist etymology by the "majority" of that country (e.g., derivative of slave, non-believer). I was on the hunt for what we called ourselves around the globe...a color in some cases... a tribe in others. The time frame deliberately spanned beyond the "transatlantic slave" era. This activity led me inward to a memory of my father, who, during parent's weekend, drove around my small New England college campus blasting James Brown's song, "Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm proud!" I've only begun to scratch the surface on what identifying and celebrating Blackness means to me, as an American, as a woman and as a person raised in a third culture *mix of Black and Korean.

Our translation of "Black" in our "Black in Every Language" design: 

Black – English
Negro – Spanish
Noir – French
Nwa – Haitian Creole
Oji – Igbo
Dudu – Yoruba
Preta – Portuguese
Nyeusi – Swahili

Whatever the language, we encourage all to #sayitLOUD! We would love to hear your thoughts! Connect with us on twitter at @MultiPATRIOT or @populistdemand. 

OUR DADDY

OUR DADDY

Thank you for your time.

~ Onjena Yo

[For the folks in the cheap seats passing notes, you can be proud, too... Black is beautiful, too... Black lives matter, too... Black girls rock, too... but it ain't always about you, too...]

 

BLACK: SAY IT LOUD Design Series by Onjena Yo

Sold exclusively on Redbubble

WWW.ARISE.POPULISTDEMAND.ORG

SAY IT LOUD:

ARABIC: 'AQUL DHLK BISAWT EAL

FRENCH: DIS LE BRUYANT

HAITIAN: DI LI BYEN FȮ

IGBO: EKWU YA OKÉ

PORTUGUESE: DIGA ALTO

SPANISH: DILO ALTO

SWAHILI: SEMA NI KUBWA

TAGALOG: SABIHIN MO MALAKAS

YORUBA: SO Ọ TI NPARIWO

 

 

I'M BLACK:

'ANA 'ASWAD 

JE SUIS NOIR

MWEN NWA

ADḷ M OJI

EU SOU PRETA

SOY NEGRO

MIṂI NYEUSI

AKO ITIM

DUDU NI MI

 

AND I'M PROUD:

WA'ANA FAKHUR

ET JE SUIS FIER

AK MWEN FYĖ

NA ABU M MPAKO

E TENHO ORGULHO

Y SOY ORGULLOSO

NA MIṂI MPAKO

AT AKO MAIPAGMAMALAKI

ATI EMI LI AGBERAGA


Do you speak any of the above languages? How did we do on our translations? Want to add a new language? 

Let us know via twitter @MultiPATRIOT & @populistdemand! 

Designed by Onjena Yo

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