MIXED!: Educator Joemy Ito-Gates on Why Ethnic Studies Matters

Bay Area Teacher on Growing Up 'Multiracial Japanese American' — and Why Ethnic Studies Matters

“Woman. Daughter. Adoptee. AIDS Orphan. Hapa. Japanese-American. Asian. Asian-American. Queer Musician. Writer. Martial Artist. Alive.” Those are the words a 21-year-old Joemy Ito-Gates wrote below a photograph of her taken by artist Kip Fulbeck.

Some 20 years later, she’s also now a mother, an ethnic studies teacher and an advocate against cultural appropriation in fashion. And she’s changed the words she uses to describe her racial background to “multiracial Japanese American.”

Our series “Mixed: Stories of Mixed-Race Californians,” continues with hosts Sasha Khokha and Marisa Lagos in conversation with Ito-Gates about growing up as a multiracial adoptee, the loss of her parents to AIDS, and the ways she’s reclaiming Japanese heritage garments. 

Thrifting and Bio-Art: Two Different Approaches to the Fast-Fashion Problem

You might not realize it when trying on a new pair of jeans, but some estimates put the greenhouse gas emissions from clothing and shoe manufacturing at eight-percent of the global total. And thousands of tons of textiles end up in landfills each year. While fast fashion has many Americans buying more and more new cheap clothes, others are wondering what they can do to help. From KCBX in San Luis Obispo, Gabriela Fernandez profiles two California women who are championing more sustainable ways to shop.

'Stud Country': Queer Line Dancing Finds Home in Los Angeles 

We’re heading to a night of boot scootin’ boogie in Los Angeles, at a spot that’s a little more than your usual honky tonk. Stud Country is a weekly dance party, a safe space for folks of all genders, sexualities and dancing abilities. KCRW’s Danielle Chiriguayo recently hit the dance floor. 

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