Bummer. Recently, we were hit with the news that Jeff Yang's "Asian Pop" for SFGate, one of the few regularly featured Asian American-centric columns in mainstream press, has been canceled. As it was explained to him from the people on high, "the economics of our business have changed in a way that doesn't support online-only columns."Thus, Jeff's bi-weekly online dose of well-written, thoughtful and much-needed commentary on the best and worst of Asian America has gotten the axe. Dammit. In his final column, Jeff looks back at eight years of "Asian Pop" and says farewell -- and thanks: Goodbye.
As you might guess from its title, Asian Pop began with a focus on Asian media and entertainment, treating "Asianness" as something alien to the American experience, and "pop" as a reflection of passing fancies and ephemeral trends."Asian Pop" will be missed. I have deep respect for Jeff and his work, not just for his column, but also as a godfather of sorts for consuming, thinking and writing about Asians in popular culture in a contemporary context. On to the next thing, I guess. See you around.
Over time, however, with the encouragement of three successive terrific editors, the column moved beyond those original boundaries, transforming Asianness from a spectacle into a perspective, and making "pop" shorthand not for popular but for populi.
Ultimately, this column became a place where, every two weeks, a spotlight could be put on the colossal shifts in technology, creativity, politics and creativity being driven by the global Asian community -- a cultural network anchored on both sides of the Pacific. It became a way to connect the changes taking place in a city that's one-third Asian (and counting) with those taking place in a world that's two-thirds Asian (and counting faster).