AKIMI YOSHIDA SERIES

Due to their efforts, many communities of color were left overpoliced and marginalized. The situation was exacerbated by COINTELPRO, a program specifically created by the FBI to have undercover agents and paid civilians infiltrate and systemically dismantle many social movements deemed as threats against the American government. As a result, the mass incarceration of people of color, particularity Black people, rose dramatically during this period and would continue to rise under Ronald Reagan’s administration in the 1980s.

This initiative both criminalized drugs and associated them with communities of color, which allowed law enforcement to raid their neighborhoods with impunity. During Richard Nixon’s presidency, the “ War on Drugs” became a priority, since a high number of soldiers in Vietnam had become heavily addicted to drugs. The manga’s highly tense environment draws from real-world events such as the Civil Rights movements, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, which created impactful societal changes in the United States. Ash’s quest for revenge and freedom winds up tangled in a conspiracy connected to the drug “Banana Fish,” which is sought by both criminals and politicians.

AKIMI YOSHIDA SERIES

The series follows Ash Lynx, a young gang leader trying to survive a cruel world filled with gang violence and predatory old men who want to control him. Gangs of New York: The racial realities of Banana Fish ’s America This complex duality, combined with an engaging story, makes for both a smart and frustrating series for new QTBIPOC readers. With the exception of Eiji, there is also the issue of the few openly queer men of color in Banana Fish being depicted as pedophiles or rapists–so, while representation can be empowering, it can also be problematic.īanana Fish is not afraid to center grim realities that impacted QTBIPOC in the forefront, but it can also be hurtful to be reminded how actively the United States government planned and enacted policies meant to destroy marginalized communities both at home and abroad. She ended up perpetuating racist caricatures reminiscent of the long history of Anti-Black portrayals in media.

However, she clearly did not have an understanding on certain topics, such as the representation of Black characters in the story. Editor’s Note: The English edition of the manga frequently adds slurs not present in the original textĪkimi Yoshida clearly did immense research on the history of the United States and how major socio-political movements impacted the lives of her characters.

Akimi yoshida