This blog was created for people like myself. I am an over 40 year old woman (ajumma) of color (melanin) who loves Korean Pop, Hip Hop, R&B, Dramas, Movies and culture. Since 2017, I have spent time not only enjoying Korean Entertainment and media, but growing in my knowledge and respect for Korean history, culture and the people. In these blog articles I strive to share not only my love for Korean entertainment and culture from the perspective of a mature fan, but also to provide knowledge and connection to those who feel like their voices are not always represented. I am not a professional writer and these articles are based on my views and opinions as a mature Black American woman. I always try to include additional information for my readers to follow up read, watch and further explore on their own. This blog is still a work in progress. Not sure how often I’ll post, but all are welcomed. It’s not just for people of color, or just women, but for the mature fan to be able to speak freely and openly about the stuff we love. The goal is to always make this a safe space for all. I just ask that you are respectful of everyone’s opinions. Debate is good, but respect is even better!
Author Talk: A Conversation with Elondra Birchfield author of Purple Hearts: Maya’s Journey With BTS We all have an origin story of how we started our journey as fans of K-pop and Korean culture. For some, it was a way to connect to a culture and community that we were already familiar with. The journey … More A Journey into Becoming ARMY and Beyond
Starting in the United States in 1999 and adapted globally over time, every year June is recognized in most parts of the world as Pride Month. For those of you not familiar, Pride is a global celebration and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community. However, Pride is not as widely celebrated in some countries. If it … More Korea and Pride: Queer Culture in the Background
아니요! 만지지 마세요! No! Please Don’t Touch!” This may be one of the first phases in Korean that some Black foreigners learn while spending any type of time in South Korea. Whether you are there for a week or two as a tourist, there for a few months as a foreign exchange student or have … More The Unicorn in a Foreign Land: The Black Experience in South Korea
Back in January, I was scrolling through my Instagram, and I see a post by one of my favorite Black American comics Kevin Fredericks (KevOnStage) and to my surprise there was a clip of the recent Korean pop group Got7’s fan-meet concert Nestfest. The caption on the clip says, “He’s not a Delta.” Confused, I … More Here We Go Again: Korean Entertainment Lack of Awareness
*Disclaimer- parts of this article briefly mentions thoughts of or attempts at suicide. If this may be triggering, please proceed with caution. * Since getting into anime a few years ago the biggest debate I have seen on nerd spaces is this long and drawn-out discussion about watching anime through subtitles (Subs) or through English … More Dubs vs Subs: How Language Dubbing Can Take Away the Experience and Intentions of Korean Media
Stopping the Repeat of History On December 3rd, 2024, at approximately 10:30 PM KST South Korean President Yoon Sik Yeol announced on national television that he was enacting his Presidental power and placing the country into martial law. Merriam Webster Dictionary describes martial law as the law administered by military forces that is invoked by a … More “What about my oppa?” K-Pop Fans Concerns During South Korea’s Brief Period of Martial Law
From October 28th-November 11th, the Korean Cultural Center of New York (https://www.koreanculture.org/) in collaboration with Nongshim Shin Ramyun (https://nongshimusa.com/) and 26 participating Korean restaurants within the K-Town area of New York City promoted Korean Culture through the universal language of food. Specially designed K-Culture Passports were available for pickup at KCCNY, participating restaurants and Shin … More Promoting K-Culture in NYC Through Food
In September, a close friend of mine, who is in the U.S. Army, was deployed oversees over 6,000 miles away. His wife, one of my best friends knew for almost two years he was going to deploy. However, when he finally got the final orders it was still a huge blow. Well, this is how … More It’s Happening: BTS Enlistment
For you K-pop stans this Ticketmaster kerfuffle has been an on going issue for more than a decade. However more recently Ticketmaster and their questionable practices have only been exacerbated by the pandemic and loosely regulated standards of practice for the ticketing industry. In addition with the use of “bots“, a computer program that runs automated tasks … More The Saga that is Ticketmaster
On July 12th I had the opportunity to finally check off an item on my music bucket list and see Korean R&B artist and Voice Korea 2020 winner Kim Ji-Hyun, better known as G Soul (aka Golden). I discovered his beautiful soulful voice in 2018, when I was going through my Korean R&B journey. Out … More Soul From Seoul: The Underappreciated Genre of Korean R&B
The Melanin Ajumma 