Welcome to POC Culture!
The main thing you need to know about this site is this – REPRESENTATION MATTERS! That’s the whole basis of its existence.
POC Culture is a news and information site dedicated to promoting and highlighting people of color in pop culture. I started this site because I believe that poc pop culture (movies, television, books, etc.) has a substantial impact on society as a whole, and in particular, helps shape the world view of children; it shapes how they view themselves and how they view each other. As such, it’s critically important that the people we see in pop culture reflect the many various backgrounds, shapes, and colors in the real world. Especially in recent years, the fallacy that diverse projects don’t sell has been disproven repeatedly. It finally feels like it’s our time!
The Name
A little bit about myself – I’m a Korean-American male who grew up watching a ton of cartoons, sitcoms and movies, and reading a bunch of comics. They absolutely helped shape my understanding of the larger world around me. As a son of immigrant parents, one thing was made clear by those stories – my family and I were not “normal.”
Given my background, my perspective and experiences are obviously limited, and I can’t possibly speak for all people of color. Frankly, I can’t speak for all Asian-Americans, Korean-Americans or even Asian guys named Ron! When I was wrestling with the concept of this site, I considered focusing on Asian and Asian American issues and news. That’s certainly more of my comfort zone. But that would miss the point, because I believe it’s important for all people of color and other diverse communities to lift each other up, and that’s my goal for this site.
I recognize that the phrase “people of color” can be controversial. Of course, people of color are not a monolith, and in particular, the term is too often used to minimize or erase black communities. My goal for POC Culture is that it will celebrate all people of color, and highlight the diaspora experience that many of us share. So forgive me for the use of an over broad phrase, and for my limited perspectives through an Asian-American lens. All I can promise is that I will do my best to carry out the mission of this site and continue to learn from diverse communities along the way.
In the words of the brilliant Lin Manuel Miranda – “Soon there’ll be more of us!”
Ron SeoulOh
