Despite the large numbers of books, shows, and movies with Asian characters, the scope of roles and archetypes offered to those characters is disappointingly narrow. Compounded by various mockeries of Asian people played for comic relief, it’s no surprise that Asian Americans are fed up.
“It’s sad that [there are so many] I can’t even just choose one. The Asian accent portrayed by a white character just drives me nuts. Seeing it recently in Licorice Pizza (and also hearing the audience laugh while watching it in theaters) made me want to throw my bag of popcorn at the screen,” said Lucy Yu, founder of Yu and Me Books.
It was crucial to Yu that Asian Americans have a space to see themselves starring in romantic comedies, murder mysteries, even self-help books. And if no one was going to create one, she would do it herself. Yu aimed to foster “the strong, diverse voices of our community, with a highlight on immigrant stories.” Instead of filing Asian American stories under a Celebrate AAPI Voices poster for one month, Yu cultivated aisles of rich culture and celebration – in a city with one of the highest populations of Chinese immigrants in America, no less.
In December 2021, Yu and Me Books made history as the first Asian American, woman-owned bookshop in NYC Chinatown. After features in The New York Times, NPR, and CBS (among many others), the Mulberry St. bookstore has welcomed book signings, Q&A events with authors, and vigils and remembrances for victims of AAPI hate.
I spoke to Yu about her childhood, Asian American representation, and identity. Here’s what she had to say.
HL: Tell us about your life growing up as an Asian American. What impacted you most, and is there anything you wished you did differently?
LY: I don’t think I respected my culture and history as much as I would have liked to growing up. I didn’t grow up with many other Asian Americans and that forced me to assimilate to the people that I was around. I feel sadness and regret for not appreciating my rich history and unique upbringing, which is why it’s so important for me to make children growing up now feel a little less lonely. I found a lot of solace in books growing up, but even there I felt that I tried to assimilate to main characters that didn’t look like me to find some assemblance of kinship within their stories.
HL: What led you to start a bookstore, and why did you decide to switch your career path to do so?
LY: I always felt there was beauty and importance in sharing stories and books. Even when reading the same book, people’s opinions and views are skewed depending on their own experiences and upbringing. By sharing those perspectives, I really feel that we can all become closer and see each other in a different light. Creating a community space in which we can collaborate and communicate with each other while being surrounded by stories that we can share was a dream for me because I really believe that it can bring people together. That brought me much more joy and fulfillment than any engineering or supply chain job I could do.
HL: What books have been most influential to you throughout your career?
LY: There are so many it’s hard to narrow down! Here’s a couple:
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High School: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Yellow Wallpaper, Jane Eyre, Unaccustomed Earth
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College: My Year of Meats, The History of Love, Kafka on the Shore
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Now: East of Eden, A Little Life, Homegoing, A Mind Spread out on the Ground
HL: Many Asian American writers, like Cathy Park Hong, have expressed the difficulties they have faced writing about their Asian American identity. How can Asian American creators feel more comfortable writing about their identity?
LY: In my journey, I had to forgive myself for not always loving my identity and working through my own way of finding pride in who I am. I doubt myself every day, but I still keep going because just thinking about how far I’ve come, I’ve already made the younger me proud and that makes me want to continue. It’s hard to develop confidence in an environment that is constantly pushing us away from that, and yet when I do have confidence, I fear that I’m becoming too cocky. Especially in my upbringing, I felt that I tried to balance my confidence regularly to hit the scale just right, but I know now that scale was never going to be right, and I’m still working hard to try to rewire that in my way of thinking. Once I’ve started to recognize the importance of standing up for myself, my identity, and my worth, I found myself speaking more openly about my experiences. By sharing them, more and more people shared theirs with mine, and we all came out of it feeling a little less alone.
HL: What are good resources for people trying to read more diverse books?
LY: We live in a time where we can look anything up, so I always try to tell people that they can find diverse reading in any genre (truly just by Googling). I always try to remind people also that it is not always the responsibility of an author of color to educate readers on the [minority] experience, since that’s never been the expectation for white authors. So just treating diverse works as just works without an asterisk is important.
HL: What can we expect from Yu and Me Books in the upcoming year? In 5 years? And what is next for you in the next few years?
LY: It’s so tough for me to think long term, but I just hope that people find a bit of home in the store today, tomorrow, and the day after!
You can learn more about Yu and Me Books at https://www.yuandmebooks.com/.