Meet Ji-Young, the first Asian-American character on 'Sesame Street'

The South Korean muppet was created in the wake of George Floyd's death and rising anti-Asian incidents in the US

Ernie from 'Sesame Street' appears with new character Ji-Young, the first Asian-American muppet, on the set of the long-running children's programme. AP

What’s in a name? Well, for Ji-Young, the newest muppet resident of Sesame Street, her name is a sign she was meant to live there.

“So, in Korean, traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong,” Ji-Young said. “But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame.”

At only age 7, Ji-Young is making history as the first Asian-American muppet in the Sesame Street canon. She is Korean-American and has two passions: rocking out on her electric guitar and skateboarding.

The children’s TV programme was first shown 52 years ago this month.

Ji-Young will formally be introduced in See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special. Simu Liu, Padma Lakshmi and Naomi Osaka are among the celebrities appearing in the special, which will be shown on Thanksgiving Day on HBO Max, Sesame Street social media platforms and on local PBS stations.

Ji-Young, 7, is Korean-American and has two passions: rocking out on her electric guitar and skateboarding. AP

Some of Ji-Young’s personality comes from her puppeteer. Korean-American Kathleen Kim, 41, got into puppetry in her thirties. In 2014, she was accepted into a Sesame Street workshop. That evolved into a mentorship and becoming part of the team the following year. Being a puppeteer on a show Kim watched growing up was a dream come true. But helping shape an original muppet is a whole other feat.

“I feel like I have a lot of weight that maybe I’m putting on myself to teach these lessons and to be this representative that I did not have as a kid,” Kim said. But fellow puppeteer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph – who performs Abby Cadabby – reminded her, “It’s not about us … It’s about this message.”

Ji-Young’s existence is the culmination of a lot of discussions after the events of 2020 – George Floyd’s death and anti-Asian hate incidents. Like a lot of companies, Sesame Street reflected on how it could “meet the moment,” said Kay Wilson Stallings, executive vice president of creative and production for Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organisation behind Sesame Street.

Sesame Workshop established two task forces, one to look at its content and another to look at its own diversity. What developed was Coming Together, a multi-year initiative addressing how to talk to children about race, ethnicity and culture.

Being an upstander means you point out things that are wrong or something that someone does or says that is based on their negative attitude towards the person because of the colour of their skin or the language they speak or where they’re from

Kay Wilson Stallings,
Sesame Workshop

One result was Tamir, aged 8. While not the show’s first black muppet, he was one of the first used to talk about subjects such as racism.

“When we knew we were going to be doing this work that was going to focus on the Asian and Pacific Islanders experience, we of course knew we needed to create an Asian muppet as well,” Stallings said.

These newer muppets – their personalities and their looks – were remarkably constructed in a matter of months. The process normally takes at least a couple of years. There are outside experts and a cross-section of employees known as the “culture trust” who weigh in on every aspect of a new muppet, Stallings said.

For Kim, it was crucial that Ji-Young not be “generically pan-Asian".

“Because that’s something that all Asian-Americans have experienced. They kind of want to lump us into this monolithic ‘Asian,’” Kim said. “So it was very important that she was specifically Korean-American, not just generically Korean, but she was born here.”

Scroll through the gallery below for characters from Ahlan Simsim, the Arabic version of Sesame Street:

A group of Muppets interact during the filming of a scene on the set of the show in a studio in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

The main puppet of the children's programme 'Ahlan Simsim' is five-year-old Basma. The muppet speaks during an interview with Reuters TV after the filming of a scene on the set of the show in a studio in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

The staff of the children's programme 'Ahlan Simsim' film a scene on the set of the show in a studio in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

The staff of the children's programme 'Ahlan Simsim' are seen as they film a scene on the set of the show in a studio in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

A puppeteer from the children's programme 'Ahlan Simsim' holds the main puppet Jad, six years old, during an interview with Reuters TV after filming a scene on the set of the show in a studio in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

Staff of the children's programme 'Ahlan Simsim' prepare puppets for filming a scene on the set of the show in a studio in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

The staff of the children's programme 'Ahlan Simsim' pose for a group picture with their puppets during the filming of a scene on the set of the show in a studio in Amman, Jordan. Reuters

One thing Ji-Young will help teach children is how to be a good “upstander”. Sesame Street first used the term on its The Power of We TV special last year, which featured Tamir.

“Being an upstander means you point out things that are wrong or something that someone does or says that is based on their negative attitude towards the person because of the colour of their skin or the language they speak or where they’re from,” Stallings said. “We want our audience to understand they can be upstanders.”

In See Us Coming Together, Sesame Street is preparing for Neighbour Day where everyone shares food, music or dance from their culture. Ji-Young becomes upset after a kid, off screen, tells her “to go back home,” an insult commonly flung at Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. But she feels empowered after Sesame Street’s other Asian-American residents, guest stars and friends such as Elmo assure her that she belongs as much as anyone else.

The fact Ji-Young was created to counter anti-Asian sentiment makes her more special to Kim in some ways.

“I remember the Atlanta shootings and how terrifying that was for me,” Kim said. “My one hope, obviously, is to actually help teach what racism is, help teach kids to be able to recognise it and then speak out against it. But then my other hope for Ji-Young is that she just normalises seeing different kinds of looking kids on TV.”

Vanessa Leung, co-executive director of Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, is excited about Ji-Young. The organisation was not involved in Ji-Young’s creation but previously consulted on anti-racism content for Sesame Workshop. It matters when Asian-American families, especially with many of them being immigrant families, can see themselves reflected in an institution such as Sesame Street, Leung said.

“It sparks curiosity and early understanding of the diversity of our community, the beauty in the diversity of our community,” Leung said.

Ji-Young will be heavily present throughout the new season, Stallings reassured. She also won’t only be utilised for content related to racial justice. She will pop up in various digital programmes, live-action and animated.

As the new kid on the street, Ji-Young is looking forward to showing her friends and neighbours aspects of Korean culture, such as the food. She loves cooking dishes such as tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes) with her halmoni (grandmother). And she already has one Sesame Street friend who wants a sample.

“I would love to try it,” said Ernie, who joined Ji-Young’s interview. “You know, I’ve tried bulgogi. I really like bulgogi. I’m gonna guess that maybe old buddy Bert has not tried Korean food.”

Having already made several famous friends on Sesame Street, is there anyone Ji-Young still really wants to meet?

“The Linda Lindas because they’re so cool,” Ji-Young said, referring to the teenage punk rock band. “And they rock out and they’re cool girls and most of them are Asian. They’re my heroes. If we can get The Linda Lindas on Sesame Street, I would show them around.”