On the 2 and the 4: The Shea Butter Newsletter
What’s Up World. Every week, Sylvs brings you a newsletter highlighting our new merch, the shea butter goals of the week, and more Black excellence. We highlight the good work our friends around the world is doing, while also giving space for our Street Team here in the USA. Follow along on Beehiiv, and here, to continue to read the good work we’re doing all over the US and beyond.
May was AAPHI Month, and Sylvs went on special assignment for SBFC. She got to link up with some special people at Angel City to celebrate their culture, and the waves they’re making in the NWSL. Read below!
Earlier this month, I took a trip out to Thousand Oaks (the gas and the distance, boo) to interview select Angel City FC (ACFC) players about their team honoring AANHPI Month at their home match against Racing Louisville. ACFC has one of the largest concentrations of players that identify as AANHPI in the NWSL, with players whose cultural identities are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipina, and Vietnamese. There is a special pride these players carry when speaking about their cultures, and living in Los Angeles gives them access to the comforts of home and family, and gives them a sense of community, or at least the comfort of the community always being there.
I spoke briefly with forward Casey Phair, Miyabi Moriya, Hannah Stambaugh, and Gisele Thompson about what their culture meant to them, and what it meant for their team and community to celebrate it. Their answers were enlightening, and in some ways, familiar. I know writing about APINH culture in a newsletter dedicated to Black women in the game can seem like a forced fit, but celebrating other cultures is also part of who we are, and who the WOSO community is at large.
“I think we have the largest Korean population outside of Korea. And that’s been so nice to get to know and get to be a part of,” Casey Phair says with a slight smile while answering my very first question for her. Phair is still just seventeen years-old (she will turn eighteen in late June), and in her second season with Angel City. She is also the first American born player on the Korean Women’s National team, and played for them at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. “My mom’s Korean, so Korean culture was a prominent part of my upbringing. And playing for the Korean National Team, it’s become more prominent.” I wanted to know in what ways she’s connected with the Korean population of LA, and how she incorporates her culture in her everyday life. “Koreatown is 30 minutes away. And I don’t live with my parents anymore (Phair is from New Jersey and this is her first time living on the west coast), so I can’t eat what I do with my mom. But I can get Korean food when I want to.” The Korean community also comes out to some of her matches for support. Phair, who speaks Korean fluently, “A lot of people think I don’t speak Korean, but I do, a lot better now. I actually speak with Miyabi, who is Japanese but speaks Korean with me.” She and Miyabi also go to Koreatown to grab lunch, usually weekly, and it’s likely that she’s eating kimchi or kimchi jjigae, and finishing it off with bingsu, or Korean shaved ice. “I’ve only eaten Korean food the past few years, so living in LA makes that easier.”
While having so many other teammates from the APINH diaspora has helped her adjust, and she talks about some culturally specific things with her two best friends on the team, who are also a part of the diaspora, Phair’s favorite part of being so connected to her Korean culture (besides BTS, Suga is her favorite) is how close it’s made her with her mom.
My brothers don’t speak Korean fluently. Playing for the National Team and being in the culture has made me and my mom so much closer.
Playing for Korea has also brought a great sense of pride to her extended family, especially her grandmother, who she sees more often now that she’s often playing in Korea during international break.
I went to my grandma’s house, and she has so many photos of me with Korea in her room. She’s so proud and happy I play for the team, and that I get to see her more now.
It is that sense of pride from her family and her community that buoys Phair while she’s away from home and playing in LA.
Playing for my culture is a sense of pride, and so is playing for LA, with so many Korean people here.
Miyabi Moriya is newly arrived at Angel City, having signed for the club in the off season, but she already had friends on the team, in particular, Hannah Stambaugh, a childhood friend from Japan. While MIyabi has been a professional player for a while, this is her first time playing in the United States, and there has been an adjustment period. I briefly interviewed the two together to ask about what the Japanese community, and having one another and teammate Jun Endo, has meant to them this season. Please note, a translator was used for this interview, some words or complete ideas may be lost in translation.
I’m not as involved with the whole Japanese community, but I’m involved with some people in the community, and it’s been really nice having them and their support in LA.
Hannah stambaugh about her time in los angeles so far
Miyabi adds “It’s nice to have the Japanese community around. For me, I’m also friends with Casey, so I’m also involved in the Korean community. That’s what’s nice about LA, I can be involved in more than one of the Asian communities here.” Los Angeles does have sizeable communities for all of the Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora, and it is one of the reasons Angel City celebrates those communities, many of them fans and players, each season. “It’s nice that the club celebrates our Japanese heritage. It helps the community and players feel more connected to each other, and that’s nice,” Stambaugh continues.
My follow up question for Miyabi is about her favorite place to eat in LA. Hannah chuckles and interrupts, saying Miyabi eats mostly Korean food now, and speaks Korean with Casey during training. She doesn’t understand, and had to explain to others that while Miyabi speaks Korean, Casey cannot speak Japanese, but everyone has someone they can communicate with in the end. Continuing, Miyabi jokes that she has yet to go to Little Tokyo in the city, but has been to Koreatown at least half a dozen times since moving to LA. You can see the years of friendship in their banter, and that support and familiarity has gone a long way to helping Miyabi learn the team culture and philosophy, quickly. “I didn’t have to guess being the third Japanese player on the team. I didn’t have to figure out where to go, and LA is so easy to blend in with the Japanese community. It’s easier to adjust when you know other people at your new team.” Of course, I had to end the interview with the most important question, favorite meals. Hannah’s favorite Japanese meal is sukiyaka, or Japanese hot pot. Hannah explained the differences between Japanese hot pot and Chinese hot pot, which was my only frame of reference for the meal. I was very happy to learn something new (and will definitely try it), and continued to laugh as Miyabi responded with her favorite dish Korean dish, samgyeopsal, a Korean bbq dish, and Hannah gave a shout of disapproval. It was a great moment between friends and a great end to the interview.
In closing, Gisele Thompson may have offered the most succinct answer on why AANHPI Night, and the team’s support of it, matters.
Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of people that looked like us to look up to, that played. I think it matters that little kids can look at us, at the team, and see themselves and cheer for themselves. It’s nice to have a team that helps build that kind of culture.
Indeed, both in Los Angeles and in every NWSL market, many of which celebrated the heritage month, it comes down to being seen and supported. That’s been a true this AANHPI Month as it’s ever been, if not more so at this time in our history. We at Shea Butter are happy to do our part to celebrate APINH voices however we can. A special thank you to Angel City Comms for allowing us time with the players during a busy week. A special thank you to Casey Phair, Miyabi Moriya, Hannah Stambaugh, and Gisele Thompson for giving me their time post training.