''Yolk'' was a quarterly magazine for young
Asian Americans
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
. It was published by InformAsian Media, Inc. (IAMI) between 1994 and 2004, and it was headquartered in
Alhambra
The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, in
Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
.
[Wan, William.]
Pop Culture Asian American Magazine Falters
" ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. December 8, 2003. Retrieved on September 25, 2012. "But the periodical never turned a profit, and now the Alhambra-based Yolk is the latest in a line of Asian American publications to fold." The later incarnations of the magazine were titled ''Yolk: GenerAsian Next 2.0''.
[Wong]
p. 134
History and content
It was founded in 1994 by Tommy Tam, Tin Yen, and Amy Lee Tu. Tommy Tam was in charge of operations, Tin Yen was the graphic designer/art director, and Amy Tu oversaw the financial aspects of the magazine.
Based in Los Angeles, ''Yolk''s reflection of its generation combines sections on fashion, entertainment and music, book reviews, with occasional in-your-face attacks on our society's misunderstandings of Asian culture. The magazine's premise is that there is something common to Japanese, Korean and Chinese Americans, as well as Vietnamese, Filipinos, Indians and other Asian American groups.
''Yolk''s first editor was
Philip Chung, and managing editor, Larry Tazuma, came up with the magazine's name. "An egg yolk is yellow," he said," and so is the nominal color of Asian people's skin, regardless of nationality." "YOLK draws a strong reaction. But it simply stands for the color of our skin," he says. "It's what connects all Asians." Performance artist and professor Alex Luu served as its editor and graphic designer Max Medina/Mystery Parade served as the Art Designer of ''YOLK''. Staff writers include XD Lim and
Margaret Rhee.
As the business grew, operations expanded into the clothing business. YOLK was well known for producing its line of
Got Rice? t-shirts under the Brand Fury name. Popular sellers included phrases such as Got Rice?, Got Sushi?, Got Adobo? and Got Pho?
Circulation reached a high of 50,000 in 2000 and targeted English-fluent college-educated Asian Americans coming from various cultures. In 2001, Stanley Lim
Asia Pacific Arts Online Magazine: Interview with Stanley Lim
/ref> came in as the new publisher of the magazine. He proposed a new formula heavy on "guy stuff"—reviews of video games and tech gadgets, interviews with models and more bikini-clad women, both on the cover and throughout the pages. But ''Yolk'' was not able to sustain success, and folded in 2004 after a 10-year, 31-issue run.[
Tommy Tam is currently the VP of Marketing at Dream Tube Entertainment. Tin Yen is still involved with graphic design today and has taught at UCLA Extension in the graphic design program. He founded creative agency TYS Creative, Inc. Amy Lee Tu is currently the Head of Marketing at Indomina Releasing.
As ''Yolk'' was closing, Honda Motor Co. offered a four month advertising contract. Lim and the editorial staff changed the publication into a web publication, and asked Honda to provide online advertising banners in lieu of print advertisements. Honda agreed to the change, and Chopblock.com became active.][
]
Issues list
The cover subjects have been well-known celebrities and other notable Asian Americans in the Entertainment field.
*No. 01 - Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
*No. 02 - Russell Wong
Russell Wong (; born March 1, 1963) is an American actor of film and television. He was one of the first actors of Chinese descent to hold a leading role in a primetime American television series, portraying Jian-Wa with Chi Muoi Lo portraying W ...
*No. 03 - Dean Cain
Dean George Cain ( Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and ...
*No. 04 - Ming-Na Wen
Ming-Na Wen (; born November 20, 1963) is an American actress and model. She voiced Mulan in the animated film ''Mulan'' and its sequel, portrayed Melinda May / The Cavalry in '' Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020), and Fennec Sha ...
*No. 05 - Kiana Tom
Kiana Tom (born March 14, 1965) is an American television host, fitness expert, model, author, former actress, and businesswoman. She is best known as the hostess and creator of ''Kiana's Flex Appeal'' on ESPN.
Life and Career
Kiana Tom's name a ...
*No. 06 - Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own ...
*No. 07 - Jim Lee
Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...
*No. 08 - Shannon Lee
Shannon Emery Lee Keasler (born April 19, 1969) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the only living child of martial artist Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, the granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer L ...
*No. 09 - Sung Hi Lee
Sung-Hi Lee ( Korean:이승희) is a South Korean model and actress based in North America. She has been featured in ''Playboy'' magazine as well as in many other magazines and some commercial advertising.
Early life and education
Born in Gi ...
*No. 10 - Jet Li
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...
*No. 11 - Adam Saruwatari
*No. 12 - Bai Ling
Bai Ling (, born October 10, 1966) is a Chinese-American actress known for her work in the films ''The Crow'', ''Nixon'', ''Red Corner'', '' Crank: High Voltage'', ''Dumplings'', ''Wild Wild West'', ''Anna and the King'', ''Southland Tales'', and ...
*No. 13 - Doug Chiang
Doug Chiang (; born 16 February 1962) is an American film designer and artist. He currently serves as vice president and executive creative director of Lucasfilm.
Early life
Chiang was born in Taipei, Taiwan. His dad had gone to Michigan in th ...
*No. 14 - Sammo Hung
Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreog ...
*No. 15 - Audrey Quock
*No. 16 - Lauren Tom
Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'', Julie in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', Dot in the final season of ''Grace Under Fire'', and the voices for Amy Wong in ''Futurama'' ...
*No. 17 - Kelly Hu
Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968 ) is an American actress, voice artist, former fashion model and beauty queen who was Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Hu starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera '' Sunset ...
*No. 18 - Stacy Kamano
Stacy Lee Kamano (born September 17, 1974) is an American television actress known for her role as Kekoa Tanaka on ''Baywatch''.
Career
Kamano was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the age of 11, she won the title "Miss Tropical Pre-Teen Ha ...
*No. 19 - Nicole Bilderback
Nicole Bilderback (born June 10, 1975) is a Korean-born American actress, known for her recurring guest roles on the television programs '' Dark Angel'' and ''Dawson's Creek'', and the films ''Bring It On'' and '' Bad Girls From Valley High'' ( ...
*No. 20 - Karen Kim
*No. 21 - Michelle Krusiec
Michelle Jacqueline Krusiec (born Ya-Huei Yang; ; October 2, 1974) is an American actress, writer and producer.
Early life
Krusiec was born in 1974 in Taiwan. She was adopted at age five and raised in America by her father's elder sister, who ha ...
*No. 22 - Jodi Ann Paterson
Jodi Ann Paterson (born July 31, 1975) is an American model, actress and former beauty queen. She competed in the Miss Teen USA competition as Miss Oregon Teen USA in 1994. She is ''Playboy''s Playmate for October 1999, and was named Playmate of ...
*No. 23 - Marie Matiko
Marie Matiko (born September 12, 1970) is an American actress.
Early life
Marie Matiko is of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino descent, born in Los Angeles County and grew up in Huntington Beach. She grew up wanting to become a concert pianist. I ...
*No. 24 - Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...
aka "The Rock"
*No. 25 - Kiana Tom
Kiana Tom (born March 14, 1965) is an American television host, fitness expert, model, author, former actress, and businesswoman. She is best known as the hostess and creator of ''Kiana's Flex Appeal'' on ESPN.
Life and Career
Kiana Tom's name a ...
*No. 26 - Joy Bisco
*No. 27 - Linda Park
Linda Park (born July 9, 1978) is a South Korean-born American actress, best known for her portrayal of communications officer character Hoshi Sato in the television series ''Star Trek: Enterprise''.
Early life
Park was born in South Korea and ...
*No. 28 - Lexa Doig
Alexandra Doig (born June 8, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She played the title role in the science fiction television series '' Andromeda'' (2000–2005). She also played the lead female role of Rowan in the science fiction-action horror film ...
*No. 29 - Jimi Mistry
Jimi Mistry (born 1 January 1973) is a retired British actor. He is known for appearing in numerous films such as '' East Is East'' (1999), '' The Guru'' (2002), ''Ella Enchanted'' (2004), '' The Truth About Love'' (2005), '' Blood Diamond'' (2 ...
*No. 30 - John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...
*No. 31 - Sanoe Lake
Sànoe Lake is an American actress, model, and surfer.
Early life
Lake was born and raised on Kauai, Hawaii. She is of Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, German, Irish and English descent. Her name "Sànoe" means "The Mist of the Mountains."
Lake w ...
See also
*Asian Pride
Asian pride is a term which encourages Asian people to celebrate their ethnicity and culture. It also has various origins and interpretations.
International usage
Asian pride is a broad term that can cover several topics. Within the international ...
*Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
* ''A. Magazine
''A. Magazine'' was an East Asian American-focused magazine published by A.Media, Inc., headquartered in Midtown Manhattan and with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.Wan, William.Pop Culture Asian American Magazine Falters" ''Los Angele ...
''
* Model Minority#Asian Americans
References
* Wong, Deborah. "GenerAsians Learn Chinese: The Asian American Youth Generation and New Class Formations." in DiMaggio, Paul and Patricia Fernandez-Kelly (editors). "Art in the Lives of Immigrant Communities in the United States." Rutgers University Press
Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University.
History
Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New B ...
, November 18, 2010. , 9780813547572.
Notes
Further reading
*Cacas, Samuel R. and Gary Cach.
Yolk: A Sizzle of Fizzle for Twentysomething?
" ''AsianWeek''. October 7, 1994.
*Johnston, George.
" ''The Rafu Shimpo''. Wednesday September 28, 1994.
*Tazuma, Larry J.
Second Opinion / OTHER MEDIA : YOLK : How an Asian American Magazine Got Its Name
" ''Los Angeles Times''. October 17, 1994. From an editorial printed in the first issue of ''Yolk''
*Song, Betty.
" ''The Daily Bruin''. University of California, Los Angeles. Monday January 5, 1995.
" ''Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management''. May 1, 1995.
" ''USA Today''. Thursday October 3, 1995. Life Section D. Section D Life.
" ''Daily Trojan''. October 3, 1994.
*" ttps://web.archive.org/web/19990203152835/http://www.yolk.com/yolk/clippings/slicks.html SLICKS FOR SLACKERS" ''The Oregonian''. November 29, 1994.
External links
New Amped Asia - Asian American magazine
(successor)
''Yolk'' magazine
(archive)
''Yolk'' Shop
(archive)
Informasian Media Group
Chopblock.com
successor to ''Yolk''
''Dream Tube Entertainment''
''TYS Creative''
Releasing''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yolk Magazine
Alhambra, California
Cultural magazines published in the United States
Entertainment magazines published in the United States
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
Asian-American culture in California
Asian-American magazines
Defunct magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1994
Magazines disestablished in 2004
Magazines published in California