Obviously, YOLK was chosen because the yolk of an egg is yellow. It really has nothing to do with the fact that an egg white surrounds it or that it is surrounded by an outer white shell (or brown, if you chose to eat brown eggs).

Some people say that the yolk symbolizes the birth of something. I’ve also heard someone refer to the body builders’ use of the phrase “getting yolked up” meaning getting bigger in size or more muscular and, when used for Asian, means empowering ourselves. Another observer said that the yolk is at the center of creation. These are all good, but I prefer a simpler explanation.

YOLK simply stands for the color of our skin. If you think about it, our skin color is really the only thing that connects Asians with other Asians and Asian Americans. It’s the one thing that groups an individual from China with an individual from Korea. Our skin color goes beyond country lines, cultural lines, language lines, gender lines, Asian vs. Asian American, recent immigrant vs. multi-generation American, young vs. old.

And since self-esteem seems to be a major part of growing up, I would add that skin color goes beyond beauty lines as well. If YOLK does nothing else, I hope that it will create pride in the color of your skin. YOLK, above all else, stands for the belief that “Yellow is Beautiful.”

From an editorial by Managing Editor Larry J. Tazuma in the inaugural issue of Yolk reprinted in the Los Angeles Times, “How an Asian American Magazine Got Its Name,” October 17, 1994.

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