Grace Ly
{{short description|French writer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Grace Ly
|image=Grace Ly 1515617.jpg
| birth_name =
| birth_date ={{Birth year|1979}}
| birth_place = Grenoble, France
| education =
| occupation = writer, podcaster, activist
| website = {{URL|http://lapetitebanane.com/|La Petite Banane}}
}}
Grace Ly (born in 1979) is a French writer, podcaster and anti-racist and feminist activist.{{cite news |last=Chouaki |first= Yasmine |date= 15 January 2022|title= Histoire et race avec Grace Ly|trans-title= |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/en-sol-majeur/20220115-histoire-et-race-avec-grace-ly |language= |work=rfi (Radio France Internationale) |location= |access-date=17 August 2022}}
Early life
Ly's parents are Cambodian Chinese. They fled the Khmer Rouge regime and arrived to France in the 1970s.{{cite news |last= Durand |first= Catherine |date= April 2021|title= Grace Ly : "Je ne laisse plus rien passer" |trans-title= |url= https://www.marieclaire.fr/grace-ly-interview-racisme-antiasiatique-podcast-kiffe-ta-race,1371404.asp |language=French|work= Marie Claire |location= |access-date=17 August 2022}} In Grenoble, her father initially ran an Asian food restaurant. Ly and her family were the only Asians in their neighborhood. When Ly was 6 years old, her family moved to Paris.
Ly studied law and subsequently worked for eight years for an entertainment company, in France and in London. She however did not find the corporate job fulfilling.
Focus on stereotypes about Asians
In 2011, Ly launched the blog Petite Banane (Little Banana) dedicated to food.{{cite news |last= EU Scream |first= |date= 16 August 2022|title= Model minority myths|url= https://euobserver.com/eu-scream/155783|work= EU Scream for EUobserver|location= |access-date= 17 August 2022}}{{cite news|last= Callier |first= Cédric |date=14 February 2019 |title=Grace Ly, pour que les Asiatiques de France aient enfin voix au chapitre |trans-title= |url=https://madame.lefigaro.fr/societe/grace-ly-celle-qui-donne-une-voix-aux-asiatiques-de-france-140219-163712 |language= French |work= Madame FIGARO |location= |access-date=17 August 2022}}
The blog evolved from food to also discuss racial stereotypes that are associated with Asian food and Asian communities more broadly. This led Ly to launch the web-series Ça reste entre nous (It Stays Between Us).
In her work, Ly denounces the model minority myth and the corrosive effect of positive stereotypes often associated with the Asian community in France. Imitating accents is one form of casual racism that Ly considers as offensive.{{cite news |last= Gourdon |first= Jessica |date= 22 January 2022|title= Grace Ly, autrice : « Quand ma mère me parlait devant l'école, j'entendais les moqueries, les imitations d'accent » |trans-title= |url= https://www.lemonde.fr/campus/article/2022/01/22/grace-ly-autrice-quand-ma-mere-me-parlait-devant-l-ecole-j-entendais-les-moqueries-les-imitations-d-accent_6110519_4401467.html |language=French|work= Le Monde |location= |access-date=17 August 2022}}
Ly's first novel Une jeune fille modèle (A model young girl) was published in 2018. The book is a work of fiction inspired by her personal story.
Anti-racist work
In 2018 Ly launched the podcast Kiffe Ta Race (Love Your Race) together with the French journalist Rokhaya Diallo.{{cite news |last= Abboud |first= Leila |date= 3 September 2021|title= Popular podcast asks France if it really is 'colour blind' |url= https://www.ft.com/content/c5eb14e4-e98b-438c-84d8-ce93e2e66cc4|work= The Financial Times|location=Paris|access-date= 17 August 2022}}
Ly cites among her influences author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20150806023901/http://lapetitebanane.com/ Official blog]}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ly, Grace}}
Category:French anti-racism activists
Category:French feminist writers
Category:21st-century French novelists
Category:French women novelists