Written for The Argo by Diamond Rogers

On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, author Jordan Calhoun visited Stockton University to discuss his first published book, “Piccolo is Black in the Multicultural Center.” This event was presented as part of the Stephen Dunn Reading Series, and sponsored by the William T. Daly School of General Studies & Graduate Education, Madeleine J. Deininger, the LITT Program, and the Murphy Writing Center. Calhoun discussed how he came up with the title of his memoir and how religion, race, and pop culture have played a significant role in his life. 

Calhoun has been featured in The New York Times, Kotaku, The Root, and The AV Club, and his writing has been published in The Atlantic, Vulture, and Men’s Health. He also served in the Peace Corps and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Criminal Justice, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and an M.P.A. in Public Policy. He currently resides in New York City. In his book “Piccolo is Black,” he talks about the lack of representation that black kids had to grow up without and discusses how he picked up on the skill of assigning race to fictional characters. 

Calhoun framed his visit as more of a discussion, rather than a lecture. “I wanted to talk with you and not at you,” he said. Attendees were then encouraged to form their seats into a circle.

When asked for the inspiration behind his book’s title, Calhoun replied that when there is a lack of diversity within fictional shows, a lot of times characters are coded as mirroring stereotypes and narratives of specific minority groups. For example, the character Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z may be considered a black character by some viewers. Calhoun stated that “there are two types of people who understand the Piccolo is Black reference: there are people who know and understand it, and think about it as a ‘no duh’ situation, and then there are some people who don’t understand the thought of why people would call Piccolo black.”

Furthermore, he explained that a lot of times, because of the lack of representation in shows, writers won’t specifically state the race of their character but opt instead to mimic an actual person. Especially in today’s society where representation makes certain people upset or “uncomfortable,” Calhoun expresses that as long as there is some type of awareness, then the idea of representation in pop culture can be a topic of discussion. He expressed hope that people can be able to move forward with new and invigorating ideas instead of the same stagnant ones.

Even though he didn’t have enough time to read some excerpts from his book, Calhoun facilitated important discussions about how he came up with the title of his book and the thought process of how he developed his chapters, as well as how he uses his personal experiences of race, religion, and pop culture to shape who he is now.