Baye McNeil

Baye “Loco in Yokohama” McNeil is an American writer, blogger and assistant language teacher. He has authored two self-published books, both of which are memoirs.
Books
McNeil's first memoir is Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist (published 2012), which traces his life growing up as an African-American in Brooklyn, New York to his experiences in Japan. The second is Loco in Yokohama (published 2013), about his experiences as an assistant language teacher (ALT) in Yokohama. According to articles in periodicals such as The Japan Times and Tokyo Weekender, both of these books grew out of McNeil’s blog, “locoinyokohama.com,” which focuses on his life in Japan and issues such as racism.
McNeil notes in his books that he was born and raised in Brooklyn, raised by a single mother and moved to Japan in 2004. He also writes about experiences such as going to a pan-Africanist school, his membership in the Five-Percent Nation of Islam and the conflict this caused his friendship with a Caucasian male, his experience of racial conflict in the U.S. Army, interracial romance with a Caucasian woman in New York, witnessing the events of 9/11 from the rooftop of the Brooklyn brownstone where he rented an apartment, the racism he feels he has experienced in Japan (portrayed by, among other things, his perception that Japanese people refuse to sit next to him on trains), the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and a love affair with a Japanese woman that ends in tragedy. (McNeil dedicates Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist to this woman.)
Other writing
McNeil is a columnist for The Japan Times. He was also one of the contributors (along with writers such as Yoko Ono, Barry Eisler and Jake Adelstein) to the book 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories From the Japan Earthquake (published 2011). His writing has also appeared in publications such as Our Time Press (Brooklyn).
Critical reception
Authors such as Joan Morgan (author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost), Roland Kelts (author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US) and Barry Lancet (author of Japantown) have praised McNeil's writing for its portrayal of racism in Japan and the U.S., and his depiction of life as a foreign assistant language teacher in Japan.
The journalist and critic, Kam Williams included it in his list of "10 Best Black Books of 2012".
Online presence and media relations
In the Japan Today piece noted above, McNeil's blog, locoinyokohama.com, was called "...one of the most recognizable destinations in the Japan expat blogosphere."

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu