“Sesame Street” is welcoming its first Asian American muppet to the neighborhood.
Ji-Young won’t just be sharing her love for rock music and tteokbokki, or Korean rice cakes, on the show.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces “Sesame Street,” said it created Ji-Young to support families of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage as part of its racial justice initiative, Coming Together.
In June, “Sesame Street” released a video called “Proud of Your Eyes,” in which Mr. Muraoka helped Analyn, a Filipino American girl, after she was teased about the shape of her eyes.
Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociology professor at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., and an expert on race and racism in Hollywood, said that when she first immigrated to the United States from Taiwan at age 5, she learned more English from “Sesame Street” than from the E.S.L.
Ji-Young made her television debut on the “Today” show on NBC on Monday.
She will be introduced on “Sesame Street” during a special episode on Thanksgiving Day on HBO Max and on local PBS stations.
In the special episode, the residents of Sesame Street celebrate Neighbor Day, a community event with food, music and games.
Ji-Young’s puppeteer is Kathleen Kim, who is Korean American.