"Koji: “To Carry (On and On)”
The morning before Tuesday evening’s horrific anti-Asian shooting in Atlanta, the longtime folk and punk artist Koji released their latest song, “To Carry (On and On),” off the compilation album Sunday, Someday. Without knowing of the tragedy to come, they released the single as a reflection of their “experience as a member of [the] Asian diaspora, facing white supremacy in the so-called United States,” as they explain in a statement. On the track, the Filipinx Japanese artist sings of the “false security” and “precarity” they feel as an Asian American in the midst of growing violence against Asians in the United States throughout the COVID pandemic, before launching into the chorus: “On and on and on/I don’t belong.”
Though Koji’s words are laden in sorrow, the lively guitar riff and marching beat signal a feeling that they are willing to remain resilient and take toward a future free of violence based on race and gender. Explaining that the proceeds from Sunday, Someday will go toward Red Canary Song, a New York City organization that fights for Asian sex workers and migrant rights, Koji concludes their statement with a reminder about the path ahead towards equality and justice. “Please support folks in your communities doing this work and remember that the path towards #StopAsianHate is only possible through decriminalization, Black and Indigenous liberation, and disability justice.”
— Michelle Kim
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