Inspiration: Richie Le – Vietnam (What It’s Like) Music Video

RICHIE LE – VIETNAM (WHAT IT’S LIKE) MUSIC VIDEO

I spoke w/ my little bro Richie Le last night and told him the best part about this song is the authenticity of HIS story. While I am sure his song and video will touch people in ways neither of us can imagine, I am happy to share. I remember how excited he, his family, girlfriend, friends and myself were about him going to Vietnam for the first time. I remember gchatting him while he was there and the stories he told upon his return. I saw how the trip changed his outlook on the world and his life.

Years ago we often had conversations about the lack of SE Asian history taught to us in school, and thought about what a void that left when it came to younger generations understanding and embracing their own identities. I salute the teachers, storytellers, videographers, artists, college organizations, professors, non-profits, and the small businesses who continue to build on the foundation left for us. To those who continue to tell the stories not told in our history books. Thank you for sharing your many stories with the world! Thank you Richie Le for sharing THIS story with the world!

-AmbassadorNique

7 Days in 7 Minutes

My friend from Japan does an awesome 7 Days 7 Minutes every week that I will begin to start sharing. Its definitely something I would love to start doing. Check out his channel and Subscribe!

darcnoodles:

7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-02-03) 7 Days 7 Minutes is back! 00:00:00 notMONDAY Akihabara 00:01:00 TUESDAY First Snow This Winter (in Tokyo) 00:02:00 WEDNESDAY “Tokyo Tech Thing” Offcuts 00:03:00 notTHURSDAY The Ginza Line 00:04:00 FRIDAY Follow Friday (ME!) 00:05:00 SATURDAY Tokyo’s Worst Snow in 15 Years 00:06:00 SUNDAY Snow Monsters

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Five

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We?

Session Five

Please excuse my tardiness, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season with their friends and families. I apologize for being so late with this update, but I was busy with just that. Wednesday, December 18, 2013 I had the opportunity to paint with Mr. Stowell’s class. We were especially excited to provide this rare opportunity for students to get creative and share their art. Mr. Stowell reminded the students of my friend and Massive Monkee Jonathan Higuchi aka JSqwerl’s collage that he presented to the class during his visit. “This blank picture is my favorite one, this reminds me that I have the ability to create anything I want.”

We handed students a white slice of paper and told them the only thing required to go on the paper was their name. The paper would go on their PhotoVoice collages but this was an opportunity for them to be creative and have a canvas.

We broke out a color chart and quickly went over color basic’s letting them know the colors we had and what colors needed to be mixed in order to create new ones. Each student chose 2 colors and were given white as a 3^rd. A lot of beautiful artwork was created and many students shined! On one hand I was sad because the students were so artistic that it’s a shame they didn’t have more time to show their talents, however; I am happy to be a part of the solution.

Big THANK YOU to all of my classroom support from Diana, Jessica, Christina and the other Dom.

Stay tuned!

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions
www.AmbassadorNique.com

PREVIOUSLY:

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Four

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Three

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Two

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session One

My PhotoVoice Project at Northgate Elementary (Starting November 13, 2013)

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Four

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Four

We started off the Wednesday, December 11th session by breaking into groups and discussing what idenitity was and why it was so important to understand it.

Students continued to write about their personal identities.

Diana presented her PhotoVoice collage and spoke about the importance of her family, her career and health as it pertained to who she was.

We’d later go over the scavenger hunt pictures and allow students to speak about the pictures they took.

My favorite part of this session was at then end when Mr. Stowell would connect this project and the importance of knowing your personal identity with the next step the students would be taking in life, middle school. We spoke about the peer pressure and cool factors that most middle school students face, and how it was important that all of them knew who they were as individuals.

With only one more session left I am more than happy with the way this project is panning out.

Stay tuned..

Domonique Meeks
AmbassadorNique Productions
www.AmbassadorNique.com

PREVIOUSLY:

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Three

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Two

PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session One

My PhotoVoice Project at Northgate Elementary (Starting November 13, 2013)

More supporters less critics… let art be art.. (Written By AmbassadorNique)

Oh how the time flies… I recently wrote a blog post, but before writing this one sadly I wasn’t sure if I had posted it… I did… This just means I haven’t been writing enough. Lately I’ve been working on a graduate school application trying to sum up my life in 7 very general questions that don’t seem to ask much about the person I have transformed into through life experiences  I guess that’s life, we have to bend the rules in order to freely express ourselves and still manage to get what we want out of it.

I’ve been doing a decent job of sharing things that inspire me lately on this blog. Last night the Pharrell interview with Henry Rollins really inspired me. It made me feel like I wasn’t crazy. YES, I am not the only one who thinks that equality and justice should be common sense. We are far from perfect beings, but we are slowly moving in the direction of enlightenment.

I am trying to catch myself when blogging in order to find some sort of direction. Inspiration is always nice to find but often times the same things that I post that affect me can affect us all. From the recent Boston bombings to drone strikes. However, this is not a news blog.. If you want the news follow NPR or something, however I do my best to add my perspective on situations. Bloging to me is a form of art. Articulation to me is art. Being able to put together words is important to me, to tell your truth and deliver information. Factual or fiction its all in the delivery. My writing skills are not amazing, but its easier to freely right a blog and not care if it will be broken down and torn apart since there is little consequence for my opinion!

Insert Segway here…

The other day I sat back thinking about all the time I spent as an amateur Hip Hop artist. When I say amateur, I mean nobody really heard it, except for a few of my friends and my family. I thank them for their ears, their criticism, their support, their honesty, and for some their lies. Lol. Recording music was my way to express myself, even when expressing pure ignorance, I was telling my truth as I knew it. I look back on the enjoyment I received when a song was completed and ready to be shared and I remember how much I enjoyed those moments. At some point life got involved and I began to see that I was in too deep and what was once a hobby, and a way to express myself became open for interpretation by anyone who would listen. It changed from a hobby to me to a DREAM that I wanted, and the goal was less about therapy and more about trying to get paid. I’m not sure when that happened; I’m not sure when I realized it wasn’t feasible. One day I just stopped. I became a critic like everyone else examining and dissecting everyone else’s art. It sounds horrible but it’s the truth. Today, art is art to me. I have my opinions, but it’s like religion, your god may not be my god and I’m okay with that. You enjoy what you enjoy because of why you enjoy it. That’s all that matters to me. I will support the art that I enjoy and life will be okay for all of us. On the flip side I will defend the art that I like to the fullest if debates occur, and still think some art is GARBAGE (haha). It’s not that the art I like is better than what you like, but it’s like saying “I have the best mom.” She may not actually be THE best, but shes MY mom… so no doubt I will defend her honor.

I’m wrapping up this grad school app, still on my work out plan, still cooking, and not yet learning my Japanese. The days are going by faster and I’m determined to make the most of the extra day light we have. Stay focused.

-Ambassador

Something Brand New…

Life… What is life without a dream? There are those who do not believe in dreams, rather they believe that others should find a better use for their time, however; I would disagree. In my opinion, a dream is merely the end result of hard work, accomplished goals and dedication. I do my best to always remember that everyone’s path, experiences, resources and opportunities are different. Who am I to judge? What may seem completely ridiculous to myself, could be the world to someone else. Recently I have made it a point to surround myself with positive energy, and like minded people who are also doing their best to achieve there goals.

I have many dreams that have taken me in many different directions. Fortunately for me, the foundation was always the same. That foundation has always been to be a positive member in society that would help progress and advance my generation, my culture, my peers, and those in need. It is my goal to some how some way help others and myself build a bridge between our dreams and what is reality. This might be through information, through opportunities and/or resources. There is no right or wrong way to spread this message. As long as one gets the message THAT’S what is important to me.

I am a believer! I believe in order to help others I must first take care of myself. I am working hard to be a better use to myself as well as those in need. I’ve run into challenges, obstacles, and setbacks (mostly from no ones fault but my own). That being said, I plan to learn from past mistakes and continue to build my foundation one day at a time. Life at times is trial and error, and we must build from our mistakes. My mother always told me a setback is just a set up for a comeback. There are no such thing as shortcuts, there will be no handouts given. We must sweat, shake hands, kiss babies, smile, laugh, work hard, and remember to enjoy every second of this life.

Let this serve as a new beginning to where we are headed. This will be the platform for my opinions, thoughts, ambitions, wishes, goals and dreams. Too often ideas are born, cultivated, and die in my brain. I hope that this becomes a solution to my problem. I do not have all the answers, nor am I always right… This is FACT. I may not use perfect spelling or grammar, but I do have something to say, and I will so say it. Here’s to a new beginning.

Enjoy,

AmbassadorNique