PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We?
Session Six
In our very last classroom session of Photovoice students had a chance to work on their collages and share their final thoughts about the project and their personal identities. The students also took a survey using their iPads and survey monkey. I thanked them for their time and effort as this has been a project I’ve enjoyed very much. Stay tuned as there are many future plans in the works.
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 3rd. 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.
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.
PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity” Who Are We? Session Three
This past Wednesday, December 4, 2013 we were delighted to have our special guest “J Sqwerl” also known as Jonathan Higuchi from the Internationally known Seattle b-boy collective Massive Monkee’s Crew. He gave a talk about his personal identity and the roles that creativity his family, and the city of Seattle play in shaping his identity. He encouraged students to think outside the box and really dig deep into their own identities to find something unique.
Students took time to free write and turn our session two brainstorms into actual sentences that they will use to create the artist statement portion of their projects. Some students would share their sentence and ideas with the entire class.
We Reviewed how to use the camera’s before heading outside for a mini scavenger hunt. We were able to take advantage of the weather and and allow them time to practice with the camera’s before they head out on their own.
Students really enjoyed the activities and hands on use.
HUGE thank you to Jonathan Higuchi for his time, assistance, and inspirational words. Thank you to Jackie for her assistance and to Diana for her assistance and beautiful Photo’s. Until next time. Eagles With Camera’s.
The revolution will not be televised. When it comes, it will run thru the streets like blood, killing anything without substance. | Please be sure to check out the #BBUM hashtag on Twitter! #JoinTheMovement #BBUM #OurVoicesWILLBeHeard #BlackSolidarity #UMich
THIS IS WHAT WE NEED! I SUPPORT THIS 100% USING TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, TO TELL THE STORIES OF THE OFTEN UNHEARD AND VOICELESS AND TO SHARE OUR IDENTITY. THE BLACK EXPERIENCE AND THE EXPERIENCES OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS ACROSS ETHNICITY IS TO DIVERSE TO BE LIMITED TO A 2 HOUR HOLLYWOOD FILM OR 30 MINUTE TELEVISION SHOW. SPECIFICALLY THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IS MORE THAN SLAVERY, CIVIL RIGHTS, DRUGS, AND OBAMA. I HOPE #BBUM SPARKS FORWARD THINKING AND PROGRESSIVE THOUGHTS AT ALL PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND WE CAN USE THESE CONVERSATIONS TO SPARK DIALOGUE WITH MY GENERATION OF THINKERS WHO KNOW WE TO ARE GREAT!
PhotoVoice Eagles With Cameras: “Project on Identity”Who Are We?
Session One
Wednesday was my first day back in front of a classroom of children since my Japan English teaching days. Honest, I started off a bit rusty, I was nervous, tight and a bit on edge. As the class went on I’d like to think my performance improved. The students were there to learn and have fun and I hope that’s exactly what they received out of it. A HUGE thank you to my assistants, Diana, Jessica, Jackie, Domonique, Mr. Stowell and a parent I never had a chance to introduce myself too.
We started off with an overview of the project as a whole and moved into trying to understand how complex identity can be. It was my goal to inspire interactions and dialogue. There were no wrong answers.
The students really seemed to open up during the slide show session where we discussed perception and what stories photo’s were telling. We used everything from the historical photo of JFK in the drop top, Martin and Malcolm’s first meeting and Ali’s triumphant stance over his opponent. I also found current photo’s as well, LeBron James dunking as the Laker team sits back in awh, pictures from the Egyptian revolution, Malala, and a photo from the typhoon in the Philippines. I was surprised at how engaged they were and while I knew they were smart, but still some of their answers blew me away.
Above all the best part for the students seemed to be going into other classrooms at the school and take pictures of other students hard at work, capturing the identity of the classrooms and the entire school. Hands on for the win!
It is my opinion that when we speak about social change it starts from within with identity. Next week we will examine their photo’s and dig deeper into their personal identities and allow students to write out what they believe represents them, their school, and their community. We will also start thinking about what pictures students will want to take for their projects. Stay tuned.
***CREDIT****
The idea for calling the project Eagles With Camera’s was inspired by Prometheus Brown (Blue Scholars) and Thig Nat’s (The Physics) Rappers W/ Camera’s. Northgate Elementary Eagles.
This book was recommended to me a couple of weeks ago, and I am glad I picked it up. I’d seen Touré on television on numerous occasions but had no idea of his written work. In the book he was able to reflect on his own experiences and those of other influential blacks. I thought the book stayed very relevant to the times, while discussing the harsh realities of growing up black in the 60s and 70s while not slighting the struggles of today’s black youth and young men and women. Yes there are many resources and opportunities available today that our elders could have never dreamt of, however; obstacles and barriers still exist. When speaking of today’s institutional racism he stated “the death of your self-esteem by 1000 cuts can still lead to the murder of your soul.” This to say the most racist thing to ever happen to you won’t be blatant, and you probably will have no idea of its existence (i.e. you don’t get the promotion because of your race etc.).
The book was filled with interviews from successful black people that spoke candidly about identity. While speaking about the inequities of our society Chris Rock added, “The black man’s gotta fly to get to somewhere the white man can walk too.” While Paul Mooney noted that “We complain about racism but we don’t wish to change costumes.” This quote was interesting to me for a few different reasons. One, because I agree, secondly; because while recently in Los Angeles visiting the Fung Brothers we had a long conversation about race when David came to the same conclusion. Black-American’s and Asian-American’s have many things to complain about, but neither side would want to trade places with any other race on this planet. I suppose the pride that comes with the culture is deeper than the struggle. While I feel we all wish to end most of the struggles, we never lose sight of the pride that comes with history and culture.
It is my thought that we must look at the story of what it means to be black from a different angle. Reverend Al Sharpton stated, “We are not victims we’re victors.” From the depths of slavery and oppression, which were key elements marked in American history, black folks were brought together and created community. It takes community and unity to survive through trials and tribulations. Black movements for equality ere deemed radical for being more blunt and direct regarding their feelings about the system and what they wanted, while other movements focused on peace and non-violence. This is not to say one way was better than another, but personally I believe both were necessary. In a way it shows how different we are as people. Everyone views the world through different lenses.
These two pages were probably my favorite in the book. Ironically in the same conversation with the Fung Brothers, David asked me if I thought the notion of black men always feeling the need to “keep it real” or be “authentic” was holding us back from achieving economic success. While, my first thought was YES among other things, when answering questions that require me to speak to my identity based on race I have to think about the answer and what other things may be implied in the question. Eventually I agreed, however I pointed out that there is probably a laundry list of items that can be added to this list. Furthermore, that being Chinese-American male’s whom often speak about their racial identity they had to understand why black men may fear being emasculated. Especially living in a country where Asian males in general have been emasculated by the American media. I believe somewhere in the middle is where we should be, between wanting to keep our identity, but also being able to turn DOWN enough to gain success without sacrificing whom we are. While we should not stop wearing hooded sweatshirts, we should also be aware of the harsh consequences. There are consequences to losing your identity and comfort, however, there are also consequences for not caring and/or not knowing. Admittedly those are hard realities and hard sentences to write because do we embrace the hooded sweatshirt and tell people to embrace identity, or do we tell them to dress differently to make others around them comfortable and success will come. What if success doesn’t come? What if instead of being uncomfortable about your hooded sweatshirt your skin color makes them uncomfortable? THIS cannot easily be changed. Nevertheless I do not have the answer, but one must find their own.
Furthermore the 2 pages really touch on the fact that race is socially constructed, our true identities should not be. We can be whoever we want to be, and should never let something like race stop us. Society tells us we can be black or we can be successful, but we can’t be both. Because although we can act like we don’t know what the term “acting black” is, we all really do. When did acting black become being ignorant? That’s a whole other can of worms. The fact that in order to be authentically black one has to be in poverty, or in close proximity to the ghetto is ridiculous. Before I place blame or point a finger at anyone I will look in the mirror and fix myself. For me that’s where it starts, and educating the people around us about how unrealistic these standards can be.
In a society that’s still in the beginning stages of this digital age keeping it real and being authentic won’t get anyone too far for too long. We now have easier access to take advantage of free resources and opportunities. While we encourage each other to be ourselves remember the internet is a footprint that cannot be erased permanently.
In closing President Barack Obama spoke to young black men in his recent commencement speech at Morehouse College. “Don’t take a vow of poverty, but it’s poverty of ambition to think only of the goods you can buy versus the good you can do.” As black men continue to do great things and open doors everyday as they have always done, there will be those who complain about the resources and opportunities we do not have, and there will be those who take advantage of the ones that we do to create the unimaginable. At the end of my conversation with the Fung Bro’s we all anticipate what President Barack Obama will do after office. We are more than confident that he will continue uplift the black community, which will in turn inspire the world. We must all continue to do our part, stay educated, stay focused and keep looking up!
There are a few reasons why I care about the recent controversy over the new Cheerios commercial. One reason is personal so I will get it out of the way first. This reason is the fact that I’ve been dating outside my race since Middle School, and I too may one day have bi-racial children. How could anyone see this beautiful child caring about her father’s heart (the leading cause of death in African American’s is heart disease MESSAGE!!!), and turn into a conversation about a black man having children with a white woman. WHAAAAT?! I’m pretty sure bi-racial children have been present in American History since before President Thomas Jefferson (oooops… lol). Furthermore, are we really afraid of interracial relationships in 2013? I thought we moved past that saga decades ago! The crazy part is this “bold” commercial is so NOT bold, Clarence Thomas would look at it and ask, “what’s the issue?”
We’ve seen television shows that have touched on interracial relationships since I Love Lucy, but I’m not sure we have seen a mainstream product advertise outside of the norm. When it comes to advertising have we only integrated people of color in stereotypical roles? The angry intimidating black man, the black woman singing or dancing for Cheese burgers, laundry detergent, chicken wraps? The over sexualized latina / Asian woman? The nerdy Asian male? Hmmm….
In closing I understand the move by cheerios to hide the comment section from youtube, however I hope they will issue a statement in support and stand behind their commercial. While I understand the move to hide the comment section from a business perspective, from a social perspective I think it stops the dialogue, and hides the truth of how people may feel when their able to leave comments anonymously. Maybe in the future cheerios will actually make a bold statement that people aren’t ready to address! (apparently they already have… :shrugs: ) I can think of a ton of examples, like the emasculated Asian male actually getting some shine, representation of LGBTQ parenting, religious statements other than Christianity and Catholicism. At the end of the day people just want to be happy and be themselves. Lets learn from other people’s ignorance and our own. The accept and promote the inclusivity that we will need to embrace one another’s differences. Isn’t that what diversity truly is? Let’s all find our true identity and embrace the identities of others, we’ve all got a lot to learn about one another something that doesn’t fit in the box.
This feels different… This past weekend while spring cleaning I had an epiphany. Forced to think about life, and wondering what could I be doing better to achieve different results than the ones I was getting, I came up with a solution. The issue reached its peak Friday morning when I received a denial letter from the University of Washington’s iSchool for their mid career program. Obviously I was a bit angry and down, but realistically I definitely applied knowing I didn’t have the years expiereince they were looking for in a ”mid career” student. This is definitely not to say that I couldn’t hang with any other student in their program intellectually, or that my perspectives and experiences could not provide them with new outlooks. I knew I was taking a shot in the dark, and unfortunately I missed. At that point you can either stop shooting and go home, or you can continue to map out a way to make things happen.
What was my epiphany?
My epiphany was I don’t need anyone to validate my vision or my aspirations. Paying $30K+ for a piece of paper is not a down payment on happiness. In my opinion happiness is something we make happen for ourselves. There are things I could be doing NOW to get to where I ultimately want to be.
Furthermore, I started thinking more about identity, and how I’d been blogging my truths and my life under an alias in order to protect myself from those who wouldn’t agree, or take offense to my truths. Was I afraid to share? What would people think? What if I had gramatical errors? lol
I guess through my journey of finding out who I really am I became someone whom could care less about who found my gramatical mistakes, who was offended, and whom just didn’t agree.
Naturally when I separated my government name from my beliefs, it was for acceptance, thinking about the consequences if someone with power found my blog posts on social justice and discussions on race and fighint against institutional oppression? At the time I was unemployed, I just wanted to be someone a job would hire! Wow, how wack is that? I would be embarrassed but this is my truth and I KNOW that I am not the only one who was hiding.
Great women and men stand behind their words and their truths. They are students and life long learners able to admit what it is that they do not know. My goal is not to be famous, or even to change the world anymore. Today, my goal is to tell my story, tell my truth, express my opinions and find out more about myself. So today I merge my brand with my name and I stand behind my thoughts, my passions, my words, as a progressive and forward thinker. Yes, I still have a lot to learn, but who doesn’t? I predict I will use language that could offend, I will say things that may be incorrect or inaccurate, but I wont be the first and I am sure I won’t be the last.
Today I know who I am, and I know the power of my words, do you?
While much of the current immigration debate in Congress has focused on Hispanics, Asians have become a dominant cultural force in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles.
Shoutout to The Fung Brothers for spreading truth in the New York Times! Great read!
AmbassadorNique 