IT IS MORE THAN JUST POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACE IN THIS COUNTRY

Embracing - Photo: wjs.com

IT IS MORE THAN JUST POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACE IN THIS COUNTRY

This past week, two African-American men were shot and killed by white police in Louisiana and Minnesota. It spurred protests and debate over police brutality, and even guns, in our country. Yesterday, a black sniper intentionally killed five police officers and injured seven more. Clearly, his ill-will intended to kill white people, especially white officers. It was an act of revenge just because he was upset about recent police shootings. 

Revenge is an act of desperation- a calling for help and not revolutionary. It is an act of hatred and domestic terrorism. Violence fuels violence as if gasoline is poured into the fire. Violence is not a solution. There is no place for that in this already violent world. Buddha once said, "Only compassion conquers all hatred." Even Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party who was shot by the Chicago Police Department said, "We don't think you fight fire with fire best; we think you fight fire with water best." Yes, police brutality and profiling need to stop and so hatred and violence. 

Just take a deep breath, calm down and be proactive in our action to change things. All transformation starts from the within. I remembered as a teenager in the great nation- 'land of opportunity', I was profiled by the police. I first came to this country in 1991. A friend and I were profiled and put in the back of the cars of the police just because a white kid decided that "we- the Asian-looking guys, might be the one who threatened to hit him." We happened to be the ones who walked to Peter Pan Park in Lincoln, NE. It took the police a long time to verify what we said (via the translator of course since we didn't speak the language back then). We were finally released when that kid decided that we were not the guys. No apology or anything was given to us. Thus, police profiling and brutality need to be stop once and for all. 

My family and I transformed my frustration into action via volunteering in the Asian Center and doing good deeds for the community. We obtained the highest education level possible to give back and contribute to our society. We helped the newcomers and we built bridges rather than walls. We endeavor to spread mutual understanding and compassion rather than biases and hatred. 

The solution for the current issue is much more complicated because the problem is systematic and institutional. Perhaps, we should start with anti-poverty and anti-racism efforts, the justice system, educational reform (including Title I funding), prison reform, gun laws, reducing violence in games, fantasizing guns and gangs, and/or militarism within the American society (using the robot to bombed and killed the suspect is an example). But let’s first start with changes from within. We need to be open-minded, empathetic, and develop our willingness to change for the greater good from our current situations.

It is evident that we live in a democratic system which is a nation of laws. All of us citizens must abide by the laws of the country that we created and we must take great care of our obligations and responsibilities to make this great nation even stronger. 

We, as compassionate and patriotic Americans, need to find a revolution and that revolution must have the foundation of love, compassion, understanding, equality and peace.  With the heavy heart, I am praying for all the victims and police officers in Dallas and their families. Let's turn this grief into compassionate action for our family, community and society.

May all be safe. May all be well and May all be happy.

A poem for Daddy from Kiki - Bài thơ tặng Ba từ Kiki

A moment of time - Photo: Tuệ Lê.

A poem for Daddy from Kiki
                           Happy Father's Day

I love you more than you can say.
You are sweet, kind, and loving 
You are everything to me.
You are beautiful like the sun shining.
With love in you and compassion, 
         you can make the world a better place.
You taught us how to be like you 
and taught us to help other people, how to be compassion.
You are more than anything to me.
From Kiet
                                                
Bài thơ tặng Ba từ Kiki
                      Mừng ngày của Ba

Con thương Ba nhiều hơn Ba có thể nói.
Ba con người ngọt ngào, tốt bụng, và yêu thương
Đối với con, Ba là tất cả
Ba đẹp như mặt trời chiếu sáng
Với tình yêu trong Ba và lòng từ bi, Ba có thể làm cho thế giới ngày càng tốt đẹp hơn.
Ba dạy chúng con cũng làm giống như Ba
và dạy chúng con phải giúp đỡ những người khác, thế nào là thực hiện lòng từ bi.
Ba hơn cả bất cứ điều gì với con mong mỏi
Thương,
 Kiệt
Lược dịch by Daddy.

CHÀO NHAU - GREETING EACH OTHER

Flying - Photo: BXK

CHÀO NHAU

Ta lại vội ra đi
Con ốc sên tiễn bước
Nhẹ nhàng ai đứng trước
Xá đầu mỉm cười nhau

GREETING EACH OTHER

I am departing again in a hurry

A snail greets me as I leave 

Who stands gently still?

Smiling and bowing to each other!

ĐẠO HIẾU VIỆT NAM

ĐẠO HIẾU VIỆT NAM

Đang bị tâm thần

Người vẫn nuôi Mẹ

Xin đồng tiền lẻ

Hiếu hạnh làm đầu!

Người Đàn Ông Bị Tâm Thần Đi Xin Ăn Để Nuôi Mẹ Già

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJEz48RHKsE

VASCAM Exhibition: Nature and Us - Art works by Trinh Mai & Ann Phong

Cuộc Triển lãm VASCAM: Thiên nhiên và chúng ta - công trình nghệ thuật của Trinh Mai & Ann Phong. (VASCAM Exhibition: Nature and Us - Art works by Trinh Mai  & Ann Phong).

Xin được trân trọng giới thiệu VASCAM Exhibition: Nature and Us - Art works by Trinh Mai  & Ann Phong

VASCAM là một hội nghệ thuật do giáo sư nhạc sĩ Phan Quang Phục (P.Q. Phan) mới thành lập. Ông là một nhà soạn nhạc Việt Nam nổi tiếng trong dòng âm nhạc cổ điển đương đại hiện sống tại Hoa Kỳ. Tôi kính mến ông từ nghệ thuật bất hủ qua Câu Chuyện Bà Thị Kính.

Cuộc triển lãm sẽ tổ chức tại San Jose với hai Hoạ sỹ Trinh Mai và Ann Phong. Chúng tôi được biết có 2 họa sĩ được mời, mỗi họa sĩ sẽ có khoảng 15 tác phẩm.

Chúng tôi quý mến Giáo sư hội họa Ann Phong từ khi đọc sách trẻ em cho con mình khi tìm thấy những hình vẽ đậm nét quê hương và phong cách rất riêng và gần gũi. 

Tranh của hai hoạ sỹ Ann Phong và Trinh Mai có nhiều sắc thái, mang ước mơ, hy vọng, hoài bão của người Việt Nam, nhất là những người đang tỵ nạn. Ngoài ra, dường như những tấm tranh này nói thêm về cuộc đời và cuộc sống tâm linh của họ. Tôi nhớ có lần viết về hội hoạ, SỰ GẶP GỠ GIỮA THIỀN, HỘI HOẠ VÀ VĂN THƠ QUA CON NGƯỜI VÕ ĐÌNH MAI *, tôi có nhắc đến câu nói bất hủ của Ông rằng, “Hội họa: một ngôn ngữ của thân tâm.” Và Ông còn còn chia sẻ thêm: “Hãy nhớ rằng hội họa hài hòa giữa ‘hai thái cực’: tự do/kỷ luật; liều lĩnh/chính xác; uy dũng/dịu dàng”. ("Remember that good art is a harmony between opposites: Freedom/Discipline; Boldness/Accuracy; Power/Gentleness"). Tôi thấy tranh của hai hoạ sỹ Ann Phong và Trinh Mai phảng phất những điều cố hoạ sỹ tiền bối Võ Đình đã nói.

Vì thế, xin được mạo muội giới thiệu cùng tất cả quý vị Cuộc Triển lãm đầy thú vị này. Mọi liên lạc, xin vui lòng gởi điện thư đến:

Ban tổ chức: VASCAM - P.Q Phan at pphan@indiana.edu Nơi tổ chức: tại tư gia của Truong Hoang:<truongh@qca.qualcomm.com> Contact information: Anvi Hoang: anvihoang@gmail.com

Họa sỹ Trinh Mai at www.trinhmai.com

Hoạ sỹ Ann Phong at annphong@vaala.org

"An Advise" (Một Lời Khuyên). Acrylic with mixed media. 36"H x 60"W, 2008.Hoạ sỹ - Ann Phong

"Looking Up From The Bottom Of The Boat" (Tiếng Kêu Từ Lòng Biển Xanh),
Acrylic. 24"H x 36"W, 2016.Hoạ sỹ - Ann Phong

"Ocean Heart" (Biển Trong Tim). Acrylic with mixed media. 42"H x 21"W, 2016.
Hoạ sỹ - Ann Phong

Khắc Dấu Mạn Thuyền

Trong quá trình sáng tác, tôi để cảm xúc tôi chuyển động với những gì (vấn đề) xảy ra xung quanh tôi.

Tôi thích đi lang thang, thích nghe tiếng người, thích lẩn mình trong đám đông nhìn mọi người đang lao xao (lanh quanh) xoay xở trong cuộc (để tìm cách) sống. Mỗi tác phẩm của tôi, mỗi quãng thời gian tôi sống, tôi đều ghi lại như một dấu khắc trên mạn thuyền đời. Những dấu khắc về con người sống xa xứ, con người sống tại quê nhà, hay con người sống ở thế kỷ 21.

Rồi khi ngồi trước giá vẽ, những hình ảnh cảm xúc đó trở lại một cách tự nhiên. Màu sắc, bố cục từng tác phẩm di chuyển theo tâm thái của tôi lúc sáng tác.

Khi tay tôi bắt được nhịp đập của tim tôi, tác phẩm tôi hoàn tất.

About the Artist: ANN PHONG

Hoạ sĩ Ann Phong tốt nghiệp Master of Fine Art tại Đại Học Cal State Fullerton. Hiện là giáo sư hội họa tại trường đại học Cal Poly.
Đến nay, Ann Phong đã tham dự hơn 100 cuộc triển lãm, từ gallery đến viện bảo tàng như Laguna Art Museum ở Quận Cam, Downey Museum, Muzeo Anaheim, Queen Art Gallery ở Bangkok, Krabi Museum ở Thái Lan, Gang Dong Art Center ở Seoul Nam Hàn và Blue Roof Museum ở Chengdu .

Ngoài triển lãm tác phẩm, Ann Phong cũng thường xuyên được mời bởi các phòng tranh, các trường học và viện bảo tàng nói về nghệ thuật tạo hình.

Tác phẩm của Ann Phong được nhiều tư nhân và nơi công cộng sưu tầm, như Đại Học Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State U Fullerton, UC Riverside Sweeney Gallery, Queen Art Gallery ở Thái Lan.

website: www.annphongart.com; email: annphong@vaala.org

About the Artist: Trinh Mai

Artist Statement:

While my work shares insight into my personal life experiences, it also communicates the messages that have found their rhythms in the human experience to remind us that there is nothing new under the sun. Drawn from intimate experiences of heartache and triumph, of struggle and perseverance, and of loss and fulfillment, my paintings strive to comfort and share the Faith that has fostered me during these times.

My current work embraces my heritage and aims to excavate my roots and the path which my ancestors have paved to allow me to be where I am and who I am. Through traditional imagery and symbolism, in both abstract and literal representations, I seek to clarify the connection I have to my ancestors, the world from which they came, and how this has molded the way I view the world around me. As a second generation Vietnamese American, art has become the valuable tool that has granted me the chance to live the immigrant experience vicariously through the elders, allowing me to interpret these stories through my own ears, eyes and hands.

Through the creative process, I am able to adopt both the joys and the hardships experienced through their stories, rewrite them as true tales of triumph, also a reminder that out of tragedy is ever born the blessings that we might have never been able to predict could or would come.

I pay respect to the details in the work as I hope to do in life. The often overlooked details in my work are brought to attention by my efforts to be more conscious and more perceptive of those things that go unnoticed, those things that we take for granted, and those quiet moments when the profundity of Life can speak so clearly to us. These works also speak on the healing that occurs on a human and universal level, while we wade through the circumstances of life, striving to find meaning and look to the passage of time to mend all things.

Art is the channel through which I connect my spiritual to my earthly existence to tell the stories that we might all share. For me, it has made the intangible tangible and the unseen visible, and at times, offers comfort in the seemingly unbearable. It is my form of study and of prayer, and through my work, I share my journey through this trying and blessed life.

Lifted, 2014

Mixed media on acrylic, mylar, and paper

11 1/2 x 11 1/2"

Inspired by photos taken in 1975 from the Bettmann/CORBIS archive, This piece is the first of an experimental series of three-dimensional paintings which honors the resilience of our Boat People.

The boats are printed and cut from the scarf that I wore upon my head during my great-grandmother's funeral, a Vietnamese tradition to differentiate between the generations which stem from the deceased.

Arrival, 2014

Mixed media on acrylic, mylar, and paper

11 1/2 x 11 1/2"

A myriad of tents awaits the arrival of Vietnamese immigrants while children gather to observe the sprouting of a new beginning. The tents are cut from the scarf that I wore upon my head during my great-grandmother's funeral, a Vietnamese tradition to differentiate between the generations which stem from the deceased.

Sữa Xưa (Milk of Old), 2012

Oil, acrylic, joss paper and hand stitching on canvas

48 x 36”

Proceeding Bà Cố Phủ (Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Mẹ Của Me, 2012), in both a genealogic and pictorial sense, this painting is drawn from photos of my mother and great-grandmother.

Continuing to explore the idea of abundance, I considered milk and its symbolism. Milk is the first form of nourishment that is offered to a newborn child, and represents fertility and God’s blessings.

My great-grandmother, stoic and strong, prepares for the migration to the “land of milk and honey”. She holds my dear mother whose eyes fill with wonder and whose face beams toward a bright future. My mother willingly reaches out to catch her blessings.

Biography of Artist Trinh Mai

Trinh Mai is an interdisciplinary, California-based artist whose work is driven by innovative narratives of storytelling. Her artistic creations re-imagine personal memories, family roots, and spiritual connections that alter conceptions of our identities and shared histories. Since receiving her B.F.A. in Pictorial Art from San Jose State University and furthering her studies at UCLA, Trinh has exhibited nationally, as well as showing in public and private collections internationally. In addition to exhibiting her work with well-respected institutions such as the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Naples Museum of Art, her passion for intermixing arts and collaboration has inspired her community involvement. She has served as Project Director for the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA), Master Teaching Artist for the Bowers Museum, Course Developer for the Pacific Symphony, and Curator at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. 

Currently, Trinh is a member of the Artist Advisory Board for The Artist Odyssey (TAO), a global arts network who supports arts education, and an advisor for the Visual Art Program within the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network (DVAN). Since 2012, she continues expanding her portfolio as Artist-in-Residence for the University of California Irvine’s Vietnamese American Oral History Project (VAOHP), as she brings a visual arts language to help tell the stories of Vietnamese America. Also currently serving as Artist-in-Residence for Cal State Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center, she has developed curriculum and facilitates self-exploratory visual arts workshops for low-income communities of Santa Ana. Trinh has been invited to Stanford University, among multiple other universities, to speak about her work, and has had her paintings and poetry published by Purdue University's Journal of Southeast Asian American Education & Advancement (JSEAAEA). Recognizing the role of art to educate and heal, Trinh has exhibited in support of the Friends of Hue Foundation Children's Shelter in Vietnam, the Angkor Hospital for Children in Cambodia, has shown her work at AT&T Park and Union Square to benefit the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, and at Oracle Arena to aid the Warriors Community Foundation in its mission to support education in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her inspirations and journey as an artist have been documented by TAO in the film called “Honoring Life: The Work of Trinh Mai”, winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Short Film at the 2016 Viet Film Festival. 

To Contact Trinh Mai, please visit her website at Trinhmai.com