We Belong Everywhere with Reggie Black

During her two month adventure throughout Southeast Asia and Europe, I had the privilege to spend time with Yukako Atsuchi. Photographer, artist, and traveler Yukako is originally from Miyazaki, the capital city of Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Miyazaki is approximately a two hour flight from Tokyo. Yukako calls Miyazaki “the countryside” of Japan, however she’s no stranger to exploring other cultures and countries. She allows wander to lead her spirit throughout her journey and her photography captures the essence of her curiosity.  Attending college in Los Angeles, and then moving to Tokyo, Yukako embodies the core element of what “getting lost to find yourself” truly means. She’s not afraid to abandoned the mundane in order to find new dimensions of fulfillment. Ironically enough, Yukako, and I briefly met almost four years in Portland as we were both traveling and staying in the same hostel.  During her time in Bangkok, Yukako asked if she could capture some shots of me in my home, and immediately said “yes” under one condition, if she allowed me to record our conversation during the shoot. She agreed and this episode is a result of that creative exchange.  Yukako opens up about her Japanese heritage, perception, the significance of film photography in her life, human emotions that creates conflict in her work, pushing herself to discover new layers of who she wants to become, and how satisfying others forced her to rethink the direction she was headed towards.  The conversation gets heavy, we share thoughts around loneliness, being able to identify when negative thoughts are near, and being able to redirection your energy. There’s a lot of great dialogue in this episode but one of my favorite quotes from the conversation is when Yukako says “fear only comes from when you care about what people think.” Follow Yukako via her website or on Instagram. 

As of today most people overlook the Udom Suk neighborhood in Bangkok in terms of coffee, culture, and community. Traditionally it takes major development to improve the cultural climate of specific areas. However, we are living in an era where traditions are broken regularly. In this particular case, tradition is broken on behalf of progression and innovation. Gary Ford II joins Reggie Black to share a portion of his masterplan and how he intends to be in the forefront of reshaping Udom Suk. Alongside his wife, Michelle Ford, Gary is building a mixed use space, La Mesa Coffee Co. that will combine several components that he is particularly interest in bringing to the community. He is introducing his vision through coffee, but there are so many layers to the overall experience. The nucleus of his work is social impact, which he believes is very important to building his venture.  Gary has done work as a Christian Missionary. He has devoted his time serving community organizations and refugee initiatives. As a global citizen that has lived in several different countries, during this conversation Gary takes us on an amazing journey outlining his childhood, and why he has decided to call Bangkok his home. The human experience will connect the dots for us if we are open to receiving the signs, and follow them.  Essentially, Gary is an example of what the impossible can present once you decide to forge forward on a decision and create something bigger than yourself. His story is also a classic example of trusting the process and allowing resilience to guide your work. Gary is excited about this being the first project that he builds from the ground up and in time wants to share his vision with several places around the world.  Follow Gary’s journey via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @gjford2. You can also follow the journey of La Mesa Coffee Co. via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @LaMesaCoffee.   

As of today most people overlook the Udom Suk neighborhood in Bangkok in terms of coffee, culture, and community. Traditionally it takes major development to improve the cultural climate of specific areas. However, we are living in an era where traditions are broken regularly. In this particular case, tradition is broken on behalf of progression and innovation. Gary Ford II joins Reggie Black to share a portion of his masterplan and how he intends to be in the forefront of reshaping Udom Suk. Alongside his wife, Michelle Ford, Gary is building a mixed use space, La Mesa Coffee Co. that will combine several components that he is particularly interest in bringing to the community. He is introducing his vision through coffee, but there are so many layers to the overall experience. The nucleus of his work is social impact, which he believes is very important to building his venture.  Gary has done work as a Christian Missionary. He has devoted his time serving community organizations and refugee initiatives. As a global citizen that has lived in several different countries, during this conversation Gary takes us on an amazing journey outlining his childhood, and why he has decided to call Bangkok his home. The human experience will connect the dots for us if we are open to receiving the signs, and follow them.  Essentially, Gary is an example of what the impossible can present once you decide to forge forward on a decision and create something bigger than yourself. His story is also a classic example of trusting the process and allowing resilience to guide your work. Gary is excited about this being the first project that he builds from the ground up and in time wants to share his vision with several places around the world.  Follow Gary’s journey via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @gjford2. You can also follow the journey of La Mesa Coffee Co. via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @LaMesaCoffee.     

Outside of Casa Lapin on the busy street of Sukhumvit 26, Khem Chen joins Reggie Black to share her stories about travel, living in another country, the contrasts between Singapore and Bangkok, and finding her voice as a photographer. Khem explores introspective topics about interracial issues amongst Southeast Asia by addressing the notions that exist throughout Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, and Thai cultures particularly referencing how they all interact with each other. Khem articulates the importance of all ethnicities respecting each others social structure, what “darker skin” means in Asians cultures, and what can be done to express more empathy.  Khem also tells a beautiful story about how work related travels to dangerous and remote locations crafted her voice as a photographer. She also credits her travels to Switzerland, the power of the internet, and Flipboard as instrumental tools that helped her evolve as a photographer. Khem continues to explain her artist development process by sharing the importance of exploring new cities that she’s never been to before in order to capture new environments. With every capture, Khem is trying to learn something from the visual exchange in that particular moment as well as collect that memory to then go learn more about that experience. Her upcoming projects will explore gender bias and individuality.  There are tons of powerful perspectives in this conversation but this quote from Khem in particular really challenges the human condition and draws a connection with her art:  “For me, it’s not just a photo, I would like people to see, start thinking and start recognizing something in our society. I’m interested in ignorance. How can people see things everyday and not notice that they are there and just pass by?” 

We hear a lot of progressive stories from people who stop drinking, and find comfort in their new path towards sobriety. Often times, the weird space that’s created from the moment you decide to stop consuming alcohol and vow to build a new life for yourself is omitted. The time it takes to get adjusted into a new life of sobriety can get messy, ugly, socially awkward, and lonely. Your daily life changes, social circles shift, and the things that you participated in at one point in your life eventually become hazardous to your well-being.   Janneke Highstreets joins Reggie Black at Ink & Lion Cafe in Bangkok to open up about her journey and the emotional turbulence she’s experiencing on the path to sobriety. Janneke is an artist, and founder of jn/nk, a participatory experience, community art, and human interactive art collective. Originally from The Netherlands, and currently living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Janneke takes us on this beautiful, raw, insecure, and vulnerable narrative that articulates the layers of complexity that lives inside of her mind and heart. Janneke admits the road to sobriety has been challenging and depressing, however as she states  with confidence in our conversation that “this is is a transition time, it’s accepting this new person.” 

Coffee helps move any conversation forward, but in this particular case it stopped one for a very long time. Nuntinee Tan (who prefers to be called Nun) and Reggie Black visited Ceresia Coffee Roasters everyday at the same time for months. Nun was always focused on her work, but Reggie knew there was something intriguing about her ethic. Nun and Reggie worked similar hours, but never introduced themselves to each other. One day, a conversation eventually took place between Nun and Reggie and what they discovered about each other mind blowing. They wanted to further the conversation and decided to have coffee in the Courtyards at The Commons.  Very early in our conversation, Nun opens up by saying that the work she's creating "is definitely not in line with the Thai culture." As Nun continues, she also states, "the objective of my work is to get people to have more in-depth conversations and be more open about themselves, and speak their opinions instead of just agreeing with everything.” Nun creates interesting experiences that are formed by cultural juxtapositions to spark more conversations. Through short films, focus groups, comedy, and even games, Nun is redesigning approaches for Thai people to have conversations. With a background in Consumer Research, and being in charge of Communications for TEDx Bangkok, Nun enters this work with a wealth of knowledge and has an expansive vision for her project. Growing up in Bangkok and then moving to England as a teenager helped Nun developed this love for human interaction, and she continues to explore the possibilities even if things are not aligned with what she wants to offer the world. Those who have participated in Nun’s work calls it “some sort of therapy.” Nun is very aware that this work is not something that you an bring up in the living room or raise for an open discuss around the dinner table. Therefore, she’s doing everything she can to make it more inviting for everyone to be included. Ultimately, Nun wants to pull out as much of life’s context as possible. Nun stunned me with this quote: “When you’re asked to form an opinion it forces you think about what you really think.” We also discussed introvert and extravert qualities, handwriting, overthinking and more. This a three part series.  We also discussed introvert and extravert qualities, handwriting, overthinking and more. This a three part episode. Three of Three. Contact: Nuntinee Tan

Coffee helps move any conversation forward, but in this particular case it stopped one for a very long time. Nuntinee Tan (who prefers to be called Nun) and Reggie Black visited Ceresia Coffee Roasters everyday at the same time for months. Nun was always focused on her work, but Reggie knew there was something intriguing about her ethic. Nun and Reggie worked similar hours, but never introduced themselves to each other. One day, a conversation eventually took place between Nun and Reggie and what they discovered about each other mind blowing. They wanted to further the conversation and decided to have coffee in the Courtyards at The Commons.  Nun is creating work that is definitely not "in line with the Thai culture." As Nun states it, the objective of her work is “to get people to have more in-depth conversations and be more open about themselves, and speak their opinions instead of just agreeing with everything.” Nun creates interesting experiences that are formed by cultural juxtapositions to spark more conversations. Through short films, focus groups, comedy, and even games, Nun is redesigning approaches for Thai people to have conversations. With a background in Consumer Research, and being in charge of Communications for TEDx Bangkok, Nun enters this work with a wealth of knowledge and has an expansive vision for her project. Growing up in Bangkok and then moving to England as a teenager helped Nun developed this love for human interaction, and she continues to explore the possibilities even if things are not aligned with what she wants to offer the world. Those who have participated in Nun’s work calls it “some sort of therapy.” Nun is very aware that this work is not something that you an bring up in the living room or raise for an open discuss around the dinner table. Therefore, she’s doing everything she can to make it more inviting for everyone to be included. Ultimately, Nun wants to pull out as much of life’s context as possible. Nun stunned me with this quote: “When you’re asked to form an opinion it forces you think about what you really think.” We also discussed introvert and extravert qualities, handwriting, overthinking and more. This a three part series. Two of Three. Contact: Nuntinee Tan

Coffee helps move any conversation forward, but in this particular case it stopped one for a very long time. Nuntinee Tan (who prefers to be called Nun) and Reggie Black visited Ceresia Coffee Roasters everyday at the same time for months. Nun was always focused on her work, but Reggie knew there was something intriguing about her ethic. Nun and Reggie worked similar hours, but never introduced themselves to each other. One day, a conversation eventually took place between Nun and Reggie and what they discovered about each other mind blowing. They wanted to further the conversation and decided to have coffee in the Courtyards at The Commons.  Nun is creating work that is definitely not "in line with the Thai culture." As Nun states it, the objective of her work is “to get people to have more in-depth conversations and be more open about themselves, and speak their opinions instead of just agreeing with everything.” Nun creates interesting experiences that are formed by cultural juxtapositions to spark more conversations. Through short films, focus groups, comedy, and even games, Nun is redesigning approaches for Thai people to have conversations. With a background in Consumer Research, and being in charge of Communications for TEDx Bangkok, Nun enters this work with a wealth of knowledge and has an expansive vision for her project. Growing up in Bangkok and then moving to England as a teenager helped Nun developed this love for human interaction, and she continues to explore the possibilities even if things are not aligned with what she wants to offer the world. Those who have participated in Nun’s work calls it “some sort of therapy.” Nun is very aware that this work is not something that you an bring up in the living room or raise for an open discuss around the dinner table. Therefore, she’s doing everything she can to make it more inviting for everyone to be included. Ultimately, Nun wants to pull out as much of life’s context as possible. Nun stunned me with this quote: “When you’re asked to form an opinion it forces you think about what you really think.” We also discussed introvert and extravert qualities, handwriting, overthinking and more. This a three part series. One of Three. Contact: Nuntinee Tan

It’s hard to find nice cool spot in Bangkok to enjoy a casual conversation without feeling rushed to end it due to the extreme temperatures. Right next to the public gym in Benjasiri Park, Reggie Black sits down with Minyoung Kim (but you can call her Minnie) to have a discussion that was led by energy and exploring layers of perspectives. In the process, we were able to enjoy the observations of life around us, gain inspiration from several Thai citizens exercising, and admired their ability to push themselves.  Minyoung is a yoga and pilates instructor that focuses on movement therapy as well as functional movement. She is also the founder of The Movement Tree. During the our conversation, Minyoung explores her childhood outlining what times were like growing up as a Korean-American, her love for Anthropology and why she chose it as her major at UCLA. We all experience difficult moments in life. Minyoung took the time during our conversation to lead with transparency and share how personal as well as family adversity pushed her away and forced her to answer several internal questions. Travel serves as a form of therapy for Minyoung allowing her to explore the world, and form a solid sense of identity. Vulnerability is a beautiful thing when it’s used as tool to inspire. Minyoung’s courage can be summed up in so many words, but a powerful quote she shared during conversation is pretty close: “You don’t know what strong is until strong is your only option.” Contact: Minyoung Kim & The Movement Tree  

During a typical adventure in Bangkok, Reggie takes an interesting approach to invite his audience into his daily life by recording a “State of the Podcast” episode while commuting home from a day of work on the back of a motorbike.  During this episode, Reggie opens up about his feelings of global issues and how it has effected the production of his work, updates about his most recent travels, and ideas about the vision as well as the direction of the We Belong Everywhere podcast.   

Race. Identity. Space. Activism. Sexuality. Change. Education. Travel. Exploration. Surrounded by 3D printed installations and a creative environment, Svenn Grant joins Reggie Black at FabCafe in Bangkok, Thailand to explore the narratives of life that has influenced his path thus far. Svenn has over a decade of experience in working on human development and he’s currently expanding upon his intellectual journey by moving into an academic space. His next chapter focuses on "understanding from a scientific standpoint how society functions." Svenn has devoted an ample amount of his life doing the human work. As he so eloquently describes it, Svenn has worked with “all the people that people didn’t want to work with.”   The work he’s doing is extremely important from working in the transgender community in various parts of the world, to being a university professor university in Bangkok. His travel and cultural palette covers a dynamic range, one that represents what it means to be a change agent.    Contact: Svenn Grant

Tucked away at Colony Club in Washington, DC, Corey Thompson also known as Photoleer joins Reggie Black to engage in a deep man to man conversation. Photoleer is a photographer and traveler that invites the world to experience the moments that he captures with his work.  This conversation is more like a therapy session that addresses all the topics that men normally do not discuss. Photoleer and Reggie Black travel down dark paths of their childhood, talk about their struggles with vulnerability, their battles with emotional stability, and why it’s important for men to discuss their mental health and express themselves. Photoleer digs a bit deeper to address his role as an African-American father and how he’s redesigning everything he was taught as a child to provide the love that is necessary for his daughter to excel in today’s society.  There is a lot of transparency and necessary dialogue in this episode, which is why it’s offered in four parts. Contact: @Photoleer

Tucked away at Colony Club in Washington, DC, Corey Thompson also known as Photoleer joins Reggie Black to engage in a deep man to man conversation. Photoleer is a photographer and traveler that invites the world to experience the moments that he captures with his work.  This conversation is more like a therapy session that addresses all the topics that men normally do not discuss. Photoleer and Reggie Black travel down dark paths of their childhood, talk about their struggles with vulnerability, their battles with emotional stability, and why it’s important for men to discuss their mental health and express themselves. Photoleer digs a bit deeper to address his role as an African-American father and how he’s redesigning everything he was taught as a child to provide the love that is necessary for his daughter to excel in today’s society.  There is a lot of transparency and necessary dialogue in this episode, which is why it’s offered in four parts. Contact: @Photoleer

Tucked away at Colony Club in Washington, DC, Corey Thompson also known as Photoleer joins Reggie Black to engage in a deep man to man conversation. Photoleer is a photographer and traveler that invites the world to experience the moments that he captures with his work.  This conversation is more like a therapy session that addresses all the topics that men normally do not discuss. Photoleer and Reggie Black travel down dark paths of their childhood, talk about their struggles with vulnerability, their battles with emotional stability, and why it’s important for men to discuss their mental health and express themselves. Photoleer digs a bit deeper to address his role as an African-American father and how he’s redesigning everything he was taught as a child to provide the love that is necessary for his daughter to excel in today’s society.  There is a lot of transparency and necessary dialogue in this episode, which is why it’s offered in four parts. Contact: @Photoleer

Tucked away at Colony Club in Washington, DC, Corey Thompson also known as Photoleer joins Reggie Black to engage in a deep man to man conversation. Photoleer is a photographer and traveler that invites the world to experience the moments that he captures with his work.  This conversation is more like a therapy session that addresses all the topics that men normally do not discuss. Photoleer and Reggie Black travel down dark paths of their childhood, talk about their struggles with vulnerability, their battles with emotional stability, and why it’s important for men to discuss their mental health and express themselves. Photoleer digs a bit deeper to address his role as an African-American father and how he’s redesigning everything he was taught as a child to provide the love that is necessary for his daughter to excel in today’s society. There is a lot of transparency and necessary dialogue in this episode, which is why it’s offered in four parts. Contact: @Photoleer

Aimlessly strolling through Midtown in New York City, Liz Jackson, the Founder of Inclusive Fashion & Design Collective (the first-ever fashion trade association to serve people with disabilities) joins Reggie Black to talk about a wide range of things. Liz articulates her understanding of the difference between asking for advice and being bailed out.  Contact: elizejackson

During the BlackStar Film Festival, and the premiere of her short film "Rigamo" Che Greyson joins Reggie Black for a walk and talk through Center City Philadelphia. Che opens up about the impact of the work from other filmmakers at the festival. Che also addresses the power of imagery what her mission is as a black filmmaker.  Contact: @FandomFox

Ashely Brown joins Reggie Black for a morning cup at Prodigy Coffee in the West Village of New York City. Ashley takes us on a personal journey highlighting her connection with photography and how fighting through self-doubt has fueled her trajectory as an artist.  Contact: @AshelyLaurel_B  

On the streets of SOHO, in New York City, Brian McCullough, the host of the Internet History Podcast takes a walk with Reggie Black to share some of his personal insights about the journey of a Historian. He also reveals one of his deepest fears, and what's next for his work.  Contact: @BrianMcc   

Creator and Host, Reggie Black uses his first episode to share with his audience the concept, structure, and overall layout of We Belong Everywhere.