Teams for Black Lives Matter

You can watch the video from You Tube below.

Lakers & Clippers for Black Lives Matter

Players and coaches from the Lakers and Clippers made their presence felt to communities around the US and to all supporters of the Black Lives Matter Movement as they all knelt on one knee during the singing of the National Anthem by the The Compton Kidz Club.

These visual signs of protest were brought about by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer. Aside from players kneeling at during the national anther, social justice messages can also be read at the back of their jerseys.

Hopefully, beyond the basketball court, these players would make a stronger presence on the streets, side by side, with ordinary people in support of Black Lives Matter.

We will remember John Saxon

We will remember John Saxon from the classic movie, 'Enter the Dragon,' which made Bruce Lee, a household name.

Yes, Saxon played the role of Roper in the 1973 movie directed by Robert Clouse. The movie also starred Jim Kelly. 

Even Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung had small roles in that movie. Chan played the role of a guard at the island who get his neck snapped by Lee while Hung had a brief fight scene with Lee.

But it was Lee, Saxon and Kelly who would play the roles of three martial arts experts invited to a martial arts competition.

The New York born and raised actor also appeared in 70s era TV series like The Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Women and Starsky and Hutch (my favourite).

Thank you for making your presence felt in cinema, specially, 'Enter The Dragon.'

Haben Girma: An Advocate for equal opportunities for disabled people

"My disability was never my barrier," says, Haben Girma.

She went to Lewis and Clark College and successfully pushed for her legal rights to accommodation in the school cafeteria. She graduated magna cum laude in 2010.

In 2013, she became Harvard Law School’s first deaf-blind graduate. Aside from being a lawyer, Girma is also an a disability rights advocate who has met and have been honored by world leaders like Canada's Justin Trudeau and Germany's Angela Merkel.

Former US President Barack Obama named Girma a White House Champion of Change in 2013. Two years later, she was appointed to the National Board of Trustee for the Helen Keller Services for the Blind.

She is also an author who wrote about the challenges of a deaf blind woman "who conquered Harvard Law." 

She says, “I want a future where disabled people have equal opportunities to services, health, education — everything should be fully accessible.”

Girma is a strong advocate of ableism, which I have learned from Wikipedia as the discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived to have disabilities. 

It is described by www.stopableism.org as "The practices and dominant attitudes in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities. A set of practices and beliefs that assign inferior value (worth) to people who have developmental, emotional, physical or psychiatric disabilities."

It further describes "an ableist society is said to be one that treats non-disabled individuals as the standard of ‘normal living’, which results in public and private places and services, education, and social work that are built to serve 'standard' people, thereby inherently excluding those with various disabilities."

Girma's life continues to be an inspiration to many women, specially, those who face tough challenges. 

She says, “Stop framing disability as a barrier. Disabled people are successful because communities choose to remove the barriers. I was the first deaf-blind student to graduate from Harvard Law School, not because I overcame disability. I'm still disabled and still deaf-blind. It was Harvard that overcame some of their ableism.”

PWD are present in our communities. While there is growing awareness on their special needs but a lot more work needs to be done by government to legislate more laws that protect their rights and provide benefits. And for everyday people to remove their "barriers" and embrace their presence in our communities.

Jean-Léon Gérôme inspires Gladiator

Did you know that the film "Gladiator" was inspired by a painting called “Pollice Verso” by Jean-Léon Gérôme.

I never knew that fact until I read the article below from Variety published last May 4, 2020 entitled,‘Gladiator’ at 20: Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott Look Back on the Groundbreaking Historical Epic." Has it been 20 years already? Guess, watching the film often on HBO makes 20 years even shorter. 

Now, let us get to know the man who helped shape the presence of Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix in the film 20 years ago.

Gérôme was a French painter who was born May 10, 1824. He was also a sculptor and a teacher. Many of his paintings revolved around themes of classical, Greek mythology, religion and orientalist. Below is The Age of Augustus, the Birth of Christ, which was commissioned by Napoleon who saw himself as Augustus.

Looking back at CITEM Manila FAME 2019 Visit

Looking back to October 2019, when we all made our presence felt and visited the October 2019 Manila FAME Trade Exhibit at the SMX Convention Center.

This would probably be the last of the Manila FAME on the ground trade exhibit as the current pandemic has made it impossible for physical events such as trade fairs to happen. So, these days, the CITEM team would need to exert more strategic effort to push Filipino ingenuity and craftsmanship to the overseas market.  

Photo shows CITEM alumni friends, Tere Lopez Pacis (left), Ellen and Luz (back of Angel) and Joey Pacis (back of Rafa and Cecile)

Remembering Kobe

I have always been a Lakers fan. Jerry West. Gail Goodrich. Kareem Abdul Jabbar.Magic Johnson. And Kobe Bryant. 

 Kobe’s sudden and tragic death is a loss not only for basketball but for millions of fans and followers around the worl who admired his passion and determination to succeed and excel in his sport. 

 But more important, I admire his love and affection for his daughters and wife Vanessa. And I join the world in mourning the loss of Kobe and Gigi, and in the helicopter crash that happened two days ago. 

 This is my first blog for 2020 and I am sure that Kobe and Gigi are all smiles to see how much love is being expressed online and offline. We will miss you.

Creativity with Lego

Yes, I have discovered a new stress reliever. Lego!  Through the years, my eldest son, Rafa had been accumulating a lot of Lego pieces. Some original pieces. Others copycats from China. But they would mostly fit each other. 

In-between binge watching on Netflix, I placed hundreds of these bricks on the sofa and started putting them together. Mostly, using “left-over” pieces that my son, Rafa, had not used in building his own creation.

 

Who would have thought that these colorful interlocking plastic bricks that originated in Denmark in the early 1930s would appeal to communications practitioner like me. 

Like brand building, putting together these Lego pieces require focus and synergy. Each creation results to an identity that unique and different from each other. Just like how brand building helps creates a unique image about the company. Out of scratch, I believe no two Lego creations are the same. 

 

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, says, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” I say, these Lego I have created are what my kids will say about me when I have left the house to go to work. And they dare not take it apart.

 

Like brand building, both involve a creative process, but only Lego can bring endless possibilities. Totally agree when Tom Donaldson, VP of the Creative Play Lab at the LEGO Group said, “"We really see Lego as a creative tool.” 

Just hope my kids, Rafa and Angel, don’t disassemble them yet. But even if they do, I wouldn’t mind as I know they will create something that I never even thought of.  

 

These bricks have also given me literally the hands-on experience that is an escape from the everyday business reality budgets, briefs and brand mandatories. 

 

Lego has given me a renewed focus to build, to create and drive my anxious mind to a playful world that started in a workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1932.