BM: Madison, Wisconsin: 30-8 Ngày John 'Vietnam' Nguyen

Thành phố Madison, Wisconsin tuyên bố thứ sáu là ngày John '

Vietnam

' Nguyen

Một sinh viên người Mỹ gốc Việt 19 tuổi, cũng là một nghệ sĩ nhạc hip-hop tài hoa, và một nhà hoạt động tích cực cho công bằng xã hội, đã được thành phố Madison ở Wisconsin vinh danh qua tuyên bố Thứ Sáu là Ngày John “Vietnam” Nguyen, một năm sau ngày giỗ đầu của anh.

Thị trưởng Thành phố Madison Paul Soglin.

Báo Wisconsin State Journal tường thuật rằng Thị trưởng Thành phố Madison, ông Paul Soglin đã ra tuyên bố này hôm qua ngay trước bức tượng của nhà tranh đấu dân quyền nổi tiếng của Mỹ, là Mục sư Luther King Jr., tại tiền đình Tòa Thị Chính thành phố Madison, Wisconsin.

John Nguyen chết đuối tại Hồ Mendota đúng một năm về trước, để lại bao thương tiếc cho đông đảo người hâm mộ anh, vì tài năng cũng như vì các hoạt động xã hội của anh.

John Nguyen là một sinh viên thuộc chương trình First Wave và một nghệ sĩ hip hop có tài, chuyên cổ vũ cho công bằng xã hội, chủ nghĩa đa văn hóa, và sự dấn thân của công dân. Anh đi khắp nơi lưu diễn và trong những dịp này, luôn luôn gây ấn tượng đẹp và gợi cảm hứng cho những người đến xem, bằng những bản nhạc có lời lẽ và ý tưởng mới lạ và phong cách trình diễn độc đáo. John cũng thường xuất hiện tại các buổi hội thảo và chứng tỏ khả năng thuyết phục công chúng trong các bài đọc và tham khảo của anh.

Báo Wisconsin State Journal trích lời ông Willie Ney, Giám đốc Điều hành của Văn Phòng Nghệ Thuật Đa văn hóa - OMAI, nói rằng “John Nguyễn có một cá tính lớn hơn đời thường. John là biểu tượng của các nhà khoa bảng First Wave, vì anh vừa là một nghệ sĩ tài năng, một nhà hoạt động lại vừa là một nhà khoa bảng.”

Một số sự kiện cho “Ngày John Vietnam Nguyen” trùng hợp với chương trình “Nhìn lại Quá khứ, Hoạch định Tương lai”, nhân Lễ Kỷ niệm 50 năm cuộc tuần hành đòi dân quyền tại Hoa Kỳ.

City proclaims Friday John 'Vietnam' Nguyen Day

John "Vietnam" Nguyen performs spoken word in his hometown of Chicago in the fall of 2011. Nguyen was a First Wave scholar at UW-Madison and spoke at workshops throughout the country about social justice and civic engagement.

The city of Madison has proclaimed Friday to be John “Vietnam” Nguyen Day, which marks the one-year anniversary of the death of the 19-year-old UW-Madison student and Chicago-raised hip-hop artist who drowned in Lake Mendota.

Known for his positivity, civic engagement and lyrics about identity and multiculturalism, Nguyen was on scholarship through the First Wave program, the first university program in the country centered on the spoken word and hip-hop culture. The son of a Vietnam War veteran and a Vietnamese refugee also spoke and performed at conferences and workshops throughout the country.

“John had a larger-than-life personality,” said Willie Ney, executive director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) who recruited Nguyen. “He was and still is the archetype for First Wave scholars because he was a phenomenally well-rounded artist, activist and academic.”

Ney added that Nguyen had the highest ACT score of any First Wave student since the program began in 2007.

For his audition to join First Wave, Nguyen produced and submitted an 81/2 minute video of himself rapping, rehearsing poems and breakdancing.

Near the end of the video, Nguyen states: “Being a B-boy, you don’t just break, it’s more than a movement, it allows me to express myself in more ways than one and gives me a balance in my mind, body and soul.”

OMAI, which administers the First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Learning Community, along with the JVN Project have teamed up with the Madison Department of Civil Rights to celebrate Nguyen’s life Friday.

Some of the events for John “Vietnam” Nguyen Day coincide with the start of the city’s “Remembering the Past, Mapping the Future” program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of civil rights events.

After 12 months of mourning, reflection and studying Nguyen’s lyrics in his songs, poems and journal entries, Joe Hertel, Nguyen’s father, said he feels like he knows his son better than ever.

“I’m a bit removed from this generation and wasn’t quite as hip with what was going on,” said Hertel, a Vietnam War veteran. “He certainly used the time he had, read voraciously, took what he learned from school and what he learned growing up in a diverse neighborhood and shared his experiences through hip-hop and showed how hip-hop can have a positive influence on a community.”

Nguyen grew up in Uptown, a neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. Adam Schreiber, a rapper known as Qwel who will be performing at the Memorial Union Terrace Friday in memory of Nguyen, also grew up in Uptown and had met Nguyen before his death.

“His story and legend has really resonated with me,” said Schreiber.

“You see this kid with so much potential and so much creativity avoid becoming a gang banger in a life where you can get so calloused and cold to the reality of what’s going on in Chicago. He’s an inspiration.”

Schreiber added that he hopes concert-goers Friday will put the night in perspective and take the time to remember John.

“It breaks my heart when there’s a big spirit behind something and people are just there to party,” he said.

Zhalarina Sanders, coordinator of the JVN Project and fellow First Wave scholar, said Nguyen always changed and still continues to change the way she thinks about certain issues.

“He lived, breathed and ate social justice, equality, love and respect for all persons,” said Sanders, who added that Nguyen was always working on his craft and hardly slept.

Members of First Wave were among many spoken word and hip-hop performers during this year’s “Passing the Mic” event, which included a tribute to John “Vietnam” Nguyen.

In one of his journal entries, Nguyen wrote:

“I’m a slave to the rhythm, was made to be different, so even in my grave, I’ll make a change to the system.”

UW-Madison student who drowned in Lake Mendota identified

A UW-Madison student who drowned Thursday morning in Lake Mendota, John "Vietnam" Nguyen, was a fledgling rap artist from Chicago who sang about multiculturalism and identity.

Nguyen, 19, had been swimming with several friends when he went underwater and did not resurface, according to the Dane County Medical Examiner's Office.

The drowning took place a short distance from a pier in the 600 block of North Park Street, said Barry Irmen, director of operations for the Medical Examiner's Office.

The incident was reported at 6:49 a.m. in front of the UW-Madison Limnology Building, 680 N. Park St., according to the Dane County 911 Communications Center.

The Madison Fire Department's Lake Rescue Team was called to the scene and pulled Nguyen out of the water less than 15 minutes after the search started, according to spokesman Eric Dahl. Witnesses said he was under water for several minutes.

He was taken to a local hospital where resuscitative efforts were unsuccessful, Irmen said. Preliminary results from an autopsy conducted Thursday were consistent with an accidental drowning, he said.

Nguyen was scheduled to speak at a conference of the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA) last month in Minneapolis.

His workshop was on social media, social justice and hip-hop in a larger topic of culture and identity, civic engagement and sociopolitical issues.

Nguyen's bio on the UNAVSA website said he was a student at UW-Madison pursuing a marketing degree. "His art is defined as expression, therapy, and resistance rooted in hip-hop culture," it said.

The bio said he was the son of a Vietnamese refugee and a Vietnam War veteran. "Working and volunteering in local community organizations have nurtured his passion for the synergy between arts, academics, and activism — especially concerning multiculturalism and identity," it said.

In his most recent post on his Facebook page Aug. 22, Nguyen quoted the German theologian and philosopher Albert Schweitzer: "In hopes of reaching the moon, men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet."

On Twitter Thursday, UW-Madison posted, "We'll deeply miss the enormously talented John "Vietnam" Nguyen, who passed away this a.m." Posted with the Tweet was a medley of videos of Nguyen rapping and break dancing against various Chicago backdrops.

In one video Nguyen raps "with all my people unified, but others say we dissidents" and "still hope for better days, and remember how the summer felt, I hope it never fades away."