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tony hoang

@mutedtalks

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Practicing to arrive at every moment

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This month is the 4-year anniversary of meeting the most courageous students and workers who organized themselves and one another to fight for a better life. In early 2022 I got a job as a full-time groundskeeper for Pitzer College. I was just grateful to have something steady after how difficult it was to get by during the pandemic. So I just put my head down and worked but one day during one of the many college events that went on, I heard some students shouting in the distance, and as I looked, I saw one of the students I’d become friends with protesting at the admin booth that was set up there. I had no idea what the protest was about in the moment but the next time I saw that student, I asked them what happened and they told me they were protesting unfair treatment of the culinary workers. Once I heard the words organizing, union, and worker rights, I wanted to get involved not really even knowing what my role would be but just feeling that it was the right thing to do. At first I was scared of the idea that I could lose this job because I was speaking up but once I realized that there were others who had been at this school for decades and didn’t get an ounce of what they deserved in pay, benefits, and simple respect, and having the tremendous support of the students who were fighting alongside us, that fear slowly melted away and all there was left to do was to fight. This film was made by two incredible people who were students during this time and decided that documenting this fight was important and necessary. Thank you Charlie and Jacob. I’m proud that we fought and never gave up on ourselves and each other to win an amazing contract that was life changing. I hope this film can inspire you to use your voice to stand up in your workplace, you can always transform your workplace and more importantly yourself for the better, you just have to organize and understand that you’re not alone in this. You have an entire tribe standing right next to you ready to tell your shitty boss that you want change. Thank you to all the students, workers, and community that made this real, you all know who you are. Love you all so much. by @mutedtalks

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3 months ago

Let me tell you a story about a lil vegan taqueria in Pomona California that is going up against the biggest names in the game and are in the freaking semi-finals of the L.A. Taco Madness competition! That's @borreguitas_be , the pioneers of vegan Mexican food in Pomona.I got to paint this sign on their grill some time back and it was a dream come true cause I've been supporting them since day one when they only had 3 tables in the tiniest space and that one time the whole area filled with the smell of freshly chopped onions and I couldn't hold back the tears, now look at them, trying to get to the finals to win it all. Family, please, if you've been to Borreguitas, you know their food is not only delicious, it's made with care, thoughtfulness and love so follow the link in my bio and vote cause no one thought this lil vegan taqueria in Pomona would make it this far. Let's get them there, they deserve it. by @mutedtalks

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3 months ago

Hey family, I have some new work to show in the year end show at Los Angeles Trade Tech tomorrow. It's a celebration of the sign graphics program that my classmates and I have been in for the last two years and also to celebrate all the amazing work from the screen printing program and visual communications program. These last two years have been a wave of all the things life can bring crashing in most of the time with no warning but it wasn't able to stop me from building the life I wanted for myself and it didn't stop me from showing up for myself. I'm proud I've gotten to this point and I hope you can come out and celebrate. Show starts at 11am and runs to 2pm. Would love to see you there family. Swipe for the flyer and for my homie Jared proud with his amazing art! by @mutedtalks

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7 months ago

I said bye to my best friend last Wednesday, she was able to let me know that it was time and luckily she was able to pass peacefully at home surrounded by the people who loved her. I know a lot of you knew and loved Toph and I'm sorry you didn't get to see her one last time. I moved back to Pomona 15 years ago and that's when I rescued Toph, my pops found her behind a grocery store that he worked at, she was just dumped there so he took her home on his lunch break. I'd just moved back home and was trying to find work and figure life out so I thought I couldn't take care of her so we tried to find her a home, 3 different homes later, I'm going to pick her up in my old beat up Honda and as we start driving away together and I'm stressing about where she will go next, she crawls into my lap and I decided in that moment that I would take care of her. That's the best decision I ever made and I couldn't have asked for a better companion, friend, and teacher for the last 15 years. For those of you who didn't know Toph, she was tender, emotional, funny, she loved getting outside, she loved giving love and she was full of life. She was always my example of how to live, because she always lived in the moment. Thanks for being my best friend Tophy Jay, love you little one, appreciate you letting me be your pops and thank you for loving me and showing me what true love is.#tophyjay by @mutedtalks

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8 months ago

Just so we are clear, Fuck ICE and Fuck this Cheeto puff coward in the white house! For anyone who is following me and supporting my work, I just want to make sure you know I'll always be for the people and it's power to the people all day.Don't lose your hope, the struggle of the people against the billionaire class has been happening for a long time and it's up to us to keep fighting and resisting until one day we can change this system that isn't built for us. Going to these protests all week has been both beautiful because of the people who show up and stand up for others and horrifying because of this police violence and the violence this system inflicts on us every single day. But it doesn't just stop at the protest, it has to show up in how we live each day and how we treat our neighbors and how we support one another. I'm far from perfect but I do my best to not support industries that are killing others and displacing people, you may think that one Starbucks coffee or that 2 day Amazon shipping or the ugly ass cybertruck you drive doesn't make a difference, how could it? You are just one person? But that's what this capitalistic state wants you to think, they want you to continue to live disconnected and unaware that the decisions you make everyday actually matter. The only language these monsters understand is money and how to make more and more regardless of who that hurts, displaces and kills. To my fellow artists and organizers, I see all the beautiful work you do by showing up, speaking up and being about it, you can wake up too, you just gotta stop hitting the snooze button. Love you family. by @mutedtalks

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a year ago

Being able to visit Deer Park Monastery this weekend with Jon felt like a gift. When I was introduced to mindfulness teachings as a young adult, it was something that resonated to my core and I remember being so excited to share it with everyone I knew but I quickly learned that telling someone something is not as effective as just living by example. So that's what I've done, I've tried my best to apply the teachings I've learned from Thay and just love on people, have compassion for all living things and myself and look deeper than just what's on the surface. Grateful we got to mindfully walk together, laugh together, and eat some amazing vegan food prepared by the monastic people that are so generous to welcome us for the day. Tell your friends you love them and why you love them when you get the chance. Love you big family. by @mutedtalks

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a year ago

A few of my friends left this platform recently, I don't blame them. There is no "normal" while there is oppression of the people and lives lost. I think about why I'm here, sharing what I share, am I adding to the suffering and confusion? A good friend of mine taught me a lesson recently about how this place can skew our perception of others, that what we tend to see can make us jump to the conclusion that life is perfect when really that is so far from what the everyday of life looks and feels like. Because all of that is constantly changing, happiness, joy, love, fear, sadness, and every emotion is like a wave or a temporary passenger, they come and go and come again and again. It feels like all we have is our moments, a moment when you look down to appreciate the colors, watching him swing as high as he can just to see how far he can jump off, stepping back and taking a breath to appreciate this exact moment while I'm here with my friends because one day I won't be here with them, asking your friend to take his portrait in front of his beautiful sign, still learning from the people you've known your entire life about how to appreciate what's right in front of you, honoring your family through the simple acts of collaboration and care, recognizing the suffering around us and inside of us so that we can keep showing up to love each other, being grateful to meet new friends and learn to ask ourselves each day "What good shall I do this day?" by @mutedtalks

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a year ago

This 4'x10' wall sign was the largest painting I've done so far and the most challenging surface I've painted on but the entire time I was determined to keep moving and break each working day into smaller goals instead of being overwhelmed with the entire picture.I thought a lot about my brother Minh and my brother Ricardo when any doubt crept in during this project and that kept my mind positive and was a reminder to enjoy each and every step because it's all valuable.I'm proud of this sign and thankful I get to rep @btstradeco and the solid work they do to keep old motorcycles going. If you need to revive an old Japanese moto or have a cool chopper project, or just need basic maintenance, hit them up. Shout-out to Akira Toriyama for inspiring me with their amazing work, discovering Dragonball as a tiny human really sparked my imagination and recently discovering his WOLF comic in a book, I knew I needed to include it in this sign.Grateful for my mentors and peers encouraging me and showing me love. Thank you family, community is everything. by @mutedtalks

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a year ago

Realized I never posted this film that Jon and I worked on and finished right before the pandemic in January 2020. We rode our bikes from Santa Ana to San Diego on a little two day adventure. This film is called "honeycomb cake" in honor of my friend @hatepasted letting us stay in his families backyard and his entire family being so generous with feeding us, taking care of us, and his mom making us the most amazing Bánh Bò Nướng from scratch for us. I just finished the perfect bike basket bed for Toph so she could roll with us in style, she loved riding shotgun, hated wearing her goggles, and had the best time when she got to get off the bike to run with us. Kyle just finished up converting his old Schwinn into an internal geared hub bike, I remember him zooming up hills like it was nothing while Cody and I were in awe and struggling for oxygen at the same time, his strength on a bike was on a different planet. (See if you can find the shot of him following behind Cody and I while we were climbing up the hill to Torrey Pines and he is snacking and smiling for the camera after going back down the hill just to check up on us). Jon and I had this idea of capturing this ride using only film cameras and he saved this project with all the amazing shots he got, my camera was not being cooperative and I barely got any usable footage but we were still able to make something together. Even more amazing was Jon rolling on the entire 100 plus mile ride on a $20 steel frame bicycle from @bikesdelpueblo that was in bad shape but was saved and got a second life. Cody was an inspiration on this trip, from what I remember he was on a borrowed bike, one borrowed bike bag, and it was my first time really spending time with him and I realized right away that he was a special human. Being around that kind of energy just made this trip even more special. I look back at this one often when the world seems like an unfair and unfriendly place and I'm reminded that love and kindness is in plain sight sometimes and traveling on a bike and being vulnerable is one way to experience that. Love you all. End Credits song: Jan 8 by Anthony Gonzalez @turtlesoup_ by @mutedtalks

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a year ago

Today is Jon's birthday and so I spent a little while looking through old film photos of him cause I knew I had a few good ones to share. Looking through all the years of photos made me realize that we've shared so much time together traveling with a bike, a change of clothes, a camera and a skateboard and we always came back with stories to tell and our friendship stronger. Jon has taught me the invaluable life lesson of just going with the flow, and letting go of control. Our conversations always spark inspiration and motivation to keep growing in this life and I couldn't be more grateful for a friend like that. Grateful to cross paths with you in this lifetime Jonzo, wishing you a happy birthday and sending you all the love that you so selflessly provide in abundance to everyone and the world around you times 1000. Here's to many more years of adventure, learning cool new things, and long car rides listening to entire modest mouse records. by @mutedtalks

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a year ago

It's easy to fall into despair, to think that it's impossible to fight back because you are just one person and how can one person fight this oligarchy and this takeover of this country, it's easy to think you have no say or power to express what most of us know is not right. Don't believe any of it, you are made up of your ancestors dreams and the inherent truth that we can reject the division, the hate and the greed when we get together and organize.Get with your community, you'll see that there are others that are willing to fight back, that are willing to say this is not right and I will not stand idle and quiet about all the injustices that this administration is trying to bring to our cities. We are not helpless, we can make a choice every day to not take part, to shut it down. Remember that your community is always there for you, you just have to show up and march with them. Shout-out to @genteorganizada for holding it down in Pomona and reminding us that we can always fight back and we are never hopeless because we carry so much strength and spirit when we organize. Love you Pomona family. by @mutedtalks

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a year ago

Hey family, this is Tony, your friendly neighborhood sign painter. I wanted to create some space here to share my sign painting work and to tell the stories of the people I meet along the way. I want this project to be something that I'm proud of, that is community based always for the people, for the growth of community and to help uplift voices and protect each other. This feels like the right time to start this because I don't know how else to fight injustice, hate, and greed than to fight back with connection, listening, and supporting my community with what I can create through my work. Everyday People Signs Collective is something I've been dreaming up for some time so I'm feeling grateful to finally be here in this moment, I hope you can join me on this journey cause I know I can't do this alone. Love you family. by @mutedtalks

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a year ago