Urbane & Gallant Featured on Social Enterprise Podcast!

By Andrew M. Park in Social Enterprise 0 Comment

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Urbane & Gallant was featured on The Bonfires of Social Enterprise where we talked about masculinity, fashion, our story, and what social enterprise means for our future as a society.

Hosted by Romy Gingras of Gingras Global, LLC and Cecily Jackson-Zapata of Sustainable Law Group, PC, The Bonfires of Social Enterprise allows the audience to listen in on a conversation with social entrepreneurs, revealing insights, struggles, and victories.

It’s a quick 20 minutes, so give the podcast a listen while you’re driving or working out and let us know what you think! Continue reading

Urbane + Gallant in Action ft. Kindred Image

By Andrew M. Park in Urbane & Gallant in Action 0 Comment

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When we think of filmmaking, we picture directors like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, or James Cameron and imagine blockbuster movies with million dollar budgets. The reality is that all the big names in Hollywood started somewhere, and it’s an eye-opening experience learning about their journey, especially when they’re on mission to change lives through film.

Kindred Image is an LA-based production company already making a splash in the industry with their documentary The Drop Box, a documentary about a South Korean man who created a drop off place for abandoned babies to get a second chance at life.

These men are living Urbane + Gallant lives, and we had the opportunity to sit down with them to discuss film and masculinity.  Continue reading

Urbane + Gallant in Action ft. John Chong of Run River North

By Andrew M. Park in Urbane & Gallant in Action 0 Comment

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With every breakthrough, there’s a story behind it, and this couldn’t be any truer for Los Angeles-based ensemble, Run River North (RRN).

RRN started small playing for a few hometown shows in LA and encountered the typical difficulties any band experiences trying to make a living with music. In these situations, you get creative to build content that brings exposure. The music video “Fight to Keep” they recorded in their Hondas went viral, and Honda surprised them with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Thanks to the big break, RRN signed with Nettwerk Music Group in 2013 and released their self-titled debut album this past February working alongside producer Phil Ek (Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, Built to Spill, The Shins). Since then, they’ve been touring, performing at LA’s famed Troubadour, New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall, and at SXSW. They joined the Goo Goo Dolls for their acoustic spring tour while also playing their own headline shows in Boston, New York, DC, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.

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They are phenomenal musicians, but we wanted to learn more about the people behind the music and the impact they want to make through their work. That’s what Urbane + Gallant is about, and we want to highlight men who are on mission. We got the opportunity to sit down with John Chong, RRN’s drummer, after they got back from their tour. He spoke personally and was not speaking on behalf of the rest of the band.  Continue reading

5 Lessons on Manhood from William Wilberforce

By Andrew M. Park in Masculinity 0 Comment

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Slavery wasn’t always wrong. There was a time when it was right.

While it’s culture today to shake our fists at the injustice of slavery, it was once justified. It remained that way until William Wilberforce saw the slave trade in its true form, mobilized others to act, and led a campaign to victory like a man. Wilberforce literally changed the world.

As boys, we dream of changing the world, but it remains a dream because we never hear of men who actually do. The young men find themselves in a crisis, in need of male mentors who inspire them and speak about masculinity.

If you’re like me, that is all you really want—someone to show you masculinity lived out. We need examples, and Wilberforce is a worthy mentor for all of us today.

Here are five lessons on manhood from Wilberforce’s historic campaign to end slavery:  Continue reading

8 Characteristics of Fathers that Inspire Us

By Kyle Negrete in Uncategorized 0 Comment

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There is an old legend regarding the Cherokee Indian youth’s Rite of Passage. When a boy is ready to become a man, the father takes his son into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a tree stump the entire night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. After he survives the night, he is considered a man. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each boy must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even humans who might do him harm.

During one boy’s ordeal the wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It was the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.  Continue reading

What is Human Trafficking?

By Urbane & Gallant in Human Trafficking 0 Comment
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Source: CNN Freedom Project

On April 15, 2014, 300 Nigerian girls were kidnapped while studying for their final exams and sold for $12 each to militant husbands.

Slavery still exists today, and it starts with human trafficking. 

In fact, there are more slaves today in 2014 than there ever were during the Atlantic Slave Trade from 1500-1800. During that time, it’s estimated that close to 12 million were transported across the Atlantic to slavery in North and South America. Today, there are 27 million slaves around the world (Source: Free the Slaves).

Modern day slavery is one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time and something people need to be aware of in order to end it.  Continue reading