February 13, 2024

Bringing Together the Black American and Japanese Community, One Photograph at a Time

cameron_peagler_headshot.png

Cameron Peagler, courtesy of Cameron Peagler
Written by Office of Alumni Affairs Intern Isabella Romine

Armed with his photography skills and a desire to make a difference, Cameron Peagler, a Gilman International Scholarship Exchange Alumni, developed his latest project, Black Gold, which won a small grant during the 2023 Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund (CDAF) small-grant competition. The project combined interviews with portrait photography to capture the experiences of 30 Black American creatives and entrepreneurs living in Japan.

Cameron’s interest in Japan was sparked during his international exchange in 2013. He characterized the experience as transformative, enabling him to see a world and ways of living he hadn’t previously known. His host family stay was especially impactful despite the language barrier –at the start of his exchange, Cameron spoke little Japanese.

“They showed me so much love and care. It didn't matter what I looked like to them. They just treated me as family; [and] they still are my family to this day,” he said. “I learned that it doesn't matter what your race is, your ethnicity is. We can all treat each other with kindness.”

Between his first exchange program and his return to Japan in August 2019, Cameron worked as a registered nurse for several years in Dayton, Ohio, and trained to be a nationally competitive fencer.

Cameron’s desire to gain more international experiences remained, and after a year working as a Gilman Ambassador, he joined the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) as an English teacher. Back in Japan, he developed his passion for photography, and made connections that helped him conceive the Black Gold project. While he originally hoped the experience would help him become a Foreign Service Officer, his second foray into Japan helped him decide to pursue an artistic career instead.

“[The project] was something I came up with organically on my own as a creative –a creative and a public servant. Right? I'm both. I don't consider myself one or the other,” Cameron said.

Stories as a source of social change

Black Gold was largely motivated by Cameron’s own life-changing study abroad experience in Japan and the underrepresentation of Black students abroad. As recently as 2020, only about five percent of students studying abroad were Black.

“Studying abroad as a Black person, it's rare –at least in my local community back home. One of my close friends [from home] had his first airplane ride, like, maybe three months ago, just to another state. That was it. But it just shows that the people who came out here [to Japan] –for whatever reason –have a story to be shared. And what that story is is an opportunity to help other people,” Cameron explained.

The project quickly gained momentum in the Black community in Japan. Cameron began with an interview with columnist Baye McNeil, who writes for national newspaper, The Japan Times. Baye introduced Cameron to the famous Black photographer, Matthew Jordan Smith, who later became his mentor in the world of photography. Other interviews followed suit: participants invested in the project’s success and eagerly introduced Cameron to other connections who in turn became part of the project.

photos_from_the_black_gold_exhibition.png

Cameron Peagler, photographer and creator of the Black Gold CDAF project, was motivated to create the project through his own life-changing study abroad experience in Japan with a Gilman International Scholarship. Photo courtesy of Cameron Peagler.
Contributors included models, content creators, musicians, artists, business owners, and others who shared their own experiences living and building community in Japan, as well as their advice for Black youth. The project is also a platform for them to share their success stories, including the reflection that in living in another country, the participants were more truly allowed to be themselves.

Though Cameron was the project leader of Black Gold, his teammates also supported the project both in Japan and in the United States. Team co-leader and fellow Gilman International Scholarship Exchange Alumni Bensen Kwan arranged parts of the project from the United States, and Katherine Harrington raised the project’s profile in Japan. Alia Cameron and a fellow Gilman ExchangeAlumni, Kaia Lane, helped set up galleries for the project’s exhibitions.

Exhibitions of the project took place in fall 2023 in Tokyo, Yamaguchi, and Yokohama in Japan, and at Wright State University, Ohio State University, and Delaware University in the United States. In Tokyo, creatives who had taken part in the project put on performances, showcasing their talents to the local community and strengthening the relations between the Black American and Japanese community.

Moving forward, Cameron hopes to become an artistic director. He wants to specialize in photography, using said skills as a force for positive social change and cultural diplomacy through initiatives similar to the Black Gold project. One of his ongoing projects, Iced Layers, seeks to raise mental health awareness and body positivity in young women in Japan.

Acknowledging that these opportunities wouldn’t have happened without his original exchange experience, Cameron encourages students or others interested in the Black Gold project to reach out to him, which can be done through his email at cameron@hirolabel.com.

The Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund is now accepting applications from U.S Department of State alums for the 2024 cycle. Applications are open now through March 20, 2024.