Hmong American Experience

08/12/2023

The Hmong Congressional Gold Medal Act is a “huge step” in recognizing Hmong veterans. The act, introduced in both the House and Senate, would honor the veterans for their service with the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress...

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, are cosponsors of the Senate bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals, which they introduced Nov. 9 alongside Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/12/04/hmong-veterans-of-the-vietnam-war-would-receive-congressional-gold-medal-under-push-by-lawmakers/

08/12/2023

Congratulations to Hmong American Partnership HAP

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

Watch out for this flyer at the Fresno Hmong New Year celebration! But hey, you don't have to wait until then. You can order any of these books now. Scan QR code under each book to order the one(s) you're interested in.

Feel free to share this flyer widely among your friends and families.

***

Have a wonderful holiday season from all of us!

Soua Lee, author of "The Fifth Wife" (from California)
Reena Lee, author of "Dual Destiny" (from Oklahoma)
Paj Vang Gomis, author of "The Shaman & I" series (from Washington)
Houa Lor, author of "The Sound of Qeej" (from Tennessee)
Chia Lee, author of "The Illiterate Daughter" (from Wisconsin)
Wendy Hang, author of "Permission to Dream" (from Minnesota)

We appreciate each and everyone of you for all the love and support you've given us. We hope to continue to write and publish stories that will touch your heart.

08/12/2023

In a World Where There Is No Hmongland, There Is St. Paul's Hmong Village

By Kao Kalia Yang wrote in Condé Nast Traveler

In November of 2010, Hmong Village opened its doors to the community and changed what it meant to be Hmong in Saint Paul. Instead of waiting the year out for those precious few days to gather and be Hmong together, we had a physical space to call our own where vendors were selling Hmong films and clothing, Hmong food, and herbs and spices year-round. Above and beyond this, it became a place where we could move freely among each other, without explaining who we were or what we were doing here.

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/st-paul-hmong-village

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

Dear Community,

As we embark on our journey to address disability within the Hmong community, it has become evident that intentional community conversations are crucial for the creation of a standardized Hmong disability vocabulary and language that promotes inclusivity and equity for Hmong individuals with disabilities.

We invite you to participate in our upcoming Hmong Roundtable Discussion, scheduled for December 13th at 6 pm CST/4 pm PST. This 2 ½ hour virtual meeting marks a significant milestone as the first national community discussion aimed at planning, supporting, learning, and implementing Hmong disability language and disability justice in our community.

Purpose of the Conversation:

1) Guidance and Input: UHD seeks valuable guidance and input from a diverse range of community members in the development of disability terminologies tailored to our Hmong community.

2) Understanding Challenges: To gain insights into the various disability issues and challenges faced by Hmong community members and Hmong organizations nationwide.

3) Collaboration and Partnership: Initiate collaboration and establish partnerships with stakeholders interested in contributing to our Hmong Disability Language Committee. Together, we aim to create a comprehensive Hmong disability dictionary.

Want to join us? Deadline to register: Dec 13th, 2023.

Register for FREE here:

https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTk4OTQx

Thank you for your commitment to building a more equitable and supportive community for all. If you have any questions and concerns please contact us at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Cynthia Yongvang, UHD Executive Director

Mang Chang, UHD Board President

* Note that you will need to dedicate 5 - 15+ minutes of your time to fill the registration.

** There are other ways to access the registration as well. We are keeping in mind access needs and so are open to accepting applications through other formats. Other formats may include: (1) a printable form which you will fill out, scan, and email back to us, (2) a video or audio file in which you answer the questions on the application, (3) a video call or phone call conversation, or (4) any other format that is most accessible to you.

*** Please email us at [email protected] for any accommodation requests that you may have for the registration process.

**** If you or someone you know needs access or Hmong language support for the registration process, please contact us at [email protected]

Our Mission and Vision

The mission of UHD is to build a disability justice movement within the Hmong community to create a future that is inclusive of Hmong people with disabilities.

UHD aims to help to create and center Hmong people with disabilities in order to design their own lived experiences to lead the conversations into creating a broader movement, building bridges across disabilities, and building tools and sustainable methods.

The three main objectives for UHD are to:

1) Address and dismantle ableism in the Hmong community

2) Amplify the voices of Hmong people with disabilities

3) Create awareness of issues faced by people with disabilities and promote inclusion

Please share this email, our social media posting, and flyer with your circle!

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

✨ 𝗕𝗜𝗚, 𝑩𝑰𝑮 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 🥹🥹 ✨

It is with a heavy heart that I share some very bittersweet news with y’all. To cut to the chase, I am relocating back to Las Vegas, Nevada soon and will not be at my current Stevens Point, Wisconsin location for the rest of this academic school year. For those who don’t know, I am a high school counselor by trade and education is in my heart and soul!

As a 6th grader, my Jackson Elementary teacher Mr. Richard Loveless nominated me for a Stevens Point Noon Optimist Club award. I got to attend a nice, fancy meal at the Elks Lodge with my dad and gave a speech about how this would serve as a stepping stone towards my future. Afterwards, my dad asked me if I really wrote my speech myself because it was so good LOL and I really did hahaha but I was so nervous!!

By 8th grade, my English teacher Mr. John Weisbrod would nominate me as a PJ Jacobs Junior High peer mediator and this very opportunity would change the trajectory of my life 🥹. Read that again. It changed the trajectory of my life. I got to attend camps and eventually became a camp counselor for the Wisconsin Regional Teens Institute, a role I absolutely loved and got to do for years until I graduated high school. I’d join a local youth action committee centered on volunteerism. If anyone remembers Alice in Sexual Assault Land at SPASH, yes, I was part of their traveling student group that put on performances to shine a light on this sensitive topic.

Eventually, I’d attend UW-La Crosse and work as a Pre-College tutor before moving on to manage the weekly tutoring classrooms. Seriously, so much fun watching these young learners grow! And then I went to UW-Whitewater to get my masters degree for school counseling (a phenomenal program by the way!!). I’d intern at East High in Madison, Wisconsin. I’d work for a Hmong charter school. I’d join Minneapolis Public Schools where the diverse student population and community is so vibrant and beautiful. And then I’d move out to Las Vegas, Nevada to continue my work as a school counselor. I loved being there.

Education has been much of my identity since 8th grade when I was given leadership opportunities — and it never stopped until I left counseling 2.5 years ago to pursue this, my proud baby 𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑳𝑳𝑪! So again, it is with a very heavy heart that I share I am moving back to Vegas because an amazing opportunity presented itself and I just couldn’t say no. The adolescent girl in me is beyond thrilled! And she is SO dang proud. And the adult in me can’t wait to continue being for other students who I needed when I was younger.

So THANK YOU, truly, from the bottom of my incredibly grateful heart as a small business owner. My clients mean the world to me! And my supporters, from clients to family & friends and strangers — thank you for making us Central Wisconsin’s premier brow lounge! What an impact my tattoo hands have made in this beautiful community I grew up in! I am so heartbroken to have declined so many new brow and fine line tattoo clients these last few weeks 🥹🥹. I absolutely LOVE what I do here!

❗️Please know that this is NOT the end! My hands love this work too much to stop!

💎 For new brow clients who need a vacation, lol yalls are INVITED to book a brow appointment with me in Las Vegas, NV! But remember, touch-ups are 6-8 weeks after that so it’s ideal that you return to finish your brow session. Current clients are more than welcome to book their annual color boosts in Vegas also!

💎 For my current brow clients and future clients that can’t travel, I’LL BE BACK EVERY SUMMER! That means if you want new brows, book with me ASAP when I return so that I can lock-in your touch-up also! And if you need a color boost (the annual touch-up appointment), that’s why I’m coming back! Haha, I gotchu.

If you’ve read this far, you da MVP! Lol. And remember, never doubt the power of a teacher’s impact when they believe in their students 🥹. I am forever grateful for the educators in my life who shined a light on me as a kid that opened up new doors. Thank your teachers and don’t forget your school counselors! Hehe.

📍Downtown Stevens Point, WI
📍Las Vegas, NV
𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟.

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

If you are driving around Milwaukee, be on the look out for our Miss Hmong WI 2023 Pandora Thao.

Thank you to our sponsor Healthconnection for donating the 4 billboards.

Thank you to Vic Moua for the beautiful picture. Your work is amazing ❤️

08/12/2023

2024 HWLI Application is OPEN!

About:
HWLI provides Hmong women with the opportunity to develop their leadership in a supportive and nurturing environment. Participants will learn to use and practice their leadership to create lasting change on a personal, family, organizational, and global level.

Applicant eligibility:
- Must be 20 years of age or older.
- Live in Minnesota and be able to attend all in-person sessions.
- Have some Leadership experience, whether informally or formally.
- Be committed to attending sessions and completing a community project.

Deadline:
Friday, January 12, 2024 @ 5PM

For more information, please contact the Program Coordinator: Nou Yang at [email protected]

Online application: https://forms.gle/2vV9R83p39ekRQE39
More Information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XaYXc73FJT2XOgQ4n9gPSGDgUUDdv0FE/edit

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

07/12/2023

Several members of the Hmong community in Sun Prairie made public comments at the Monday, Dec. 4, Sun Prairie School Board meeting to address discrimination towards Hmong students.

This comes after Hmong high school students on the Sun Prairie United Volleyball team, who made up roughly two-thirds of the squad, boycotted a tournament in September after a white teammate reportedly harassed them.

Several members of the Hmong community in Sun Prairie made public comments at the Monday, Dec. 4 Sun Prairie School Board meeting to address discrimination towards Hmong students.

07/12/2023

In November, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center proudly unveiled one-of-a-kind exhibitions showcasing Hmong American contemporary art in Sheboygan, WI. Explore the origins and cultural journey of the Hmong people through Cloth as Land: HMong Indigeneity and Cloth Origins: Textiles from the HMong Journey. Admission is free. https://www.jmkac.org/exhibition/cloth-as-land-hmong-indigeneity/

07/12/2023

The owner and operator of HmongTown Marketplace, Toua Xiong, says he aims to have a new location at the former Sears building in the Maplewood Mall operational within 12 months.

“Come early 2025, if there are no roadblocks of any sort, 2025 will be our grand opening,” said Xiong.

Late last month, a certificate of real estate value revealed that Hmongtown Marketplace purchased a Sears location for $5.25 million under an LLC named “HmongTown 2.”

The owner and operator of Hmongtown Marketplace says he aims to have a new location at the former Sears building in the Maplewood Mall operational within 12 months.

07/12/2023

Christina Thor, a working mother, daughter of refugees, labor activist, and executive director for 9to5, has announced her candidacy for Green Bay City Council District 11. Thor also is an appointed member of the City of Green Bay Hmong Advisory Council and serves as chair for the Wisconsin Care Coalition along with her work at 9to5, a national organization that works towards tackling issues facing women, particularly women of color.

Thor would be the first Hmong American woman elected to the Green Bay City Council.

Christina Thor, a working mother, daughter of refugees, labor activist, and executive director for 9to5, has announced her candidacy for Green Bay City Council District 11. Thor also is an appointed member of the City of Green Bay Hmong Advisory Council and serves as chair for the Wisconsin Care Coa

07/12/2023

Six Twin Cities nonprofits are the latest local organizations to be surprised by unexpected gifts from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

Scott, an author and the ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, announced Wednesday that she's donating $26.1 million to six metro area organizations — part of some $2.2 billion in grants she has given to 360 organizations nationwide this year.

City of Lakes Community Land Trust, $10 million
Project for Pride in Living (PPL), , $7 million
Southside Community Health Services, $2.6 million
Battered Women's Justice Project, $2.5 million
Hmong American Partnership in St. Paul, $2 million
Way to Grow, $2 million.

Scott's foundation announced her latest round of surprise donations to nonprofits nationwide.

07/12/2023

07/12/2023

Starting next year, high school students could be accepted into University of Wisconsin schools without even applying.

The Universities of Wisconsin is rolling out its direct admissions initiative to boost enrollment across its campuses. UW system administrators hope to reach first-generation college students and other potential students who might not have considered attending a four-year school.

The Universities of Wisconsin is rolling out its direct admissions initiative to boost enrollment across its campuses.

07/12/2023

A strong effort is underway to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Hmong veterans who fought a secret war on behalf of the United States in Laos during the Vietnam War era.

The effort is lead by U.S. Sen. Ren Johnson (R-WI) and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D- MI).

The Central Intelligence Agency recruited these Hmong farmers to gather intelligence and serve as ground soldiers alongside the U.S. military.

A strong effort is underway to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Hmong veterans who...

07/12/2023

07/12/2023

Good morning and happy holidays community! HAWA is excited to share that our SAY MKE Fellowship is now accepting applicants for 2024! HAWA is looking to develop the leadership of 5 Hmong Girls in the year 2024. Only serious applicants who are able to commit to the fellowship should apply.

This an hourly paid opportunity along with a $1500.00 stipend at the end of the completion of the fellowship. Please check out our website for full details and eligibility. Apply today!

SAY MKE Fellowship:
https://www.hawamke.org/youth-justice-program.html

For questions, please email [email protected]

07/12/2023

07/12/2023

Lor, a refugee from Laos, is a veteran law enforcement officer with the Des Moines Police Department.

"Here I am 28 years later," he said.

Lor is a trailblazer for police departments in Iowa, something he had no idea he was doing when he swore the oath to protect back in the 1990s.

"I was the first Hmong police officer and the first southeast Asian police officer," Lor told Local 5's Chenue Her. "My dad was lucky enough... he was in his dying bed and he saw me being promoted through a video connection in the hospital."

Hmong Iowans who have made history in the Hawkeye state like Doua Lor, believe Hmong history is directly connected to where the community is heading in the future.

06/12/2023

‼️REMINDER‼️

The deadline is nearing for submissions to our journal!

More info can be found in the link in our bio⬆️

06/12/2023