Living in the Hmongment

VOLUME 1

e h t n i g n i v i L t n e m g n o Hm

A COLLECTION OF HMONG SUCCESS STORIES Publication by Kristy s. Vang

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E L B A T

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JUST A VISION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCING KRISTY VANG

GROWING NEVER STOPS, SO LEARN EVERYDAY

JOHNNIE YAJ

CHASE AFTER YOUR AMERICAN DREAMS

JOHN VANG

CONTENTS

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4 5 9 10 11 13 15 16

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

MY EYES ARE FILLED WITH ART, ALL AROUND

PA KU VANG

NEVER GIVE UP AFTER FAILURES

DUKE VANGUARD

EMBRACE WHO YOU ARE

ANDY CHA

DISCOVERING MYSELF IN THE BIG CITY

GRACE YANG

LAUNCHING A PROJECT IN THE HMONG COMMUNITY

JONATHAN YANG

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Spring 2020 Living in the Hmongment 03

LETTER

Editor FROM THE

Just a Vision

A couple of years ago when I was still discovering my Hmong American identity, I had a vision; a vision where Hmong Americans would come together to celebrate their academic achievements and successes and be recognized for it. Not a lot of people are aware of Hmong people; their culture and history. That was something that really bothered me throughout my life, especially during my college journey where many people questioned my ethnicty and where I came from. Whenever Hmong people were mentioned in academic courses, it was very brief and there were almost nothing great that came out of topics about Hmong people because it was mostly about our low educational attainment rate and their settlement in lowincome neighborhoods. Being Hmong in America made it seem like we were invisible and I wanted to change that.

During the past four years being in Los Angeles, I discovered and witnessed the many stories of Hmong Americans and how much they have actually succeeded in America. Many of them were giving back to the community, doing what they love, and making the most out of their life.

Now in the present, I want to revisit that vision I once had. I want to revisit that thought, that vision, of Hmong success stories. I want to represent my community as more than what history has drawn us out to be by collecting and representing these stories of Hmong Americans.

Our identity as Hmong American have influenced the direction(s) we decided to take in life. Even for myself, my identity enouraged me to pursue a higher education, give back to the community, and become a positive role model for other Asian Americans. Therefore, our inspiration and influences that led us to our journey shall never go unnoticed.

To my readers, I want to welcome you to the stories of the people from the Hmong community. Although each story leads into a unique path, take notice of the commonalities that they all share. These stories helped inspire my vision and I hope these stories invoke a similar vision for yourself.

Kristy S. Vang Editor-in-Chief

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Kristy Vang

Introducing

Kristy grew up in a household with nine siblings in Stockton, California. Growing up, she harbored optimistic views of the future because all of her siblings did not pursue a higher education. Many of them got married at a very young age and education was no longer a priority for them. Although they did not attend college, she wanted to live a different life by fulfilling her parent's vision of the American Dream, which is to attend college and obtain a well-paying job. With her hard work and ambition, she is now a fourth-year undergraduate student at UCLA studying Sociology and Asian American Studies. She is graduating in Spring 2020 and hopes to step foot into the entertainment industry one day.

Her involvement around her school and community is extraordinary. She inspired so many students across campus by integrating herself into many extracurricular activities. She served as UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council's Budget Review Director for the past three years. She strives for women empowerment and served for Her Campus, an online magazine for college women, as the Director of Logistics and Internal Events. Not only has she served in Her Campus, but most weekends, she would volunteer for community service with her fellow members in Circle K. Being away from home, she was able to carry on her identity as Hmong American while diversifying herself in other Southeast Asian communities. Throughout her four years in college and studying Asian American Studies, she grew a strong sense of passion in giving back to the Southeast Asian communities. She took part in Southeast Asian Admit Weekend as a workshop facilitator and family head in which she educated many potential Bruins about the importance of pursuing a higher education.

Through her many works on campus an in the community, her goals in life is to be a positive role model. As she was growing up, she never really had a role model to look up to, so she had to learn on her own and discover what is important to her and how she can create a better future for herself. In this publication, "Living in the Hmongment," she wants to illustrate the beautiful narratives and success stories from her own community before graduating and leading off to create a new chapter.

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"In order to succeed, you must be content with the decisions you make in life. Whatever decisions you make, it will always lead you to a certain destination that is meant for you. Be goal-driven and never stop dreaming."

- KRISTY VANG

A COLLECTION OF HMONG SUCCESS STORIES

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"Growing never stops, so learn everyday."

At first, I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. Instead of worrying about that, I focused on what I wanted to feel. I wanted to feel passion, curiosity, and challenged. I wanted to meet new people, have new problems, and improve my health, body, and mind. To accomplish this, I sought the people, resources, and opportunities that would eventually lead me to UCLA where I changed my major about three times during my time there. I tried out a bunch of new things and discovered a bunch of new likes and dislikes. As a result, I narrowed my trajectory. Through good and bad experiences, friendships and antagonists, breakups and dates, and failures and accomplishments, I felt like a human being. I used every one of these experiences as a piece of knowledge to get to the next stage in life and where I wanted to be.

Instead of blaming the rest of the world for my misfortunes, I tried to view them as blessings. I thanked all the people that have hurt me, have taught me something new,

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and that have challenged me to become better especially when I didn’t want to do it myself.

When I believed that I could dream, I dreamed it, and then I lived it. I am not sure exactly where I am headed in life, but I know I have a great group of friends and family that love me, a career (a way of making money) that is in alignment with my values, a strong community of scholars, gays, vegans, and Hmong people to help me feel like I belong in the world. These are the feelings that I want to hold on to and help expand to further my horizons. I remind myself to feed each of these communities and my feelings often; they are what helps me stick to my dreams, goals, and life.

Johnnie Yaj UCLA Alumni, Bachelor Degree in World Arts and Culture, and Columbia University with a Masters Degree in Teaching

"Chase after your American Dream"

I was only about 8 years old when my parents told us about the horrors they faced when fleeing from the retaliation of the Lao communist government. At the time, I couldn’t understand much but the words that stuck with me were, “khiav nkaum”, which roughly translates to “go hide”. My parents were only a couple years older than me when they faced this ordeal and yet, they managed to successfully come to the USA and provide us the opportunity at the “American Dream”.

However, it wasn’t easy. I grew up in a lowincome community that was constantly shrouded in gang violence. These folks didn’t know what education was nor cared for it. It was kill or be killed. They didn’t believe there was anything out there for them aside from the “gang” lifestyle. I remember one night, there was a gun shoot out in front of my house and my house became a victim. The bullet shattered our already cracked glass window and lodged into the closet wall. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but our mentality was severely shaken. Being the youngest brother, I was blessed with the opportunity to see what my older sibling’s experiences were like and learned from them. I saw many of their friends drop out of high school, stop pursuing an education after high school, stayed in the “gang” life, and at worse, even killed.

The choice for me, from there, was clear and easy. I wanted to succeed in life. I wanted to make something of myself and bring my family away from this toxic environment. I wanted to inspire the other folks who were also less fortunate. I studied and worked hard through high school and graduated with flying colors. I attended college in pursuit of Mechanical Engineering. Being the first from my family to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering, there were moments where I had doubts about my ability to continue. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make it. There was no one I could comfortably ask for help. I wanted to give up.

However, every time the thought crossed my head, I imagined how disappointed my parents and siblings would be, and I didn’t want them to be. There were already so many problems they had to deal with on their own, I would just be adding to their stress. I didn’t want to cause them any worries. The only thing I could do was to continue my education. Every year, the material got tougher and tougher, but my will to succeed only grew stronger. Today, I am soon graduating with my degree in Mechanical Engineering, and my internship is offering me a full-time job once I do. I’ve made it.

John Vang

CSU San Jose Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering

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"My eyes are filled with art, all around"

My name is Pa Ku Vang, PK for short, and I am a Hmong woman who was born in a beautiful and colorful household in Sacramento. I was very lucky because I grew up in a very supportive household where my siblings were showered with lots of love from our parents.

My father used to buy a lot of school supplies for all of us to use and there were always extra filler and white papers, so I would sometimes use the extra papers to draw random things whenever I was bored. However, my true passion for art truly began when my older siblings, Gina and Long, taught me the beauty of art and how expressing my emotions can be perceived in many forms. I was afraid people would look at me differently because I wanted to pursue a career in art, but both of them helped me understand that it is okay to view life differently and that I should pursue my own dreams.

In college, I entered some of my smaller artwork to one of the galleries in New York as a donation. I have also joined the competition for the Hmong Music Festival (HMF) art in 2015; it was a picture of me and husband first time meeting each other at Fresno International Hmong New Years in 2013. It was

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one of the most unforgettable moments for me because I was able to explain my artwork to the Hmong community as it was featured on Hmong TV. I explained to them why I only used warm colors, as the colors or hues make us think of sunshine, fire, and warmth, and how these colors can create a sense of cheerfulness and comfort. My identity as a Hmong American woman truly enhanced the way I created all of my artwork though. I am proud to be a Hmong American because of our culture and religion.

Not only I get to experience the Hmong religion, which is traditionally Animist (belief in the spirit world) and the culture of shaman (master of spirits), but I get to understand how art played a role in our culture and how it is very unique. Hmong people do not have a country and we have a tragic history that is difficult for many of us to talk about. Therefore, many Hmong women expressed their emotions through sewing embroderies, but my way of expressing my emotion was through different forms of art.

After being married to my husband and giving birth to my beautiful daughter, I took a break from art because life became really difficult for me. My father became sick and I had to take care of both my parents and my own family.

After a while, I realized that drawing gave me a lot of joy and that I should continue doing what I love doing so I decided to get back into drawing. All of a sudden, I was given the opportunity to paint a big (4ftx5ft) art piece for a restaurant, Modesto Sukiyaki, for their grand opening. This was one of my greatest achievements and I am so glad I got to share this experience with my one-year-old daughter.

I am extremely proud of myself and how far I have come. Although my journey may not be a big deal to many, I am happy to know that I am one step closer to accomplishing my dreams and goals. One day I hope to open my own art gallery, but for now I am starting my journey as a tattoo artist. I want to use my skills as a Hmong artist to develop my career, reach these goals, and tell the story of my Hmong heritage.

I want to thank all my supporters for encouraging me to continue doing what brings me happiness. I used to be “just some woman� who was unsure of the future, but now I am indeed that someone who was able to discover herself and do what I love doing.

Paku Vang

Aspiring Hmong Artist

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"Never Give Up After Failures"

My childhood was not the ideal childhood that everybody sees today; my parents are immigrants and never spoke English and they live off of welfare. My oldest brother was a gangster, and none of my family ever went to college or knew anything about owning a business. Because my parents don’t speak English and it was not my first language, it was challenging growing up as a Hmong-American in the small town of Stockton CA. My family was poor and we lived in a small apartment of 8 siblings. I never thought that I would come so far given my family background, as my family was not the ideal successful family.

After I graduated high school, I decided that I wanted to attend college because none of my siblings did. But I did not have good grades in high school, so I had to start at my local community college and then got accepted to California State University, Sacramento. I was the first child in my family to attend college.

After I attended college for 6 years, I figured college was not for me. Due to my ADHD, I was not able to sustain my focus as a junior and senior in college. Therefore, I decided to take some time off school and started working at a casino for a few years.Â

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After age 24, I realized that I did not want to work at a casino forever. My health became a huge issue, especially being around all the cigarettes and working graveyard shifts.

When I turned 25, I knew that there was more to life than working a 9-5 job. I got into reading and somehow I started reading books about real estate and that is when it occured to me what I wanted for myself. I wanted to own my own property and become a homeowner. None of my siblings, including my parents, ever owned a home and I wanted to be the first one to own a home. This motivated me to start taking classes for real estate and luckily, my real estate class offered internship programs for real estate agents. I had no clue what a real estate agent was at that time and decided to take on the internship opportunity.

During the internship, I was very dedicated and motivated to learn. Due to my ADHD, two real estate brokers who were my mentors wanted nothing to do with me because I was not progressing quick enough. Even my instructor gave up on me, so I started looking for my own mentors. I went to many real estate broker offices to ask if I can shadow other agents.

After going through a couple offices, no one wanted to mentor me and I gave up learning. I was devestated and thought I was not good enough for anything. I remember sitting in my car telling myself that this was not meant to be. Then, suddenly just like a sign, I got a call from the Chairman of the internship program and she said that she could mentor me.

Even though her office was about an hour away from where I lived, I took the opportunity and went to her office from Monday to Saturday. During this time, I was unemployed. I showed up without pay and spent my remaining credit cards and cash I had available to drive every day. I was very persistent on learning and would stay at the office after hours to learn more about being a real estate agent. Even when the internship was over, I still showed up to learn from my mentor and decided to take my real estate exam. I had to come up with the money to take the exam, so I used every savings I had. I failed the exam, but I still did not give up. It took me an additional 3 months to study due to my ADHD. It was definitely hard to maintain my focus and retain the material, but I passed the exam the second time.

The moment I got my real estate license, I reached out to my mentor to thank her. The very next day I went to the office and got appointed with my new brokerage.

Six months in, I was not making any money; no deals, and once agan, I was going to give up again. Even my family and friends told me that I was wasting my time. They said that I would never make it in real estate because I was not Caucasian. Then a part of my brain snapped!

You can’t give up now, you’re almost there!

Let’s try again and this time, try harder and be smarter about it.

About a month later, I made my first $10,0000 check, and after my first year, I made $50,000, and six figures my second year. Now, I operate my own team as a team leader. Although my background put me at a disadvantage of becoming successful, I did not let it stop me from achieving what I wanted. I used the negativity as fuel to propel me forward. My goal is to become a role model to the Hmongcommunity and to prove to the world that anyone can succeed if their way of thinking is to never give up; regardlessof your ethnicity, disadvantages, or where you came from.

Duke Vanguard Realtor

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"Embrace Who You Are"

Being Hmong, I am a minority within minorities of the Asian community. Additionally, being a Gay man, I am a minority within minorities within minorities. My intersectional identity of being a Gay, Hmong man is what shapes me to be the person I am today. In Asian communities, I feel different because my experiences as a Hmong person differs from many, such as the experiences of the Chinese people.

In the Hmong community, I feel isolated because my experiences as a Hmong person identifying within the LGBTQ+ community was different. Lastly, in the LGBTQ+ community, my experiences are different because I am a Hmong person. Because of this, I never fit in. I now learned to not try fitting in, but to embrace my unique identity. I am able to empathize with many and create a warm environment. Just as important, Growing up in a traditional household, I was conditioned to be quiet and obedient. I was never taught to ask and demand for my necessities.

This has a huge impact in my life because I was always too afraid to ask for help and support. When the #1 public university, UCLA, sent me an acceptance letter, I knew this was my chance of creating my voice, so I can ask and demand for my necessities.As a UCLA graduating senior of Class of 2020, I begin to reflect my four years in college.

Something that has never changed was how I continue to never ask and demand for my necessities. When I struggled with assignments, I took it upon myself to finish it without asking for help. As my last year comes to an end, I realize my success story involves me with being able to reflect, to learn how to better myself and unlearn the things that hold me back. Today, I know I have a loud voice.

Today I know I am different and unique in which shaped me to be the compassionate person I am.

Today I know, I will learn to ask and demand more in life. Thank you for listening to my story.

Andy Cha

UCLA Undergraduate Student Sociology Major and Labor Studies Minor

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"Discovering Myself in the Big City" Growing up in a Hmong family as the oldest child and the only girl among five siblings, I was blessed with amazing parents who always encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I had always wanted to work in medicine and support low-income communities because I was frustrated by the inequities I saw in my own community. From language barriers to doctors not taking my parents’ worries seriously to the racist treatment of other people of color in several doctors’ waiting rooms, I kept a mental journal of all the things I wanted to do better.

Committing to UCLA was a spontaneous decision.

I did not have a dream college unlike some of my peers. One of the main factors that drew me to UCLA was that it was far enough from home so I could be independent, but it was still close enough that I could hop on a plane home when I wanted. As a first-year, I came to college highly introverted but had the intentions of growing and reinventing myself a little. I wanted to be more outgoing and more confident in making meaningful connections with my peers, instructors, and mentors. I was able to achieve that and more throughout my undergraduate career. During the time I spent in undergrad, I involved myself with cultural and volunteer organizations that expanded my understanding of the diverse student population at UCLA, which also spoke to the diversity that exists in the greater Los Angeles area. Here I was, entering the big city with dreams to experience as much as I could. These past four years were packed with classes, late-night study sessions, working parttime jobs, club meetings, and a lot of great memories.

It was a struggle trying to figure things out for myself and I’m thankful for the mentors I gained who helped me break down my short- and longterm goals into more actionable tasks. There were many difficult times that tested my patience and strength, but I came out of them stronger and more confident in who I am. I’m a couple of weeks away from graduating and everything seems to be getting out of hand. A pandemic is looming, future plans have been halted, this academic year is ending without much closure, and there is civil unrest around the country. This is another one of those difficult times. As a Hmong woman, I recognize that if there is no justice for one minority group, then there is no justice at all. Sometimes it can be difficult to speak up and act, but if we want to change America for the better, the time for action is now. And if my college journey has taught me anything, it is that if you want things to change, you must advocate for change.

Grace Yang

UCLA Undergraduate Student Human and Biology and Society Major

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"Launching a Project in the Hmong Community"

My name is Jonathan Yang. I am currently the Events and Marketing Manager for the California Community Action Partnership Association (CalCAPA). I was born and raised in Fresno, CA. My parents are Victor and Michelle Yang and I am the youngest of five siblings (three older brothers and one older sister).

My environment growing up definitely had an impact on my goals and aspirations. At the very least, I was conscious of being Hmong-American.

This meant I had a deep, innate desire to help and support other Hmong-Americans, although I wasn't sure what that would look like at the time.

Being Hmong-American means being part of a unique community. A community with a specific history, language, and culture. There is a shared heritage among our people that remains fresh and vibrant in America today. I am very proud of being Hmong-American. Hmong people know the excitement of randomly meeting another Hmong person in the middle of nowhere. I recall taking a family trip to Disney World in Orlando, FL and my parents bumping into another Hmong family in the gift shop. I can’t fully explain the feeling, but there was an instant sense of connection and camaraderie upon meeting nother Hmong person. So I’m proud of being Hmong because we have an instant sense of community whenever gathered together.

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I’ve been fortunate enough to launch two projects within the Hmong community: Shareable Hmongments and Hmongmentum Convention (HCON). Shareable Hmongments started at the beginning of 2017. In short, it was a podcast with a very simple goal: capture and share valuable Hmongments (Hmong moments).

I would chat with different Hmong individuals as they shared their personal and professional story. I had on Hmong doctors, lawyers, professors, content creators, business owners, and many more. These interviews allowed the Hmong community to see and hear the gems of success scattered throughout our country.

The success of this show led me to wonder if I could bring together Hmong professionals and students for an in person conference for a time of networking, learning, and sharing. This thought led me to my next project, HCON. This event was inspired by my love of TED Talks. I wanted to gather Hmong influencers and thought leaders to give short, powerful talks. This vision became a reality at the end of 2017 when I was able to host the first ever HCON in Fresno, CA. Thanks to the generous support of our national Hmong community, I was able to crowdfund ten thousand dollars to launch our first event. We had over two hundred people attend and a dozen amazing Hmong speakers. With the success of the first HCON, I was able to bring HCON to innesota in 2018 and then to Sacramento in 2019.

I had three major challenges as I built Shareable Hmongments and HCON: financial, communal, and personal. As any entrepreneur knows, starting your first business or project is hard work and requires money to get the idea off the ground. Shareable Hmongments was not a costly project, as I did all my interviews online. But HCON carried a high price tag as I was moving from the online space to a physical event. I didn’t have the cash required to jumpstart HCON. But combining the power of social media and my passion for this event, I was able to crowdfund the necessary amount of money to get this event started. I had Hmong professionals from all over the country give to see my vision become a reality. This challenge taught me to not be afraid of asking, because there are most likely people waiting to give. My second challenge came from within the Hmong community. Now this challenge seems rather ironic given that the Hmong community was my target group. But this challenge came up as various people from within the Hmong community had different opinions on what the event should look like. They had good intentions, but ultimately they were not the ones leading this project. So this created a short sense of confusion: do I try to please the various voices telling me what to do or do I maintain my course and bring my vision to life?

I eventually maintained my course to finish what had started. But this challenge taught me that it’s important to hear the different perspectives of my community, but at the end of the day I have to take ownership and make the decision I can get behind.

My third challenge came from myself. I had a lot of doubt throughout the process. I was unsure if anyone would want what I was building. This was my first time putting on an event like this, so this added to insecurity. But all these internal thoughts quickly went away as more and more people shared with me the importance and need for such an event. Even when HCON was just an idea, I had many older Hmong mentors encourage me to make it happen. Of course there will always be those with differing opinions, as I mentioned earlier, but there will also be those that share your vision and passion as well. So I learned that it’s important to find older, experienced mentors to help build and encourage you throughout your journey.

Jonathan Yang

Founder of Hmongmentum & Managing editor at Shareable Hmongments

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THE COLLECTION OF HMONG AMERICAN SUCCESS STORIES "Biggest thanks to all of these successful Hmong Americans for making this publication come to life. Continue giving back to the community while accomplishing your goals and dreams. Best of luck and wishing you all success in your future endeavors.

To my readers, I hope these stories inspired you to discover your identity while pursuing your dreams. Remember that there will always be challenges throughout your journey, but with determination, passion, and hard-work, you can achieve your goals. Thank you for reading my publication and wishing you all the best in life. " - Kristy S. Vang