Concordia - St. Paul to host Culture camp
July 27, 2009
ST. PAUL, MINN. (07/21/2009)(readMedia)– The Concordia University, St. Paul Hmong Culture and Language Program and Dual Language Learner Academy will host its sixth summer camp with a current registration of over 600 students from local metro, state-wide and students from at least five other states, with over 20 language groups represented. The day camp which becomes a mini-United Nations runs July 27-August 7, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., on the university campus and in an inter-district partnership as a means of forwarding its mission of preserving Hmong and other cultures through storytelling, gardening and the arts, and planting the seeds of academic achievement and higher education attendance for k-12 students. Students will be involved in literacy, science, computers, tennis, heritage music, dance and historical simulations as a means of strengthening ethnic identity and bridging to American culture. We will have local storytellers, musicians, writers and artists as part of our program this year, including: Dyane Garvey, Diego Vasquez, Seexeng Lee and Jen Yang, Bounthavy Kiatoukaysy and Tsong Sawh Lo, as well as Lee Pao Xiong, Director of the Center for Hmong Studies and Dr. Paul Hillmer, Director of the Hmong Oral History Project.
Recently, the program was listed in the Johns Hopkins University National Center for Summer Learning’s excellent summer programs. President Obama’s proclamation and the information regarding the summer programs are on the John’s Hopkins University website.
Our program is funded through the Travelers Foundation, Minneapolis Foundation, the school inter-district partnership and general registrations, as well as having food provided by SODEXO through the USDA Summer Food Program, and directed by Professor Sally Baas and Nao Thao, SEAT Program Associate.
Concordia University, St. Paul is a comprehensive, private university of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and one of 10 schools that comprise the Concordia University System. Established in 1893, Concordia offers more than 40 liberal arts majors, including business administration, education, fine arts, the sciences and church professions. Concordia is a regional leader in accelerated, cohort-delivered, undergraduate degree-completion and master’s degrees in business administration, organizational management, criminal justice and human services. Concordia is the only private university in Minnesota to offer NCAA Division II athletics for men and women. On the Net: www.csp.edu.
Source: http://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/Concordia-University-St-Paul-Hosts-Culture-and-Language-Camp/899167
Hmong news anchor, Bao Vang
April 23, 2009
Bao Vang was in high school when she found her calling to be in television news.
Her school, Harding High in St. Paul, Minn., had a daily in-school newscast, and she and her older sister were anchors, reading bulletins about Harding Student Council meetings, sporting events and other tidbits.
“I loved it,” she said. “I loved the rush of it.” She decided to make television news her career.
Now, she’s the anchor and executive producer for the early morning news show on WSAW-TV 7.
She also has become a leader in the Wausau-area Hmong community, helping to organize the events centering around April as Hmong History Month. Vang is the epitome of this year’s theme: “Hmong of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” And she has overcome staggering obstacles to get here.
Source: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20090423/WDH04/90423103/1619
Origins Fashion Show
December 9, 2008
In January 2008 Oskar Ly added a new element of creativity to her already impressive resume. Ly is already a singer, artist and works with make-up, hair and wardrobes. However in January Os.Couture was born. Ly says she loves the, “creative process that goes into it–make something from start to finish.”
This has year has been a big year for fashion in the Twin Cities, beginning with the Fresh Traditions Show and the Mary Ly fashion show.
Pa Thao of PFT Couture talked about her experiences with fashion. She went to Mount Mary College in Milwaukee where she studied design. For the past 10 years she has been working at Look Inc. a local design studio. “We designed art to wear clothing for boutiques and specialty stores.” However the company did shut down last year. Currently Thao is “trying to start a business making one of a kind bridal and evening wear.”
These are just some of the designers who will showcase their work at the “Origins Fashion Show,” which will debut at the Metrodome celebration of the Hmong New Year December 13-14. Ly was approached by Padee Yang of the planning committee of the New Year. Thao describes, “She [Padee Yang] was looking for something new and interesting for the New Year. Our mission was to build art appreciation in our community by showing diversity of talent at the New Year event. We strive to promote the value of the New Year and rebuild its significance within our youth today, who seem to be losing touch with their heritage.” This is where the title Origins comes from. All the designers in the show are encouraged to incorporate Hmong customs and culture into their designs.
Oskar Ly said, “All my line is focused on that [Hmong Culture]. My inspirations come from different Hmong cultural groups [ie. Hmong Chinese, Hmong Thai, White, Green, Striped, etc.]” While she describes her designs as, “an artist approach, very extreme, couture,” she finds ways to weave her “origins” into her designs. She adds, “By including this theme a lot of people have specifically designed for it [the show] it is a great opportunity.”
The group is also including “other Hmong talent, models, make-up artists, hair stylists, event planners, wardrobe stylists and photographers.” The tentative time for the show is December 13 at 4:00. There will also be a meet and greet with the designers and models throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday. An after party will be held at Epic on Saturday evening. The designers are Pa Thao, Oskar Ly, Mai Moua, Cicily Kong, Vam Moua, Linda Thao and Mitsou Ly. There is a wide range of designs from street wear, to evening wear. There is something for everyone.
For more information, please see their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/originsfashionshow
Hmong Students honor Author
October 24, 2008
Hmong-American students, and University of Wisconsin-Platteville ( UWP ) faculty and staff have issued statements about the recent visit of Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt to Wisconsin where she was invited to speak about the history of the Hmong people of Laos as well as current issues, including the plight of refugees and those suffering human rights violations.
Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt is the author of the highly acclaimed book Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos ( Indiana University Press ). Hamilton-Merritt’s book is a monumental and pioneering history of the Lao and Hmong people during the secret wars for Laos from 1942-1992. The 15th anniversary of its publication is being commemorated in the Laotian and Hmong community across the United States. She recently was honored at Hmong New Year Ceremonies in Rhode Island.
http://www.tragicmountains.org
Last week, Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Dr. Hamilton-Merritt were presented with human rights awards by the Laotian and Hmong community in Rhode Island for their work on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand and Laos, including over 6,000 Hmong suffering in Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai detention centers.
On Monday, October 13, 2008, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville was privileged to have Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt speak to our campus community on the subject of the Hmong, the Americans, and the secret wars for Laos, stated Mrs. Pusaporn Tabrizi, an academic coordinator for multicultural students and an advisor for Hmong Club at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
“Chancellor, Vice-chancellor, Special assistance to the chancellor, faculty, staff, and a large number of American students attended the event,” Mrs. Pusaporn Tabrizi said.
Mrs. Pusaporn Tabrizi continued: “As a multicultural educator who has been working with Hmong students for eleven years, Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merrit was the best motivated speaker on behalf of Hmong people. She has opened many faculty, staff, and students eyes in the history and current issues about Hmong people and our Hmong students. The words that I have heard over and over from many audiences after her presentation were ˜I didn’t know that Hmong…’ I truly appreciated her presentation to educate people to learn more about Hmong and her tremendous efforts to build the gap between Hmong students and American students, faculty, and staff.”
The following statements are some codes from Hmong students and American faculty, staff, and students at the University of Wisconsin Platteville ( UWP ).
“The Hmong Club, the University of Wisconsin Platteville, and I were honored to have Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt come to speak about the history of the Hmong people during the Vietnam War as well as the current devastating crisis that the many Hmong are facing in Laos and Thailand,” said Porsia Vang, Hmong Club President at the University of Wisconsin, Platteville.
Porsia Vang stated further: “I respect Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt for her commitment and passion toward achieving an adequate environment for my people and bringing them into U.S. history. She has truly impacted me to work harder toward informing the campus and community about the history of my people and what I can do to maintain my identity. I am forever grateful to have known an invaluable person as Dr. Jane.”
Bao Lee, a Hmong Club Member made the following observation: “I was super excited and honored to welcome Dr. Jane to the Platteville campus. Dr. Jane Hamilton Merritt’s lecture was not only educational, but heart-touching and mind-boggling. As a Hmong student, I learned a lot at the lecture about the Hmong history and the Hmong culture. I am really thankful and appreciative that Dr. Jane took the time to share her experiences and knowledge with our campus. It means a great deal to hear how passionate she is about the Hmong people. Dr. Jane and her presentation will be remembered and greatly valued by many University of Wisconsin-Plattesville Hmong students as well as myself.”
Sura Yang, a Hmong Senior at the University of Wisconsin also added:
“Dr. Jane’s lecture was informative, revealing, and finally the truth about the Hmong. Having her come speak about our history and our feelings of being Americans today was deeply heartfelt and touching. Not only did she inform the audience of our history, she updated the audience on the current events of the Hmong people. The UW-Platteville Hmong students thank her for her tireless efforts to keep Hmong human rights issues at the forefront of world consciousness.”
“Amazing presentation! Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt well-represented the Hmong people with organized and interesting information,” said Jay Lee, Hmong Club Secretary.
Michael Rouvari, another student at UWP said: “Information was well presented. Recent information regarding the Hmong in Laos was surprising and shocking. Some photos were gruesome, but necessary in motivating the audience into action.”
“Dr. Jane was so very knowledgeable about the Hmong Culture, and her knowledge gave me a different perspective on some Hmong artwork I purchased 20 years ago. Thank you, Dr. Jane for educating UWP about the culture of a people that gave everything to help this country during a time of war,” stated Patricia Foster, Director Patricia A. Doyle Women’s Center.
“Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt was an inspiring and motivational speaker who gave me a much deeper understanding of the Secret War for Laos, in which the Hmong people fought with such bravery. Dr. Hamilton-Merritt put on one of the best presentation that I have experienced on the UWP campus,” concluded Michael Wilson a UWP student.
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Contact:
Anna Jones
( 202 )543-1444
Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite No.#212
Washington, DCÂ 20006 USA
e-mail contacts:
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
or
research@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
–
On the web at:
Source: http://media-newswire.com/release_1076347.html
Hmong textile art exhibited
October 24, 2008
Missoula, Montana
Thursday night, Missoula resident Helen Cappadocia gave a talk about her collection of more than 600 brilliantly colored textile pieces from the Hmong culture, 74 of which are on display until Saturday at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture.
The Helen Cappadocia Collection of Southeast Asian Textiles showcases traditional and ceremonial dress and other textile items including wedding outfits, skirts, prayer shawls, an elephant head cloth, a money vest, hats and a Buddhist temple banner woven out of cotton and bamboo.
I thought that if these pieces were dispersed that the culture would be lost, said Cappadocia, a former Chicago gallery owner and one of the first female licensed contractors in Montana.
She began collecting the intricate weavings in 1989 in the midst of political unrest in Laos in an effort to help preserve their culture.
Cappadocia said she included textiles from Thailand, Burma and Laos to show the variety of people that the Hmong lived amongst.
We think largely in terms of the nation-state, but many cultures are not as involved in that as we are, Cappadocia said.
The contemporary Hmong pieces are called story cloths. They tell stories of important features of Hmong history in stitched pictures and words. The four story cloths on display depict the Hmong migration south from China, the Vietnam War, relocation in Missoula and the Hmong New Year celebration.
The Hmong sided with the West in the Vietnam War following recruitment by the American CIA. One of the story cloths depicts Hmong soldiers rescuing American pilots whose plane had been shot down, leading to their captivity in Vietnamese POW camps, Cappadocia explained.
After the war ended, many Hmong fled the area and this is what brought some of the Hmong to the United States and Missoula.
Manuela Well-Off-Man, curator of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, said that the Hmong are known for their work ethic and that there are several Hmong in Missoula who sell fruit and vegetables at the Saturday farmer’s market.
Well-Off-Man estimates that the oldest piece on display dates from around 1910. Most of the items in the exhibit were used in everyday life.
Some of the pieces on display reflect the ancient Hmong spiritual leanings towards Buddhism and animism. Animism is a religious belief whereby spirits and souls exist in nature in plants and animals.
The goal of the woman was to create something that dazzles the eye and also has spiritual meaning, Well-Off-Man said.
The exhibit will be on display through Oct. 25.
Gran Torino: First Look
October 24, 2008
Perhaps the most successful and prolific actor to turn director, Clint Eastwood’s appearances on-screen have become increasingly sparse over the years as he has taken on projects that don’t have roles for him.
The last one was four years ago as the boxing manager in Million Dollar Baby, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor. He didn’t win, but the movie added best picture and best director to his Academy Award victories.
He’s back again in Gran Torino, opening Dec. 17, and he hasn’t looked this furious in a movie poster since 1976’s The Outlaw Josey Wales.
“Well, I’m older now. It’s easier to look angrier when you’re an old guy,” Eastwood, 78, says with a laugh.
Eastwood is still finishing the movie, but it already is regarded as a stealth Oscar contender given his recent track record of Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Letters From Iwo Jima. The first trailer for Gran Torino can be seen this weekend before Eastwood’s Changeling.
His Gran Torino character is Walt Kowalski, a racist Korean War veteran whose prized possession is a classic car that catches the eye of local gangs in his Detroit neighborhood. One of the troubled kids who covets the vehicle is from a family of Hmong immigrant neighbors, whom Kowalski has long resented.
The story comes down to two objects (three if you count the scowl): his 1972 Ford muscle car and his M-1 rifle.
“That’s the weapon he has had left over since being in the service,” Eastwood says. “And the same weapon I had when I was in the Army.”
Eastwood also served during the Korean War, and though he wasn’t in combat, he says: “I still know how to operate it. Field strip it …”
He chuckles.
Apart from that slight parallel, Eastwood has little in common with Kowalski. “He worked on the line in the Ford plant and retired and had this one car he bought himself. It’s sort of a symbol of his days with the Ford plant. The M-1 is sort of a symbol of his days in the military. … He’s clinging to the memory of the war. You’ll find out when you see it, some of (the memories) are not as pleasant as others. That helps make him even tougher to get along with.”
Newcomer Bee Vang, a 17-year-old Hmong American originally from the Minneapolis area, was cast as the neighbor boy who strikes up a mutually reluctant relationship with Walt.
“The young kid, as part of a gang initiation, tries to steal it, and the old guy gets him at the end of the M-1, which becomes kind of a big deal,” Eastwood says. “The kid has to do penance because of the pride of the Asian group. They make him do penance. He has to come over, and the old guy doesn’t want anything to do with him, doesn’t want him anywhere around.”
The fastest way to rid himself of the boy, Kowalski decides, is to cooperate.
“Walt helps him get a job and helps him toughen up a bit,” Eastwood says. “(Walt) doesn’t work construction. He’s retired. But he gets the boy in through a buddy, an old crony. They take him in and try to show him how to handle himself in life.”
“The old guy,” as Eastwood calls his character, ends up confronting prejudices that have isolated him.
“It’s got a lot of twists and turns in the story,” indicating some darker moments. “It also has some good laughs.”
Eastwood is producing, directing and even composing music for movies at an age when other filmmakers would be retired. Acting is the only area in which he has cut back.
“Yeah, it’ll probably be my last,” he says of Gran Torino. “I’ll be drummed out of it after this one.”
After more than 50 years and dozens of iconic characters, could he be serious?
That familiar dry voice on the phone turns into a chuckle. “Nah, I’m just kidding.”
But Eastwood acknowledges that the thought crosses his mind. “Every time you do one you think, ‘Aw, that’s enough of that.’ I always feel it’s very comfortable to be behind the camera.”
And then there’s working with the director. “Yeah, I don’t have to deal with him,” Eastwood says, laughing again. (The last time he didn’t direct himself was 15 years ago, in Wolfgang Petersen’s In the Line of Fire.)
Turning serious, he acknowledges the obvious about acting in Gran Torino. “It was fun. But I’m not destined to do too many more. I’ve been happy doing the ones I haven’t been in.”
Source: By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-10-22-gran-torino-first-look_N.htm
Senator Barack Obama addresses Hmong
October 23, 2008
In the most anticipated Presidential election year in history, Senator and Presidential candidate Barack Obama addresses the Hmong community with a letter that reassures our concerns and rights. A copy of the letter follows below:
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