NATION/WORLD

This study, based on U.S. Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2016–2020, highlights the economic, educational, and cultural progress made by Hmong communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California – home to the three largest Hmong populations in the country.

The 2020 U.S. Census revealed significant demographic shifts in the Hmong American population, with the Midwestern states – particularly Minnesota and Wisconsin – surpassing traditional hubs like California in growth rates.

“100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More” was written to answer the most basic questions about Hmong people to open up avenues for deeper conversations.

They say memories start to form when a child is around two and a half years old. As a kid, I had the happiest memories of drawing on the dirt at my grandmother’s house by the Nam Khan River, picking edible flowers for dinner, playing in my family’s old CD store, and riding on a motorbike with my mom as she picked me up from pre-school.

I became connected to Legacies of War when I moved to Washington, DC after law school. The organization was a significant part of my understanding of where and how my family came to the U.S.

This past November, for the first time ever, my mother and I returned to Laos together. We had not been in Laos together since 1979. I was just over five years old when we fled Khammouane Province due to significant post war trauma.

During the U.S. bombing in Laos (1964-1973), an American educational adviser Fred Branfman and his Laotian colleague Bouangeun Luangpraseuth collected illustrations and narratives from Laotian refugees.

I felt deeply honored to attend the Defense POW/MIA (Prisoners of War/Missing in Action) Accounting Agency (DPAA) 2024 Vietnam War Annual Government Briefing this year in Washington, D.C.

“You’ll feel it in the air,” Aleena said with her eyes closed and head slightly raised toward the sunlight, “It’s cooler and it smells like the mountains.” I sat next to my colleague and looked out the window and down on the rapidly changing landscape of Laos below.

We went to Laos in March of 1981 to work with Mennonite Central Committee as peace and development workers.  As we got off the plane in the early evening darkness, we heard the sound of hundreds of frogs chirping along the runway. Immediately we knew that we had come to a welcoming place that reminded us of our own rural roots.