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Prompt: Rebirth - On Being and Becoming

Prompt: Rebirth - On Being and Becoming

Who were you in the past? Who are you now? Who will you become?
Go to the profile of maivmai
maivmai
44 years and One Day Ago

44 years and One Day Ago

Reflections on Diaspora, Year 45
Go to the profile of lilian thaoxaochay
lilian thaoxaochay
Thoughts by His Bedside

Thoughts by His Bedside

The rooster crows at dawn, except this rooster doesn’t crow. In fact, it’s not a rooster at all. But a box. It is just slightly larger…
Go to the profile of Jasmine Vang
Jasmine Vang
Say something in Hmong

Say something in Hmong

Tawg paj ua lub daj es txi txiv mus lom ua lub ntsuab (The flower blooms yellow, but the fruit yields green).
Go to the profile of lilian thaoxaochay
lilian thaoxaochay
Things I Wish Our Parents Taught Us

Things I Wish Our Parents Taught Us

“Am I fucking crazy?” I ask myself, gas lighting my own emotions based on the implication that women who express their feelings are…
Go to the profile of Jasmine Vang
Jasmine Vang
Okay, Hmong Girl

Okay, Hmong Girl

Pondering AAPI Womanhood in 2020
Go to the profile of lilian thaoxaochay
lilian thaoxaochay
Elegy to the language lost in my dreams

Elegy to the language lost in my dreams

In my dreams, we share a language only for you and me
Go to the profile of Andrew Cheemeng
Andrew Cheemeng
Being Hmong and Loving Someone with the Same Last Name

Being Hmong and Loving Someone with the Same Last Name

He is Romeo and I am Juliet.
Go to the profile of Jasmine Vang
Jasmine Vang
Healing the Hmong Mother Wound

Healing the Hmong Mother Wound

The pardoxes in healing a mother-daughter relationship.
Go to the profile of Baoku
Baoku
Will you still love her?

Will you still love her?

Remembering my niam tais
Go to the profile of lilian thaoxaochay
lilian thaoxaochay
How do you really say “Saturday” in Hmong?

How do you really say “Saturday” in Hmong?

Hmong words that are actually Lao words and the Hmong phrases you’re supposed to use instead, but I’m a “rebel”.
Go to the profile of lilian thaoxaochay
lilian thaoxaochay
The Broken Pile

The Broken Pile

The Broken Pile
Go to the profile of Andrew Cheemeng
Andrew Cheemeng
Lub Tsev Teb

Lub Tsev Teb

Kuv lub tsev zoo li tsev teb
Go to the profile of Ntsais Xyooj
Ntsais Xyooj
To Be Hmoob & Womxn & Feminist

To Be Hmoob & Womxn & Feminist

I cannot be Hmoob without being a womxn and I cannot be a womxn without being Hmoob. Therefore, I cannot not be a feminist. Let me tell…
Go to the profile of Kia Vaj
Kia Vaj
Hmong American Dream

Hmong American Dream

Sally Hang
Go to the profile of Windowtothebrain
Windowtothebrain
Losing Language

Losing Language

Stare at your grandfather as he arrives. Think: ‘What’s the word again for grandfather from my mother’s side?’ It’s not yawg because…
Go to the profile of Jer Xiong
Jer Xiong
I set my head price.

I set my head price.

My parents and I spent years arguing about the bride price practices in our Hmong community. I was twenty-three years old, and a fresh…
Go to the profile of Stanglifestyle
Stanglifestyle
Post-mortem

Post-mortem

a man and a qeej dance a somber tune
Go to the profile of Andrew Cheemeng
Andrew Cheemeng
In the Middle of Hmong America

In the Middle of Hmong America

July represents two things for us here at maivmai. The first is its representation of America when the country celebrates the Fourth of…
Go to the profile of maivmai
maivmai
The narrative of a Hmong child’s unfolding of the American “Dream”

The narrative of a Hmong child’s unfolding of the American “Dream”

I am twenty eight years old, the daughter of refugee immigrants, a sister to twelve siblings, a STEM advocate, feminist, program director…
Go to the profile of Stanglifestyle
Stanglifestyle
Making Sense of Declining Hmong Student Enrollments at the University of California

Making Sense of Declining Hmong Student Enrollments at the Universi...

Tables Credit: Seng Alex Vang (Hmong American Experience)
Go to the profile of Yang Lor
Yang Lor
My Cousin’s Wife

My Cousin’s Wife

I met my cousin’s wife for the first time the other day. For her privacy, we’ll call her May (not her real name). I’d arrived late for a…
Go to the profile of Y. Vue
Y. Vue
Reserved Love

Reserved Love

The greatest love of all is cultivated, grounded, and cultured from the very individuals that we look up to. For me, it would be my…
Go to the profile of Kia Vaj
Kia Vaj
Khi Tes: The Strings That Bind Us All Together

Khi Tes: The Strings That Bind Us All Together

There is an idea that there is no real concept of “self” within the Hmong culture — that we live our lives as a collective whole. And when…
Go to the profile of Vlai Ly
Vlai Ly
What is your culture? My nephew accepts that I am Hmong…

What is your culture? My nephew accepts that I am Hmong…

My nephew is five. He just started school this last August. At dinner one cheery winter night, after spending a long, late afternoon…
Go to the profile of lilian thaoxaochay
lilian thaoxaochay
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