In Episode 18 Lea Vue and Vang Xiong join us to revisit Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino and share their perspective on growing up Hmong American, and Hmong America's relation within the Asian American community and with other minorities in America. Although having many problematic portrayals of Hmong culture, we discuss at (4:00) the tradeoff of cutting cultural corners for a perceived foot in the door... and why that foot hasn't led to more truthful portrayals.(9:26) At (17:29), we discuss why Hmong Americans continue to feel that their story is not well understood and acknowledged, even within the Asian American community--and how that relates to the reaction to Tou Thao and BLM. Later, we look at the strong sense of community within Hmong America, (33:56) how that might lead to a focus on representation in activism over entertainment, and why the greater Asian American community has overlooked many South East Asian voices (42:08)
I STARTED A NEWSLETTER! This week's edition of the newsletter was a tough one, but I'm glad I wrote it. I talk about the need to understand, acknowledge, and uplift the variety of stories that constitute Asian America. We haven't always done a good job in the past. Read and Subscribe here!
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