There are too many Hmong woman leaders out there who have done great things to our community. Unfortunately, we don�t have time to discuss each of them individually. One of the living examples of Hmong woman leaders is your workshop speaker Choua Lee, whom I knew since 1988. She is the first Hmong to be elected to political office in the United States. She certainly has lifted the spirit of our Hmong girls and women to a higher level. Ms. Choua Lee will discuss more about Hmong woman leaders in her workshop.
Ms. Choua Lee was not only looked up to by Hmong girls and women as their role model in politics, but also Hmong men have followed her footsteps as they ventured into mainstream politics in America.
Whether it is in China, Southeast Asia, or in the United States, we have to be involved in politics in one way or another in order to voice our opinion and to help improve our livelihood. In Guizhou province, for example, there is more Hmong population than any other province. The Hmong there are stronger politically. Mr. Wang Chao-wen was elected as the governor of Guizhou province in either late 1980s or early 1990s. He is probably the highest elected Hmong official in contemporary China. He is now working for the central government in Beijing. Because of the large Hmong population and of Wang Chao-wen�s leadership, the Hmong in Guizhou are more visible and stronger, socially, economically, and politically.
In Laos before 1975, Kiatong Bliayor Lor, Phanya Touby Lyfoung, General Vang Pao, and other Hmong leaders had brought equality and justice to the Hmong by involving in Lao politics and by sacrificing their lives in war to help defend the country.
Here in America, a fair and democratic country, you can become what you deserve to be. And Mr. Joe Bee Xiong will address more about Hmong politics in his workshop.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I said in the beginning, our past is a tragic one. Often times, I would cry when talk about Hmong history. It is painful to revisit our past. But as Billy Lim said in his book, Dare to Fail, it was through suffering that great thing or great future could be achieved. I agree with him. But you see, the problem is that our ancestors had not only gone through some suffering, they�d been through too much of suffering which they did not deserve it.
For over five or six thousand years, our ancestors had fought against Chinese expansion, oppression, and conquest, and they managed to survive without being wiped out by their enemy, the Chinese. We ought to honor and be proud of our ancestors, and we must be proud to be a part of them.
If we can learn anything at all from our history, our roots, we would learn that the Hmong once had our own country or kingdom with kings, queens, princes, and princess; that we had a very rich culture; that we had a written language; that we had our own heroes and heroines; that our ancestors were very strong, mentally and physically. They never allowed themselves to be treated inhumanely. And we would learn that all of these were destroyed by the Chinese who took away our civilization and oppressed our ancestors for thousands of years.
Less than a month ago, a Hmong man in his fifty came to my bookstore, and we began talking about Professor Wu Rong Zhen�s book, Haiv Hmoob Liv Xwm. He said to me, �After reading this book, I want to launch another rebellion right now.� He is not alone. Those who have read this book would feel the same way. But ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, we could not afford to allow our hearts to control our minds. Don�t allow our painful past to interfere with our development of a better future, a future that we can better redeem our ancestors from their tragedy.
Currently we do have our own problems, social problems that we have seen. But our future looks bright and hopeful. Within recent years, I began to see more and more Hmong boys and men wearing Hmong clothing. I began to see more and more Hmong boys and men learning our culture such as wedding and funeral rituals. I began to see many Hmong boys and girls learning Hmong folktales and learning how to sing Hmong folksongs. And I also began to see many young Hmong men and women showing greater interest in learning about their history, our Hmong history. I would say that we are off for a very good start.
So ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, let�s learn from our history by knowing what went wrong or went right, and take them as our lessons, so that we can create a better future -- a future that is full of hope, love, and prosperity; a future that we will no long be ashamed of who we are and what we are; a future that we will have much national pride and dignity; and a future that our ancestors in heaven can look down on us and say yes, we now can rest in peace.
Thank you very much for listening.
Oshkosh, WI
April 14, 2001
By Yuepheng L. Xiong