Forword by Vincent K. Her
I commend Kou Vang and Christa Xiong, two very talented Hmong American women, for this pioneering work in Hmong American studies. I feel privilege to be able to share my thoughts on this important project. After working for the better part of two years, they have put together a wonderfully revealing photographic and narrative documentary of the life experiences of Hmong American women. The pages that follow are the fruits of that labor. The women in this survey vary in age, education and literacy of modern life. Some were born in Laos and came here as adults. Others came here with their refugee parents as teenagers and were educated in this country. Together, their stories encompass a wide range of memories, drawn from different moments in time and places.

As you will see, each woman speaks candidly about her life experiences, her struggles to achieve stability in life, to be heard, to be accepted and respected for who she is. In her journey of life, she has had to navigate through many unpleasant twists and turns. Pushed in one direction and pull in another, her story offers a blurred glimpse into the growing pains of being a Hmong woman. Some of those growing pains were resolved without drama; others could not easily be. It is these that have left a visible trail of emotional scars in her path.

How are the accounts in this portrait useful? Or, how should we read and interpret them? I suggest that we look at them in this light. They convey the thoughts, voices, and perspectives of Hmong American women. It is their stories of how life is complicated by a multitude of social and cultural factors, including difficult choices Hmong women have had to regularly confront. Some decisions were made by them; others were made for them. Each personal narrative is thus about growing up in a culture, living in a community bounded by strong traditions, and the right to exercise some autonomy within those boundaries. Through the heartfelt testimony of a dedicated wife, a diligent daughter, or an unappreciated daughter-in-law who must put household responsibilities ahead of her own educational goals, we learn how each person is made acutely aware of the role of tradition and culture in the practices of her community. From that experience, she either embraces or rejects the culture. Her story, told from the viewpoint of life in America , not only brings together the past and present but also raises concerns about gender and social equality in a patriarchal society.

As a whole, this work is significant in that it gives a vividly insightful look at the personal lives of Hmong American women. By doing this, it also helps to broaden and enrich our understanding of the Hmong American experience. Their stories are stories of successes, disappointments, heartaches and regrets, as well as individual will to survive. Marrying at different ages and under very different circumstances, the women in this story face very different sets of life challenges. A few, for example, have gone through divorces and are now in their second marriages. Despite early struggles in their lives, some have gone on to achieve middle class standings in American society. Ms. Pa Moua, for example, is currently working as an advisor at an urban university and an adjunct instructor at a community college. Ms. Kaying Xiong Vue, on the other hand, is the principal of an elementary school in Eau Claire , Wisconsin - the first Hmong American to hold such a post. Since earning her Pharm. D., Ms. May Herning Vang-Kue is the manager of a drug store. Not only are these women living the American Dream, but they also embody the progress Hmong American women have made since the arrival of Hmong refugee in the United States in 1976. Their stories add life and texture to the overall picture of the ongoing transformations in the Hmong American community.