Last Friday, my sister and I took our kids to visit Grams’. It had been a couple months since our last visit. We wanted to take her flowers and food. We also had good news about Tais Neng. When the five of us got up to Grams’ headstone, Girl grabbed the recessed vase from its… Continue reading A Visit From Grams
I couldn’t sleep last night. My eyes were glued to the screen of my laptop, watching the United States turn red. I was hopeful, telling my worried sisters that it’s still too early to decide a winner. And even after the announcement that Hillary called Trump to concede, I was in denial and became numb.… Continue reading Post-Election, I Mourn
“Professor Choi,” she said. That name took me through a wormhole back to freshman year in college. The feelings of disgust and fear crept through my body as my 18-year-old self saw this college professor’s erection through his khaki pants. I wasn’t in Choi’s class. That was the first and last time I met him.… Continue reading Triggered
My evening conversations with my children consist of the usual: How was your day? How are you doing? A few weeks ago, while we’re sitting on my bed, Little Mermaid told me that Aiden made fun of her at school. “Mommy, Aiden called me Chinese today,” she broke into tears. “I told him that I’m… Continue reading How Racism Looks Like for a Child
Being feminist means being vegan. You can’t be a true feminist if you’re eating meat. I read this comment on Facebook and it hit a nerve with me. My first reaction was, “Why should people be telling others what to eat and what not to eat?” The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me for… Continue reading Say What?! Feminism is Veganism
“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero My maternal grandmother passed away on April 1, 2015. She was 75 years old. When I received my aunt’s phone call that morning at work, I thought, “This must be a joke. It’s not funny.” When I called… Continue reading I’ll Be Seeing You
Mini Mermaid told me the other day that she wants to get married in the future but does not want to have any children. This isn’t the first time she has informed me of her choice to be child-free. She is going to marry at age 29 to the person she loves and likes. She… Continue reading Children and Children
I have a Facebook page for A Hmong Woman. Not only do I update there when I post something here, but I also share articles, links, thoughts, etc. If you’re on Facebook, like my page. I am also on Instagram (@yangmb). I have been getting questions about my personal life; who I am, where I live, what my interests… Continue reading Online Social Networks
I turned 30. When I was younger, I used to think that 30 was old. Being a teenager or fresh out of high school, I could not fathom being 30. Thirty is old! So old! I’m so old! My life has ended…. (<—sarcasm). I am no sage, but I have learned many things while trekking… Continue reading Thirty Life Lessons
My name is MaiBao. The Hmong RPA spelling of MaiBao is Maiv Npauj. Maiv means “girl,” “miss,” or “little girl.” (Maiv can be used by itself to call someone significantly younger than you. For example, an elderly woman can call a young Hmong woman, “Maiv” without having to use her name). Npauj means “moth.” MaiBao or Maiv Npauj is pronounced… Continue reading What’s in a Name?
Hello, everyone! I’ve already posted this on my Facebook Page, but I’ll post it here for those who do not have a Facebook account. The Building Our Future Sacramento Team has been working very hard at organizing our upcoming BOF event. If you are in the Sacramento area, I would like to invite you to… Continue reading BOF Day of Action: Sacramento, CA
The first time I heard about abusive international marriages (AIM) was at the Hmong National Development Conference in Fresno, CA in April 2013. Presented by Kabzuag Vaj (Freedom Inc), Nancy Xiong (George Mason University), and Pa Vang (University of Wisconsin), “Abusive International Marriage – Transnational Domestic Violence” was a workshop to present a report about AIM… Continue reading Building Our Future: Champions Against Abusive International Marriages
Warning: Very emotionally tense videos ahead. This is a video of a group of Black Hmong in Sapa, Vietnam. The young girl is being dragged by men who are practicing what we call zij poj niam—in other words, bride-napping. I first saw this video circulating the social network sites at the end of last year. And… Continue reading “Girls Will Be Happy If They Get Married Crying.”
Before bed one night, I read The Whispering Cloth, by Pegi Deitz Shea, to my children. It is a story about a little Hmong girl, named Mai, who lives with her grandmother in a refugee camp in Thailand. This story takes place after the Vietnam War. Mai learns to embroider her own story cloth while watching… Continue reading Refugees of War
How young is too young when it comes to talking about sexuality, puberty, and where babies come from? In my opinion, it is never too early to start. Kids need to be aware and know the facts before their friends start teaching them and before they start puberty (which can be as young as 10… Continue reading Sex Talk
I felt a lot of emotions watching “Mi Tes Mi Taw” directed by Porsha Phoua Chang. She did a wonderful job telling a story that many of us can identify either with the son, daughter, mother, or daughter-in-law. One of the themes of this short film is gender roles within a traditional Hmong family. I’ve blogged about gender… Continue reading Mi Tes Mi Taw (Hands and Feet)
On April 30, 2014, I read 3 emails commenting on a blog post I wrote 2 years ago titled “Why Some Hmong Girls Do Not Date Hmong Boys.” The first one commented on how she was hesitant to read my post because she thought it was one to bash Hmong men only to find out that… Continue reading Revisiting “Why Some Hmong Girls Do Not Date Hmong Boys”
Some years ago, I attended a Mary Kay event with a friend. Said friend was in the process of becoming a Mary Kay consultant and took me along as her guest. There was a guest speaker (probably an executive from a different region) who talked about Mary Kay Ash and the history of Mary Kay,… Continue reading When in China, eat McDonald’s
I walked into the Disney store a month ago because the kids wanted to look at “Frozen” merchandise: Elsa and Anna dolls, a singing Olaf, dresses, wigs, and many more. I caught a glimpse of a sign that read, “Froze: Coming to DVD March 18.” Little Mermaid saw the sign as well. She turned to me… Continue reading Disney’s “Frozen”
A Hmong Woman is my personal blog—ramblings, opinions, blahs of my thoughts. This blog is a medium for me to express myself on the world wide web and serves as a forum for discussion. I am not an expert nor have I done extensive research on the Hmong culture and community for this blog to… Continue reading A Little Bit of Housekeeping
It’s been some hectic months, so please excuse the silence on my blog. It also seems as if I’ve lost my motivation to blog. Maybe it’s trying to deal with the seemingly neverending stressors in my personal life. Or maybe it’s the fact that my laptop—the sole mechanism I rely on to spill my ramblings—was… Continue reading I’m Not Dead….
I was tagged in a Facebook game of “Things About Me.” All week long, I was liking these posts, unaware that it was a game since no one liked me enough to tag me–that is, until a couple nights ago. The rule of the game is: if you like the “Things About Me” post, then… Continue reading 14 Things About Me (that you may not know about)
I came upon this scan of a Hmong text in a forum. The original poster had stated that this reading material was used in a Hmong class at Washington Tech High School in Saint Paul, MN. It created great dislike within this group of Hmong women. Translation: A Hmong wife’s responsibility is to oversee everything in… Continue reading A Hmong Wife’s Role
On September 7th, 2013, a Hmong domestic violence (DV) forum was held in Sacramento. This forum was 1 of 4 held simultaneously across the US on the same day as a memorial service for Pa Nhia Vue, a domestic violence murder victim, and to bring awareness about DV in the Hmong community. I was unable… Continue reading Hmong Male Privilege in the Fight Against Domestic Violence
During a workshop on diversity, the facilitator put everyone into groups and asked us to discuss our most recent experience of racism. Everyone in my group was stumped. We could not think of a time when we felt someone was being racist towards us. I thought out loud to the group, “Maybe we can’t think… Continue reading Desensitized to Racism
