Hmong Stories: Yesterday & Tomorrow

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• John O'Brien
• Refugees and Displaced People
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

How does one frame the journey of her life when it began in a refugee camp? How does one view personal identity when she belongs to a group of people with their own language and culture, but no home country to point to on a map? These are but a few of the questions Kao Kalia Yang posits in her memoir, The Latehomecomer. Born in a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, Yang moved to the U.S. with her family when she was six. The Latehomecomer not only tells the tale of her life, but of three generations of family: her grandmother, her parents, and her and her sister. In her companion film, The Place Where We Were Born, Yang collaborates with filmmaker John O'Brien, telling remembrances of refugee life and Hmong history in beautifully poetic language as well as through haunting imagery. Following the screening she will discuss the film and her writing.
Wed., March 18, 7 p.m., 2009