May Lee-Yang

By SAYMOUKDA VONGSAY
AAP staff writer

Hmong American, May Lee-Yang, has been a household name in the Minnesotan arts community for over a decade, known as a playwright, poet, prose writer, and performance artist.

Lee-Yang was born in Ban Vinai, a refugee camp in Thailand following the Secret War in Laos. Nine months after her birth, her family resettled in St. Paul, Minnesota where she lives to this day. Her work often explores the lives of Hmong women and living in a bicultural world.

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New AAJC director and former State Senator Mee Moua, left, and Karen K. Narasaki, stepping down after 20 years.

WASHINGTON (Jan. 24, 2012) — Former State Senator Mee Moua is set to become the president and executive director the Asian American Justice Center, of one of the nation’s premier civil rights organizations.

AAJC announced this week that on March 19, Moua will succeed Karen K. Narasaki, who announced in June she is stepping down after 20 years of service.

“Mee already has an impressive record as a strong civil rights advocate,” said Narasaki. “Her tremendous experience, insight, passion and outstanding reputation make her a wonderful choice to lead an organization that has become so important to ensuring the voices of the nation’s growing Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are heard.”

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Farview soccer players and coaches left to right: Foua Thao, coach Ger Vue, Pichai Thao, Tong Yang, Kongcheng Her, Leng Chang, Chimeng Yang, Kenny Vang, Houa Chang, Huey Lee, Pheng Vue, Andrew Thao, Xai Thao.

MINNEAPOLIS (Jan. 18, 2012) — Farview 13u Hmong Soccer Team was presented the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation League Citywide Good Sportsmanship Award last week.

Farview Park is located in North Minneapolis. All the players are Hmong, and most came to the United States from Thailand’s Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in 2004 and 2005

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Dr. Chia Youyee Vang

The Center for Hmong Studies is pleased to announce its 4th International Conference on Hmong Studies. The conference will take place at Concordia University, St. Paul and the banquet at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront hotel from March 30 – 31, 2012.

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Ms. Be Vang

Kim Hwang, PsyD
AAP staff columnist

ST. PAUL (Dec. 29, 2011) — I recently had the wonderful opportunity of sitting down and interviewing Ms. Be Vang, Principal and Assistant Superintendent Intern in the St. Paul Public School District.

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By Sarah Page

Santa Ana Calif, (Dec. 30) — Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom.

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Hmong S.T.A.R. is a peer education program for teens from Hmong immigrant families, ages 13-17, who live in the Twin Cities metro area and suburbs. The program is provided by Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, a leader in reproductive healthcare and comprehensive sexuality education.

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Anthony Lee, left and Xue Lee

White Bear Lake, Minn. (Dec 7, 2011) — Century College this spring will begin offering a course in reading and writing in Hmong for individuals who speak that language.

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MINNEAPOLIS (Dec. 20, 2011) — MayKao Y. Hang, president and CEO, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, St. Paul, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Hang  was named president and CEO of the Wilder Foundation, a nonprofit health and human service agency, in 2010 and was formerly its director of Children and Family Services, having spent most of her career working to improve the lives of those who are disadvantaged. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brown University and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota.

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AAP staff report

ST. PAUL (Dec. 16, 2011) — Venus On Fire, a Twin Cities rock band with two Hmong American founding members has released its second EP “My Furious Frenzy” this month — a follow-up to the 2009 EP “Clone Factory” that brought the band enough critical and popular attention to embark on a tour.

The band is fronted by lead vocalist and keyboardist Tory Envy. Leng Moua is the guitarist and inspiration behind the band, along with bassist Carl Smith.

Envy describes their new EP as more guitar-driven than the first release that had a heavy synthesizer sound. She said the vocals are more complex this time around with harmonies and overlaying.

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