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Our blogs are original pieces contributed by our team, program advocates and podcast listeners. We invite you to share your personal journals, creative writing or artwork that sheds light on our diaspora stories and experiences. If you would like to contribute, please submit here.
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2 Years, 2 Weeks, 2 Hours
My parents spent most of their adulthood escaping terror, living under governmental oppression, and hanging on to their lives. There was no
Tracy Dong
Jul 10, 2023


Fish Sauce
My sister was proud,
because her house didn’t smell like fish sauce.
I lived with her so I did too,
because we both knew,
kids in school
Paulina Vo
Apr 3, 2023


Cinnamon Spaghetti
Thanksgiving is here, and every year on this holiday, I think back to my childhood when I saw on television and in magazines the incredible
Alison Hong Nguyen Lihalakha
Nov 22, 2022


The Year of the Tiger Through Art
Most of the Asian art I saw in pop culture or art class growing up was Japanese and Chinese. At the time, I generalized it and just thought
Brian Hoang
Feb 1, 2022


My People
Growing up mixed-race in a Vietnamese refugee family in Los Angeles in the era of "Vietnam" = Vietnam War, the legacies of the war,...
Elwing Suong Gonzalez
Jan 19, 2022


Việt Kiều: foreigner in a familiar country
The word việt kiều means “Overseas Vietnamese” according to Google Translate, but the word carries so many layered connotations depending on
Brandon Nguyen
Sep 14, 2021


Say My Name
I hadn’t fully grasped it until most recently, but my identity has always been amorphous. When I came of age in Southern California,
Phoung-Cac Nguyễn
Jul 27, 2021


a father's passport
my father does not know me by my name / from that moment on / all was forgotten / I watch him burn his passport / headfirst into fire / male
Kwinnie Lê
Jul 14, 2021


A Rough Transition Into A New Year
Like many Americans last week, I watched thousands of rioters invade the Capitol building and shred us of our nation’s dignity. As an...
Jackie Reed
Jan 12, 2021


Lessons of Intergenerational Trauma
Anger helped raise me. As a child, I felt my dad was always angry. He has propelled into a yelling fit over dirty cups in the kitchen sink,
Jenn Nguyen
Nov 17, 2020


Wishful Thinking
The Vietnamese zodiac is a repeating 12-year cycle based on the lunar calendar. The Vietnamese zodiac resembles the Chinese zodiac, but...
Jackie Reed
Oct 28, 2020


A Future Outside My Parents' Imagination
It's December in New York City, it’s cold in the Uber coming home from Williamsburg at 5am. I drank too much again, cigarettes and alcohol..
Wind Meets West
Oct 20, 2020

Happy Birthday to Us
Two years ago, on Oct 10, 2018 I published my first podcast episode 'Prelude', a ten minute soliloquy of what it was like growing up ...
Tracey Nguyen Mang
Oct 13, 2020


Thank You 2020 Ambassadors
As our 2020 Ambassador Program comes to a close for the year, we want to thank this amazing group. They joined our team at the height of the
Tracey Nguyen Mang
Sep 22, 2020


Immigrants (and their children), we get the job done
I’ve had as many jobs as most people twice my age. In fifth grade, I started walking my neighbor’s dog every day for $10 a week. At the...
Meghan Coyle
Sep 1, 2020


From Refugee Camps of Malaysia
In September of 1979, my family and I left the refugee camps of Malaysia to travel to the airport...How lucky I felt to be leaving...
Cuong Quy Huynh
Aug 25, 2020


Pride
I also think about the hard times endured, such as instances of racism and trying to find my place in a majority white organization.
jhoang0352
Aug 18, 2020


What is in a Name?
I hated my last name “Nguyễn.” In grade school and even in college, my name was butchered and no one made the effort to ask me...
Valerie Nguyen
Aug 11, 2020


Independence and Identity during the Black Lives Matter Movement
Today, 244 years later, with the Fourth of July only a few days away tears are falling down my face as I type - I am sad. I am disappointed.
Bella
Jul 3, 2020
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