All posts filed under: Community

MIA Erasure, My Reflection

To much fanfare, the exhibit Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975 opened in Minnesota at the Minneapolis Institute of Art this month and will run until January 5th, 2020. It’s billed as a way to look at “the innovative ways artists talked back, often in the streets and other public venues. The exhibition presents nearly 100 works by 58 of the period’s most visionary, provocative artists.” For Southeast Asians of Vietnamese, Hmong, Laotian, and Cambodian descent, and active military veterans, you can even see the exhibit for free. It’s been a long time since I’ve been given free admission to an art exhibit to witness the complete erasure of my community’s perspective and reactions to the Vietnam War, the Secret War, and the Killing Fields. For Minnesotans, who arguably have one of the most deeply tangled relationships with Southeast Asia than almost any other US state, this ought to be a stirring and profound exhibit: one filled with so many heartbreaking memories and reflections on themes and issues addressed over four decades ago, …

Conversations with Entrepreneur Koua Jacklyn Franz: Building a social capital venture

Photo credit to Sinap Nguyen, courtesy of Koua Franz For Koua Jacklyn Franz, building and leading communities toward sustainable futures has almost always been at the heart of her work. After working in the nonprofit sector for several years for both Hmong groups and otherwise, Franz co-founded John Gooder LLC with her husband in 2014. Together, they provide pointed consultation, professional and organizational guidance and event management services to clients. But Franz says she wants to be known as more than just a Hmong entrepreneur. Read on to find out who Franz is in her entirety, how journeys can translate into success and her thoughts on the future of the Hmong community. Let’s let our readers know about you. How would you describe yourself as a person and an entrepreneur? I am a mother of three beautiful young ladies, I am a wife, I am a daughter and I am a sister to 11 wonderful siblings. I consider myself as Hmong American. I came to the United States when I was two as a Hmong …