Hmong Night

Hmong Night will celebrate the culture of an Asian people who've scattered in a worldwide diaspora driven by war and persecution.

The event is 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. March 27 in the ballroom of Atwood Memorial Center. View the event poster (PDF).

In addition to food and entertainment, there will be a presentation by Paul Hillmer, author of "A People's History of the Hmong." Hillmer is a professor of American history at Concordia University, St. Paul.

The evening's theme is "Hmoob Lub Neej Twag Rog" or "Refugee Life."

Groups of people who speak a Hmong dialect live in mountainous regions of Laos, Vietnam, China and other southeast Asian nations.

In the wake of U.S intervention in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s, Hmong families fled to refugee camps in Thailand and then emigrated to U.S., Canada and Australia and elsewhere.

Beginning in 1975, the Hmong minority in Laos was targeted for persecution during civil war between communist guerrillas and the forces backing the Laotian monarchy.

In the early years of the disapora, St. Paul, Minn., became a center of Hmong life in North America.

Hmong Minnesotans are succeeding in business, the arts, education, community service work and politics, among other areas.

Community leaders include Cy Thao, a Minnesota state legislator from Ramsey County, Dia Cha, an author and cultural anthropologist who formerly taught at St. Cloud State.

Tickets, which are available at the door, are $5. Students are $3.

For more information, contact Xee Yang at 763-232-4644 or Tou Yee Vang at 763-614-4009.

Hmong Night is sponsored by these St. Cloud State entities: Hmong Student Organization, the SCSU Cultural Diversity Committee, Multicultural Student Services, Ethnic Studies Department and Student Government.



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