[Applause]
I am a playwright and today I thought I
would walk you through my process for
writing a play and to help me out I want
to invite a critic onstage okay Kamini
give her a big round of applause
so my critic is gonna help provide some
constructive feedback yep okay so they
write like to start with the title I’m
gonna skip that for the moment I’m gonna
start with an idea here’s the idea
in 1997 among teen is on a mission to
find a prom date so we need a location
thanks st. Paul Minnesota 1997 uh we
need a setting like I think the living
room would work perfectly deep
characters I think we should have our
heroine should be Miranda a seventeen
year old girl
we need Miranda doesn’t really sound
like a Hmong name can we have a more
Hmong sounding name since this is a
story about a Hmong girl yeah yeah sure
we could do not great about mine oh I
like My Mind’s a very Hmong sunny name
great
so my 17 year old one girl to her
brother mother her mother
so my says her mother mother I’m gonna
go to prom this year and mother says my
mom girls don’t go to prom oh and they
wait what among team call her mother
mother that feels a little too formal to
me what would you call your mom mother
okay how would other people call their
own mom mom mommy mother okay well how
would you address your mother and mom
yeah okay let’s go with that
that sounds more authentic yeah okay all
right okay right so my says Nia I’m
gonna go to prom this year India says oh
my god how long Hmong people know that
Nia means among though mom though uh did
you think about translating it you know
I could do that yeah I could do one
translation to ground the audience
wouldn’t see that so my says mother I
mean Nia I’m gonna go to prom this year
and yeah says good mom girls don’t go to
prom and and my says well who said that
was a good mom girl
in there yes Ananias says that’s right
you’re a lazy mom girl oh and excuse me
I learned a lot about Asian cultures and
I hear that Asian women are very
respectful don’t doesn’t your character
seem a tad bit rude well to be perfectly
honest this was a very thinly veiled
play about my own life even if it were
true though I’m a aren’t you worried
you’ll be perpetuating a stereotype that
mom girls could be lazy all right so my
kids angry so she decides to play video
games as the form of self-care oh excuse
me
but I thought Hmong people were too poor
to own video games also girls don’t play
video games you know what I played video
games in 1997 okay okay well you’re the
exception to the rule
oh what’s the title to your play again
oh I was thinking about the Hmong girls
guide to hooking up oh well what the
racy title offend the elders in your
community to be perfectly honest I don’t
think elders are gonna come to see the
play okay well they are not my target
audience in this place why are you
writing a play about prom then the Hmong
people have such an important story to
tell about how they fled our war-torn
country you should honor your heritage
by writing about that fine I will have
mom Mia say something about being a
refugee if that makes you feel better
okay well if we produce this play we
need you to do outreach to your
community because our mission is to be
inclusive so how can we reach your
community okay if you want to reach
Hmong elders who probably don’t speak a
lot of English you have to do the play
among okay okay so that means that we
would have to do the performance and mom
you can translate for them right you’d
have to hire actors who are bilingual
okay but if we did this play and how
will non Hmong people understand it
super titles like in the Opera okay well
let’s get to the heart of the matter how
will you make this more accessible to
our white audience who are the mom why
is prom an important part knowing they
are being sold on I do not
Oh can you translate what you just said
I I would love to translate what I just
said I just called you in shot thought
scenes ooh which literally means a tiger
bite who is worthy of being hated yeah
also known as a church get off my stage
geez
I will not be oppressed today very well
my work here is done
all right let’s start this again okay if
this felt like it was really exaggerated
let me tell you every single line you
heard my critic is actually something
I’ve heard in real life throughout the
course of my career as an artist and I’m
done I’m willing to bet that other
writers performance artists creatives
and even non creatives can empathize
with this when you come from a community
that hasn’t had a lot of platforms to
speak whether that whether that be in
you know TV movies books music we’re
just life you don’t have the luxury of
just being and artists you also have the
burden of creating your work while being
police by organization organizations
funders audience members even people
from within your own community often
this results in work that is compromised
or work that never gets created so what
can we do to change this we need to
start normalizing the stories and lives
of people who come from underrepresented
communities and not only that we as
consumers or as just even regular people
need to listen to these stories on their
own terms
we need to realize we are not the center
of the universe and be okay with that I
have spent the majority of my life not
being the center of any universe come on
I’m a Hmong American who lives in
Minnesota right uh people think we only
you know have Norwegians here um I am
the daughter of shamaness and I get a
two-year stint at a Catholic Junior High
School where I had to go to church twice
a week and you know religion class like
everything everyday when I started
teaching sexual
health education specifically for the
Hmong community people said to me me
Hmong people don’t talk about sex good
luck and even when I go to national
convenience with other Asian Americans
guess what and the exotic Asian it’s
true a lot of them have usually never
heard of Hmong people before or their
reference point is the movie gran torino
yes
or maybe they read the book the spirit
catches you when you fall down but even
at home I was considered a weirdo da
this is for real when I was 12 years old
my mom yelled at me you know I had bad
eyes I had to get glasses and my mom
said to me mom people do not wear
glasses what is wrong with you I’m this
old in my vision is still perfect
just what she also did not have access
to five hours of television per day okay
and you know what years later when other
people in my family had to wear glasses
guess what did they get yelled at no
because I had normalized the wearing of
glasses so in some ways you could say
that you know I was a pioneer yes when I
was 12 years old I also realized I
wanted to be a writer but I get no any
among people who are writers was my
worldview really small yes definitely
but what I did not realize until much
later was that because Hmong people are
an oral culture we didn’t have a writing
system until the 1950s as a result most
of the people of my parents generation
and beyond did not have access to
education and did not grow up being
literate in Hmong or in English this was
exactly the reason why when I was 12
years old in reading books people
thought I was a weirdo this was why when
I was looking for role models who were
writers or actors I couldn’t find any
because they didn’t exist yet when I was
18 I finally found a community among
writers and what I learned would change
the trajectory of my my work as an
artist mining mom who has been hailed as
the Midwife of the Hmong literary arts
movement said if we don’t tell our
stories other people would do it for us
and this was completely true because
today the 90s yes yes
the majority of writing about Hmong
people were not written by Hmong people
they were usually stuff that what you
know usually we had anthropologists and
other folks who came and studied us or
collected our stories this is why this
is what I never take it for granted that
I make a living
practicing art forms my parents
generation never had access to this is
also why I never take it for granted
that I have the capacity to tell my own
stories in my own words for me being a
writer is a being an artist is a bit of
a double-edged sword it’s a great way
for me to express myself creatively but
I’m always juggling responsibilities and
wondering how much to say like even
right now I’m wondering how many of you
are gonna leave this talking thing oh my
gosh she is a semi angry PLC which
stands for personal color by the way I’m
wondering how many of you are gonna look
down on my parents for not having access
to education how many of you are gonna
look at Hmong girls and think oh that it
died Hmong girls who read books and
think they are weirdos because of a
story I relayed about my own life that
you know happened 15-20 years ago so but
still I create and still other artists
from other underrepresented communities
create and sometimes when I create I
will say that my target audience is
Hmong Americans who are bilingual this
does not mean other people are not
invited to the table but rather I would
like you to imagine in this way if you
asked me to be on my best behavior in
meeting my 50 behavior yes the kind of
stories you are gonna get from me are
gonna be the filter one’s full of
surface details it may be even
stereotypes if you give me the space to
create on my own terms the kind of work
you’re gonna get is gonna be much more
authentic nuanced and complex and isn’t
that what we want from art and in life
and sometimes the stories you hear are
gonna you know be uncomfortable
sometimes you’re not gonna get the joke
sometimes the stories you hear are going
to challenge the what a challenge what
you previously thought you knew about
this community and sometimes you are not
gonna be able to empathize with any of
the characters but so what
I go to see place about old dead white
people all the time okay yeah yes
obviously I’m not old dead or white but
do I care
remember you don’t need to be the center
of the universe all the time it’s okay
rather than being an interloper who sort
of just like peeks through the windows
and eavesdrop some conversations why not
be an actual guest a proper guest who
comes inside takes off their shoes
because let’s be real even though I am
Minnesotan I’m also super Asian okay why
not come inside have a seat at my table
listen to stories eats my food as it is
not as you would like it here’s the
thing I spent the first half of my life
being ashamed of who I was where I came
from
and trying to hide my authentic self
then I spent the second part of my life
trying to create a world in which people
like me exist moving forward I hope that
you will also be a part of that movement
thank you
I am a playwright and today I thought I
would walk you through my process for
writing a play and to help me out I want
to invite a critic onstage okay Kamini
give her a big round of applause
so my critic is gonna help provide some
constructive feedback yep okay so they
write like to start with the title I’m
gonna skip that for the moment I’m gonna
start with an idea here’s the idea
in 1997 among teen is on a mission to
find a prom date so we need a location
thanks st. Paul Minnesota 1997 uh we
need a setting like I think the living
room would work perfectly deep
characters I think we should have our
heroine should be Miranda a seventeen
year old girl
we need Miranda doesn’t really sound
like a Hmong name can we have a more
Hmong sounding name since this is a
story about a Hmong girl yeah yeah sure
we could do not great about mine oh I
like My Mind’s a very Hmong sunny name
great
so my 17 year old one girl to her
brother mother her mother
so my says her mother mother I’m gonna
go to prom this year and mother says my
mom girls don’t go to prom oh and they
wait what among team call her mother
mother that feels a little too formal to
me what would you call your mom mother
okay how would other people call their
own mom mom mommy mother okay well how
would you address your mother and mom
yeah okay let’s go with that
that sounds more authentic yeah okay all
right okay right so my says Nia I’m
gonna go to prom this year India says oh
my god how long Hmong people know that
Nia means among though mom though uh did
you think about translating it you know
I could do that yeah I could do one
translation to ground the audience
wouldn’t see that so my says mother I
mean Nia I’m gonna go to prom this year
and yeah says good mom girls don’t go to
prom and and my says well who said that
was a good mom girl
in there yes Ananias says that’s right
you’re a lazy mom girl oh and excuse me
I learned a lot about Asian cultures and
I hear that Asian women are very
respectful don’t doesn’t your character
seem a tad bit rude well to be perfectly
honest this was a very thinly veiled
play about my own life even if it were
true though I’m a aren’t you worried
you’ll be perpetuating a stereotype that
mom girls could be lazy all right so my
kids angry so she decides to play video
games as the form of self-care oh excuse
me
but I thought Hmong people were too poor
to own video games also girls don’t play
video games you know what I played video
games in 1997 okay okay well you’re the
exception to the rule
oh what’s the title to your play again
oh I was thinking about the Hmong girls
guide to hooking up oh well what the
racy title offend the elders in your
community to be perfectly honest I don’t
think elders are gonna come to see the
play okay well they are not my target
audience in this place why are you
writing a play about prom then the Hmong
people have such an important story to
tell about how they fled our war-torn
country you should honor your heritage
by writing about that fine I will have
mom Mia say something about being a
refugee if that makes you feel better
okay well if we produce this play we
need you to do outreach to your
community because our mission is to be
inclusive so how can we reach your
community okay if you want to reach
Hmong elders who probably don’t speak a
lot of English you have to do the play
among okay okay so that means that we
would have to do the performance and mom
you can translate for them right you’d
have to hire actors who are bilingual
okay but if we did this play and how
will non Hmong people understand it
super titles like in the Opera okay well
let’s get to the heart of the matter how
will you make this more accessible to
our white audience who are the mom why
is prom an important part knowing they
are being sold on I do not
Oh can you translate what you just said
I I would love to translate what I just
said I just called you in shot thought
scenes ooh which literally means a tiger
bite who is worthy of being hated yeah
also known as a church get off my stage
geez
I will not be oppressed today very well
my work here is done
all right let’s start this again okay if
this felt like it was really exaggerated
let me tell you every single line you
heard my critic is actually something
I’ve heard in real life throughout the
course of my career as an artist and I’m
done I’m willing to bet that other
writers performance artists creatives
and even non creatives can empathize
with this when you come from a community
that hasn’t had a lot of platforms to
speak whether that whether that be in
you know TV movies books music we’re
just life you don’t have the luxury of
just being and artists you also have the
burden of creating your work while being
police by organization organizations
funders audience members even people
from within your own community often
this results in work that is compromised
or work that never gets created so what
can we do to change this we need to
start normalizing the stories and lives
of people who come from underrepresented
communities and not only that we as
consumers or as just even regular people
need to listen to these stories on their
own terms
we need to realize we are not the center
of the universe and be okay with that I
have spent the majority of my life not
being the center of any universe come on
I’m a Hmong American who lives in
Minnesota right uh people think we only
you know have Norwegians here um I am
the daughter of shamaness and I get a
two-year stint at a Catholic Junior High
School where I had to go to church twice
a week and you know religion class like
everything everyday when I started
teaching sexual
health education specifically for the
Hmong community people said to me me
Hmong people don’t talk about sex good
luck and even when I go to national
convenience with other Asian Americans
guess what and the exotic Asian it’s
true a lot of them have usually never
heard of Hmong people before or their
reference point is the movie gran torino
yes
or maybe they read the book the spirit
catches you when you fall down but even
at home I was considered a weirdo da
this is for real when I was 12 years old
my mom yelled at me you know I had bad
eyes I had to get glasses and my mom
said to me mom people do not wear
glasses what is wrong with you I’m this
old in my vision is still perfect
just what she also did not have access
to five hours of television per day okay
and you know what years later when other
people in my family had to wear glasses
guess what did they get yelled at no
because I had normalized the wearing of
glasses so in some ways you could say
that you know I was a pioneer yes when I
was 12 years old I also realized I
wanted to be a writer but I get no any
among people who are writers was my
worldview really small yes definitely
but what I did not realize until much
later was that because Hmong people are
an oral culture we didn’t have a writing
system until the 1950s as a result most
of the people of my parents generation
and beyond did not have access to
education and did not grow up being
literate in Hmong or in English this was
exactly the reason why when I was 12
years old in reading books people
thought I was a weirdo this was why when
I was looking for role models who were
writers or actors I couldn’t find any
because they didn’t exist yet when I was
18 I finally found a community among
writers and what I learned would change
the trajectory of my my work as an
artist mining mom who has been hailed as
the Midwife of the Hmong literary arts
movement said if we don’t tell our
stories other people would do it for us
and this was completely true because
today the 90s yes yes
the majority of writing about Hmong
people were not written by Hmong people
they were usually stuff that what you
know usually we had anthropologists and
other folks who came and studied us or
collected our stories this is why this
is what I never take it for granted that
I make a living
practicing art forms my parents
generation never had access to this is
also why I never take it for granted
that I have the capacity to tell my own
stories in my own words for me being a
writer is a being an artist is a bit of
a double-edged sword it’s a great way
for me to express myself creatively but
I’m always juggling responsibilities and
wondering how much to say like even
right now I’m wondering how many of you
are gonna leave this talking thing oh my
gosh she is a semi angry PLC which
stands for personal color by the way I’m
wondering how many of you are gonna look
down on my parents for not having access
to education how many of you are gonna
look at Hmong girls and think oh that it
died Hmong girls who read books and
think they are weirdos because of a
story I relayed about my own life that
you know happened 15-20 years ago so but
still I create and still other artists
from other underrepresented communities
create and sometimes when I create I
will say that my target audience is
Hmong Americans who are bilingual this
does not mean other people are not
invited to the table but rather I would
like you to imagine in this way if you
asked me to be on my best behavior in
meeting my 50 behavior yes the kind of
stories you are gonna get from me are
gonna be the filter one’s full of
surface details it may be even
stereotypes if you give me the space to
create on my own terms the kind of work
you’re gonna get is gonna be much more
authentic nuanced and complex and isn’t
that what we want from art and in life
and sometimes the stories you hear are
gonna you know be uncomfortable
sometimes you’re not gonna get the joke
sometimes the stories you hear are going
to challenge the what a challenge what
you previously thought you knew about
this community and sometimes you are not
gonna be able to empathize with any of
the characters but so what
I go to see place about old dead white
people all the time okay yeah yes
obviously I’m not old dead or white but
do I care
remember you don’t need to be the center
of the universe all the time it’s okay
rather than being an interloper who sort
of just like peeks through the windows
and eavesdrop some conversations why not
be an actual guest a proper guest who
comes inside takes off their shoes
because let’s be real even though I am
Minnesotan I’m also super Asian okay why
not come inside have a seat at my table
listen to stories eats my food as it is
not as you would like it here’s the
thing I spent the first half of my life
being ashamed of who I was where I came
from
and trying to hide my authentic self
then I spent the second part of my life
trying to create a world in which people
like me exist moving forward I hope that
you will also be a part of that movement
thank you
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