March 2009 Archives

                Anil Singh-Molares considers himself a "professional immigrant."  In his presentation, he spent a lot of time talking about his multi-cultural background, which included learning to speak several languages.  He also talked about all the different things he tried to be - a chemist, a journalist, a monk - before he found a job with Microsoft.  Because of his abilities to translate, he eventually ended up in charge of outsourcing programs and helped develop the Encarta Encyclopedia software.  Anil later started his own international services company and worked with different compassion foundations. 

                Anil said that one of the keys to success in any profession is to study a foreign language, travel abroad, and learn about different cultures.  In a more globalized economy and a seemingly shrinking world, cultural knowledge has more value than ever in many professions.  Anil also made a point about discovering one's special individual talents and finding a way to use them in one's chosen career path.

                This fits in with the rest of our unit on Hmong immigration because of Anil's emphasis on being eager to learn and having an optimistic, accepting attitude towards other cultures.  This is the attitude that I had going into this course, even though I haven't really thought about it until now.  I hope that all of the other honors students can say the same thing.  All of the stories, all of the art, all of the culture that we've learned about is simply knowledge, and our attitudes and how we plan to use what we've learned affect the value we place on that knowledge.  I personally find all of this information extremely valuable, not because of the experience I have with the Hmong culture, but because of all the aspects that I never bothered to experience.  Anil said that each person should try to learn as much as they can, as well as they can, and I haven't done that for my Hmong friends until now.

                Tou, Mai See, Yee, Pa Houa, Nou Kou...this goes out to all of you...even though you'll probably never read it.  You are all so awesome, and I'm so glad that I've had this opportunity to learn more about where you came from and how your culture exists in the U.S.  I feel like I understand you better now that I understand your families, your social structure, even your artwork, and understanding is a vital part of friendship.

                I loved the way that Seexang Lee talked about art.  He described it as a journey, and the end product captures that journey.  Hmong artists consist of silver-smiths, weavers, singers, musicians, storytellers, and embroiderers, who are the most important due to the amount of essential embroidery in the Hmong culture.  It was interesting to hear Seexang talk about the functional aspect of Hmong art.  I've seen a lot of pieces of beautiful Hmong art, and I just assumed it was a means of expression of the culture; I never dreamed that all of those artifacts had actual purposes.  The beautiful designs are meant for keeping good spirits interested and fooling the evil spirits, and the clothing patterns help distinguish between different groups of Hmong (Green, White, Striped, Chinese, etc.).

                This presentation opened up a whole new realm of the Hmong culture to me.  We've heard so many stories about the immigration of the Hmong people, and we've heard about some of the traditions and customs that hold the people together.  But I think that one of the best ways to learn about a group of people is to study their art, and so I feel like I have a deeper understanding of the Hmong culture after listening to Seexang and seeing all of the examples that he exposed us to.

                I'm starting to understand why so many of the Hmong people in Appleton (and probably other immigrant groups in other areas) keep to themselves.  When the new culture you are struggling to live in doesn't know anything about the culture you were born into, it's hard to bridge the gap and form bonds with people outside the culture you are used to.  I've always thought that the Hmong presentation during Global Week at my high school every year was a good way to try to bring everyone together, but now I don't think that is enough.  There is so much to learn about every culture, and I think that that learning process is the first step to understanding and coexisting peacefully and comfortably.

                Tonight's presentation was really powerful.  We talked about torture once or twice in my Spanish class last semester, but never to the extent that we covered it this evening.  It was interesting to hear that the standard definition of "torture" and the UN definition differ substantially.  But I liked the UN definition.  The Center for Victims of Torture sounds like a well-established, growing organization, and the center is accomplishing many good things.  The people who work there are aiding with the healing process that must follow harsh physical and psychological torture.  The student presenter from Bethel seemed very knowledgeable about different types of torture, and he was very quick to condemn all forms of it for any and all purposes.  He said that the information obtained from torturing suspects is usually unreliable, as people will say anything to stop the agony.  He also said that victims of torture will often give out unrelated names of other people who are then also tortured for no real reason.  Torture leads to more torture.

                This information takes us in a different direction with our studies of the marginalized through immigration.  But the information is necessary to understand the true immigration experience.  In many cases, people come here under refugee status or seeking asylum, and the situations they are escaping in their home countries revolve around issues that we as Americans have a difficult time understanding.  Torture is one of those issues.  Some people come to this country to get away from the horrors and torment that they have experienced back home, and it is important to comprehend this idea when learning about immigration, refugees, and asylees.

It shocks me a little inside every time I hear about the torture operations of the US.  Part of me is aware of it and believes willingly, but another part of me struggles.  I don't want to accept that my country, this beautiful land that values freedom and human rights, is involved with secret prisons that torture suspects for information.  I always have known that there were other countries that used torture as a way to obtain information, but until a few years ago, I never would have guessed that the US was engaged in these operations as well.  Seeing torture from a new perspective gives me a better understanding and even higher levels of respect and empathy for those who left their countries for a reason such as torture.