Manitowoc to mark Hmong American Day May 14. Here's how you can participate.
MANITOWOC - In a tradition started by the city last year, May 14 will again mark Hmong American Day in Manitowoc.
There will be a Hmong American Day celebration at Manitowoc Public Library from 10 a.m. to noon May 14. The event will include speakers and performers dedicated to celebrating local Hmong history and culture.
The library is also hosting a Hmong exhibit, “A Hmongment in History,” on display during regular library hours through June 4.
After a proclamation was read in English by Mayor Justin Nickels and then in Hmong by Nelson Hang during the April 18 city council meeting, Pa Lee, the event's founder, said, “It is extremely important to our community to recognize the citizens of our community, not only as Hmong Americans but as Hmong immigrants and Hmong refugees.”
Many of the Hmong people who have made Manitowoc their home traveled to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s as refugees from Laos.
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Hmong people were hunted down and killed or put into labor camps by communist leaders following the Vietnam War.
According to the Hmong American Center in Wausau, the CIA secretly recruited Hmong people in the early 1960s to fight against North Vietnamese.
After the United States pulled out of South Vietnam, thousands of Hmong were hunted down by the communist governments in Laos and Vietnam and taken to concentration camps.
Some Hmong were able to flee their homes to the United States, Australia and other European countries.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, more than 49,000 Hmong Americans are living in Wisconsin. The census also shows Manitowoc County was home to 1,518 Hmong Americans in 2010.
Similar data from the 2020 U.S. Census are not yet available. According to the city of Manitowoc, Hmong people make up the largest ethnic minority in the city.
Last year, Manitowoc became the second city in Wisconsin to declare a Hmong American Day, with the city of Appleton being the first in 2015. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers also signed a bill last year declaring that May 14 be Hmong-Lao Veterans Day throughout the state.
“I hope that everyone knows that this is just the beginning, and I promise to continue to make a commitment to our community so that we know there is power and weight behind our identity and history,” Lee said. “As for our path and our future, we are not just a group of minorities, but we are a force, and we get to determine who we are and decide our path and create our stories.”
Contact Alisa Schafer at aschafer@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlisaMSchafer.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc Hmong American Day 2022 celebration set at Manitowoc library
