Photo by Michelle Ganley - HAPA
Diane Xiong & E Her
In 1975, the Hmong people were driven from their mountain homeland in Laos after the communist Pathet Lao seized power in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Thousands fled in fear of execution for their role in a U.S.-backed secret war and in dread of the persecution that awaited them under the new regime. Families abandoned farms and villages, trekking through jungles and across rivers to reach Thai refugee camps. For many, the camps became way stations before resettlement in the United States, where significant numbers of Hmong found new homes, especially in cities like Milwaukee.
Half a century later, the story of that migration is being retold by the grandchildren of those first refugees. To commemorate the Hmong people’s arrival in America, students and educators launched “Rooted Voices: Hmong Stories from the Heart of Milwaukee.” This is a multimedia project that chronicles the observations of Hmong family members, tracing a line from the mountain villages of Laos, through the upheaval of the Vietnam War, and to the crowded neighborhoods of Milwaukee. The students, teenagers fluent in TikTok slang as much as in traditional Hmong customs, documented the stories of their friends and family members.
They recorded firsthand accounts from elders who recall the terror of escape, from parents who rebuilt lives in an unfamiliar land, and from young adults negotiating what it means to be both Hmong and American. Their stories, gathered in a series of video interviews, form a living archive of memory and identity.
Leading the effort are two prominent Hmong women: E Her, the Wisconsin co-lead on the project, which also spans Eau Claire and Wausau; and Milwaukee co-lead Diane Xiong, a veteran History teacher at Milwaukee’s Hmong American Peace Academy (HAPA) on 84th Street. We met in Xiong’s spacious classroom in the school’s new building. Sitting at student desks, we talked about culture, survival, and belonging, themes that thread through the Rooted Voices stories her students had brought to light.
Tell me about both your backgrounds—where you grew up, parents, schooling, and career paths. E, let’s start with you.
Her: I grew up in Milwaukee, been here most of my life. My mom was an educator and resource navigator, and I was exposed to resources around the state. Through my mom’s work, I learned about nonprofits and social services, and that shed light on community and public health. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and focused on those interests. My career work has been in educational and public health nonprofits. I wanted to be immersed in the Hmong community.
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Xiong: I grew up in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Like E Her, I went to UW Madison and earned an undergrad degree in secondary education and then a masters’ degree in teaching English at Columbia University in New York. I ended up teaching in international schools in South Korea for eight years. Then, I came back to Wisconsin to teach here at HAPA in Milwaukee. I like teaching teenagers because they are struggling with the same issues, namely trying to make it into adulthood.
What is “Rooted Voices, Hmong Stories from the Heart of Milwaukee?”
Her: This program made me think of HAPA because it is a large city school. I brought the opportunity to Diane because of her access to students who could carry out the mission. HAPA’s work aligns with the Rooted Voices project. The stories came from the students who did the interviews regarding Hmong history. They chose the questions and who to focus on. The purpose of “Rooted Voices” is to highlight the Hmong roots that have grown in Milwaukee for three and four generations.
What is “2892 Miles to Go” and how has it partnered with the Hmong school, HAPA?
Her: When you measure the United States, east to west, it is 2,892 miles. The “2892 Miles to Go” program is the Geographic Walk for Justice, a national program located in a number of states such as Minnesota, Hawaii, Colorado and Kentucky, supported by National Geographic. The program is designed to work with all communities whose stories go unseen and untold, like the Hmong people. We used HAPA scholars in Milwaukee to educate the public about the local history and cultures.
Xiong: This works well because HAPA is one of the only major Hmong schools in Wisconsin. The majority of Hmong leaders and businesspeople send their children to this school. HAPA is a beacon of healing for the Hmong community.
Why is “2892 Miles to Go” a valuable resource for educators who teach Asian American and Hmong American histories under Wisconsin law?
Xiong: It is a valuable resource for teachers because it allows teachers to incorporate more of Hmong culture and history into the curriculum.
Her: It is also valuable for teaching students how to tell a story in video or audio. “2892 Miles to Go” supplied all that training and resources. It can inspire students to become interviewers and journalists.
What is Act 266, passed by the Wisconsin state legislature?
Xiong: In 1989, Act 31 required public schools to teach African American, Latin X, and Indigenous history. Act 266, passed in 2024, added Hmong and Asian American history.
Diane, do you teach History?
Xiong: I teach Hmong history & culture, a required class. The purpose is to have the students regain the culture that has been lost to history. I teach traditional Hmong culture but also how our culture has been dispersed across the globe. Students’ identities are now shaped by many different factors. We think of ourselves as Hmong Americans. I ask students to share their own knowledge of family or clan stories. Students complete the semester course with the idea of what it means to be Hmong in the American culture.
The 2892 Milwaukee youth co-designers created a survey about what Hmong Milwaukee young people experience in their day to day lives. The purpose was to learn more about Hmong youth and what they would like the community to learn as to the past, present, and future of the Milwaukee Hmong community. In general, what has the community learned from the survey?
Her: What I hope the community can learn is that our students are proud of their identity. I think about my own struggles of integrating the American and Hmong cultures. The results of the survey shed light on the Hmong culture and history. I think the older generation now realizes that young people want to preserve traditional Hmong culture. This sheds light on what it means to be a young Hmong American. It is different than my parents or my grandparent’ generation. There are some students who are 4th generation.
Xiong: I agree. I am finding that students seem eager to share our story inside and outside our community. In some ways, they are the first Hmong Americans.
I believe you have an exhibit showing ways to tell the Hmong stories in Milwaukee.
Her: Yes, and that is now located on the 2892 website, 2892walk.org
Students Respond to Questions by Other Students
Here are some questions the journalist students asked and a few responses from their fellow students. I asked E Her and Diane Xiong to comment.
How does attending HAPA, a majority Hmong school, impact you?
Student: I feel more connected with the people around me. Even if we do not talk to some classmates, we still acknowledge one another and care for each other.
Her: At our core, students are realizing that we care for one another—even if there is not a personal friendship.
What are you most proud of about being Hmong?
Student: I’m most proud of how resilient Hmong people are.
Xiong: I like the choice of the word, resilient. Students using words like these show how they are proud of their people. A deep sense of love and belonging. Hmong language is very expressive, and resilience in English parallels strength in Hmong.
Student: My heritage is very beautiful. I find it so empowering on how my people fought for their freedom and survival.
Her: This answer speaks to me because it honors our ancestors and feels empowering. Makes me appreciate how previous generations sacrificed so that the younger people can achieve success. Many of us are the first generation of Hmong college students.
Student: A lot of people don’t know my ethnicity, so they confuse me with other Asian ethnicities.
Student: I love our tapestry. The tapestry is full of color. It tells our stories. Most importantly, it honors our ancestors.
What are some challenges about being Hmong?
Student: It's challenging to have certain things you don’t agree with in the culture or feel are morally wrong, but you can’t express yourself because you’ll be judged.
Her: Students have that light bulb moment when they realize they are now Hmong Americans. I felt that as my family’s first-generation college student. You might walk into a room and be the first Hmong person the other people have ever met. There is pressure to make a good impression.
Student: It means you are representing the future of the Hmong.
Xiong: I know our students feel the pressure of what it’s like to be Hmong in the future. When we think of our grandparents who came here with nothing and had to start over. They put their hopes and dreams into their children. That expectation can feel heavy, especially for teenagers.”
What does it mean to be a Hmong youth in Milwaukee?
Student: Navigating a complex cultural identity while facing the challenges of being a second or third-generation immigrant…we have to learn how to balance traditional Hmong values and practices with American mainstream culture.
Her: At family gatherings, the Hmong culture is often at the top of discussion. But when you are in school or at your job, the culture is different, and you have to adapt. The goal is to find a balance.
Xiong: What I like in these answers is that there is a sense of pride in respecting traditional Hmong culture but also being a Hmong American. Balancing Hmong American identity. Students now think of themselves as both.
All of HAPA's 2025 graduating seniors were accepted to college, many attending the school of his or her first choice. The average scholar in the Class of 2025 was accepted to five universities, and the vast majority of these teens will be first-generation college students.
