FREE SPEECH ZONE | Henry High Hmong Student Assaulted, Knocked Out Using City Bus From School To Home

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 On January 28, a Henry high student was assaulted and knocked unconscious at a bus stop while using the Go-To Card city bus pass between school and home.He was hospitalized, and was diagnosed with a concussion.  He is now suffering bouts of memory loss along with problems with balance:  he has fallen twice.He does not know the attackers, and no arrests have yet been made.He and his brothers say that they also know other Henry students who have had problems with the city bus:  One was held up at gun point and had his phone robbed while waiting for a city bus to go to school, and two girls were touched/groped while using city buses between Henry and  home.  One of the girls has since transferred to another school.Another family says that  Two Henry Hmong brothers were waiting at the bus stop for the city bus to take them to school.  A young man walked up to the bus stop.  The brothers thought he was going to wait for the bus with them.  Instead he punched one brother in the nose, and the other in the eye, and ran away before either brother could reactThe family of the assault victim who was knocked out  has said that if the attackers are not caught, they want the Minneapolis Public Schools to pay for his hospital and medical costs, because they say this attack would not have happened if he had been riding a school bus home.Last April, Minneapolis Public Schools announced they were ending school bus rides to 5 high schools including Henry, and replacing the school buses with the Go-To card city bus rides.  Henry Hmong families,  concerned about safety and wanting to give Hmong families a chance to learn about and feel  comfortable with  the Go-To card, asked that the city bus rides be instituted this year as an option with school bus rides available.  School board members agreed to run limited school buses for the first semester.  School buses ended in mid-January.Both the assault victim and his mother testified in front of the Minneapolis school board last summer and urged them to keep school bus rides at Henry high for the 2012-2013 school year.Henry Hmong students collected hundreds of post cards urging school board members to keep school buses for 2012-2013 school year1100 postcards were sent to school board members Ellison and MonserrateThe student who was assaulted and knocked out asked the  Minneapolis school board last summer to keep school buses at Henry for 2012-2013 school yearHenry Hmong Families crowded Minneapolis School Board Chambers last summer and asked that school buses be available for 2012-2013 school year Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | Farview Hmong Soccer Players Help Sanneh Foundation at Gala 4 Goals Fundraiser

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Farview soccer players with Tony Sanneh, at Gala 4 Goals fundraiserOn February 2, Farview Hmong soccer players went to support the Sanneh Foundation’s Gala 4 Goals fundraiser.The Hmong soccer players went on stage to let others know how the Sanneh Foundation has helped their players and  team. Talking in front of hundreds of people at Gala 4 Goals Fundraiser10 Year old Jee Vue had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone.  She said:“My name is Jee Vue.  We play soccer for Farview Park in North Minneapolis.  We are Hmong refugees,were born in Thailand, and are still learning English.  Our families are very poor.  The Sanneh Foundation donated soccer shoes to half our soccer players.  We loved coming to the Sanneh soccer camps this summer.  With the Sanneh Foundation’s help, we won two city championships last year and  two more championships this year.  Thank you Sanneh Foundation.”Trying new foodsThe Farview soccer players also had the chance to sample new foods they couldn’t pronounce, such as Gorganzola cheese and Portabello mushrooms.Good job, girls!The Sanneh Foundation’s Gala for Goals was held at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis.  Farview Park is located in North Minneapolis.Last summer, over 50 soccer players participated in the Sanneh soccer camp at Farview ParkSanneh soccer camp at Farview ParkGet the ball away from Tony Sanneh!Having fun at Sanneh soccer campThe Sanneh Foundation donated soccer shoes to half the Farview soccer playersFree Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. The opinions expressed in the Free Speech Zone and Neighborhood Notes, as well as the opinions of bloggers, are their own and not necessarily the opinion of the TC Daily Planet. Continue Reading

TCFoodies 2012: A feast of great food writing

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I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but I just spent a few hours going back through the stories that TC Foodies published in 2012, and well, gosh, I really think TC Foodies is the greatest food news source in the Twin Cities. Maybe even on the planet. And I am really not bragging about myself, because we published over 500 food articles and reviews last year, from dozens of contributors, and most of the really good stuff was not written by me.  In addition to the hundreds of restaurant reviews and articles, our contributors wrote about cooking, gardening, food policy, nutrition and more, all with a local angle. No disrespect to the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Mpls-St.Paul, Minnesota Monthly, City Pages, Heavy Table, and all the other food news sources in town — they have great writers and great coverage — but we have dozens of contributors, each with a different expertise and point of view. And our food writers and blog partners venture to lots of places where the other guys seldom go. Stephanie Fox explores the Twin Cities’ ethnic markets in her Global Groceries column, finding little gems you are unlikely to read about anywhere else, from the pickled herring at Ingebretsen’s Scandinavian Deli, to the Filipino foods featured at Phil-Oriental Foods in St. Paul, and the Guy-Am Grocery in North Minneapolis: Your go-to place for West Indian, Caribbean food.Guy-Am owner Sookdeo (Son-Son) Somaiah is a huge cricket fan. Continue Reading

Hmong football players — in St. Paul high schools today and in the NFL tomorrow?

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Streaking along the sideline, #12 flashes by the linebackers as he races towards the first down marker. He catches the ball, evades the first tackler and then gets smashed to the ground, a pile of defenders quickly stack on top of him.He might be the smallest man on the field, but somehow #12 is tough enough to keep bouncing back up after being crushed again and again by these giant men.No, this is not Percy Harvins, #12 of the Minnesota Vikings. The player described here is Richard Xiong, wide-receiver and team captain of the Harding Knights varsity football team.Xiong is one of many Hmong players on the Knights who are key contributors to the team’s early season success. Most notably, there is Chealang Yang (#3) who is among the conference leaders in nearly all receiving stats and plays on nearly every single down, including on offense, defense and special teams. And then there’s running back Joe Vue (#85) who at only 140-pounds smashes through the line like he’s a 300-pound full-back.A look at the rosters for other St. Paul high school teams will show at least one or two Hmong players on the squad, and as in the case of schools like Harding and Johnson, nearly a quarter of the names are Hmong.And the phenomena doesn’t end in Minnesota. Continue Reading

Finding great Hmong food and restaurants in St. Paul

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As an Asian, I am always enthusiastic about Asian food. Living in Minneapolis for two years, I saw many Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, and Thai restaurants around the metro area, but I had not seen or even heard of any Hmong restaurant. I know there is a large Hmong population in Twin Cities. So, I wondered, what do Hmong people eat and where do they eat?

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Traditional Hmong culture or mainstream academics? Hmong International Academy, in Minneapolis, says yes to both

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Hmong International Academy’s challenge is also its solution. The Minneapolis district school, which has struggled with low test scores from its inception five years ago, is a school, in part by design, that has an almost entirely minority population, and a very high poverty rate. But principal Andy Xiong sees the school’s focus on Hmong language and culture as a way to support its goals to improve what he calls “mainstream academics”— in other words, test scores in math, reading and science.

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FREE SPEECH ZONE | Hmong Farmers Stepping Up to Help Build a Local Food System

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ST. PAUL [December, 2011]- All farmers juggle risk – weather extremes, rising production costs and the uncertainty of market prices all affect the bottom line.  Hmong farmers have additional hurdles to enter the marketplace; instability from renting rather than owning land, and lack of capital and credit to secure financial resources for farm improvements or expansion.Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases.As Staff Attorney and Hmong Outreach Coordinator for the Farmers’ Legal Action Group (FLAG), a non-profit law center that provides legal services and support to farm families, Hli Xyooj has advocated for Hmong farmers since 2006. The transition from traditional farming practices to operating the farm as a commercial business is a difficult one for many of the farmers, says  Xyooj.  “The farmers came from subsistence farming which was their way of life – not a commercial business. Every day they knew what they had to do and went to the fields.” Hmong farmers have a familiar presence in farmers’ markets throughout Minnesota, but public markets are often flooded with the same products, thus reducing sales for any one farmer.  Sales are further impacted by fluctuating demand and attendance at the market.  So many farmers are produce rich, but cash poor – and without storage facilities, profits perish with the produce. When FLAG learned about the farmers’ barriers to success, they partnered with The Minnesota Project in 2011 to offer farmers assistance through training and connections to new markets.  liHH FarFfFarmers that sought assistance varied widely in their communication and business skills.  English as a second language, complex agriculture regulations, and selling their produce pose on-going challenges.  But some Hmong farmers like Robert and Nancy Lee persisted and pioneered their way to new markets.The Lees live in Albertville, MN and rent farmland in neighboring St. Continue Reading

FREE SPEECH ZONE | 2011 Edgar Allen Poe Literary Society Scholarships include Twin Cities Students

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Earlier this year, The Edgar Allen Poe Literary Society (also known as the Raven Forward Air Controllers) announced the winners of  their 2011 Distinguished Raven Scholarships.  Many of the recipients are from the Twin Cities:Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. John Davidson Memorial Scholarship ($2,267 + $500 performance bonus)Na Lee ThaoSt Paul, MNHal Mischler Memorial Scholarship ($1,500)Kue ChangOroville, CAPaul Jackson Memorial Scholarship ($1,000)Karalina B VueMinneapolis, MNSam Deichelmann Memorial Scholarship ($1,000)Sally HangEureka, CAMarlin Siegwalt Memorial Scholarship ($1,000)Billy VangMarysville, CACharles Ballou Memorial Scholarship ($500)Bruce LeeSheboygan, WIHoss McBride Memorial Scholarship ($500)Deborah Kang VangOroville, CAJoseph Bush Memorial Scholarship ($500)Panny XiongSt Paul, MNJohn Bach Memorial Scholarship ($500)Mee XiongSt Paul, MNDan Davis Memorial Scholarship  ($500)Lee Vong YangMarysville, CAThe Distinguished Raven FAC Memorial Scholarship is an award presented annually to a qualifying descendent of a Lao or Lao-Hmong individual who served in the Royal Laotian Military or Hmong forces in defense of the Kingdom of Laos between 1960 and 1975.The scholarship is sponsored and administered by the Edgar Allen Poe Literary Society (EAPLS).    EAPLS is a non-profit, last-man, veteran organization consisting of Forward Air Controllers (FACs) who lived in Laos, flew under the call sign “Raven” or its predecessor “Butterfly”, and supported Laotian and Hmong forces during the Southeast Asia conflict between 1966 and 1973. Continue Reading

Hmong conference in Minneapolis connects countrywide

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The 15th annual Hmong National Convention took place from the 22nd through the 24th of April, and reporter Alexander Holston was on hand with his trusty Marantz tape recorder to capture the sounds of the crowd, attend some of the dozens of workshops, and interview some of the 800+ attendees. (Audio below.) Continue Reading