Traditionally in Hmong culture, dinner is an art. To be more specific, Hmong women work to make dinner an art. While guests experience delicious scoop after scoop of white rice, pork ribs, mustard greens, and papaya salad, there is a team of women working to make the entire dinner seamless.
Women coordinating the menu. Waking up early to do the prep work. Chopping the ingredients. Sharing information while they julienne, mix, stir, sauté, and bake. Training younger women as they wash and dry the dishes. Timing the food just so, each dish followed by the next. Kids running in and out, women managing the childcare while coordinating the entire event behind-the-scenes.
It’s tradition. One that many Hmong women do, not out of obligation, but out of a deep love and commitment to family, healing, care, and community.
Instead of—or in addition to—cooking a meal, Hmong American women in the Twin Cities are taking the leadership they learned from their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, and channeling it into politics.
Many young Hmong American women in the Twin Cities have watched and participated in this tradition over and over again. Only now instead of—or in addition to—cooking a meal, Hmong American women in the Twin Cities are taking the leadership they learned from their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, and channeling it into politics.
That’s the inspiration that TakeAction Minnesota staff LyLy Vang-Yang and Cindy Yang drew from, anyway, when they dreamt up Hmong Women // Disrupt, a group for Hmong American women and femmes committed to disrupting sexism, disrupting racism, and disrupting politics-as-usual.
Hmong Women // Disrupt
The vision of the group is to build a future where Hmong American women and gender non-conforming people can step into their political power and lead as their full, authentic selves.
“We’re disrupting the status quo to make more possible—for ourselves, our families, and our communities.”
It’s a bold call to action—but that’s what Cindy and LyLy felt the progressive Hmong movement needed. Something bold.
“I’m ready to do politics in a way where we can show up fully as ourselves,” Cindy said. “And where the needs of our community are met, instead of believing that someone else knows what’s best about our lived experiences.”
Cindy knows all too well the challenges Hmong women face in politics. She had to deal with it herself when she ran for Minnesota House Representative 40B in 2018. So does LyLy. She previously served as a Policy Associate for Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and was an organizer on Mayor Carter’s mayoral campaign.
Now, mobilizing people around Nelsie Yang’s St. Paul City Council Ward 6 campaign, they are witnessing the same sexism and racism play out—and they’re ready to do something about it.
Breaking Glass Ceilings
Nelsie is a young, progressive Hmong American organizer who is unapologetic about the world she wants to live in. One where families like hers don’t have to struggle through poverty trying to access the basic things they need—dignified housing, food, clean air and water.
A future where everyone can live joyfully.
Nelsie is following in the footsteps of trailblazers like Mee Moua, the first Hmong American elected to any state legislature in 2001, whose campaign was driven by other dedicated Hmong American women.
But while a number of Hmong American women have run for St. Paul City Council—including Bao Vang, PaKou Hang, and Kazoua Kong-Thao—none of their campaigns have been successful. It’s a glass ceiling that has yet to be broken.
That’s in part due to the dynamics that Cindy and LyLy are trying to disrupt. In 2013, Kazoua Kong-Thao’s race was reportedly derailed by men who urged her to dropout because a Hmong man was running.
“I reject the notion that power in the Hmong community is scarce, that only a few should hold this power, and that to hold this power, we must harm each other by resorting to tactics rooted in sexism,” LyLy said. “Those tactics hurt us all.”
LyLy and Cindy believe their identities are central to their political identity, and they shouldn’t have to “play down” their ethnicity or their gender in order to be powerful. In fact, they refuse to.
“Let’s put the power at the will of the people,” Cindy said. “And let’s take down the patriarchy that currently runs politics.”
Claiming Their Power
Cindy, LyLy, and Nelsie are part of a movement of young Hmong American women working on campaigns, leading in policy, and running for office.
They’re not asking for a seat at the table. They are claiming it. And they’re mobilizing a base of young Hmong American women and femmes ready to do the same.
“When I stand in solidarity with others who share my values, I’m able to access the power that our ancestors gifted us,” LyLy said. “I stand straighter, feel bolder, am more easily able to imagine the world my community deserves.”
For LyLy and Cindy, that means shifting Hmong culture and raising visibility. It means making sure Hmong women in politics are seen and heard. And, while it still requires behind-the-scenes coordination (those doors don’t knock themselves), it also means stepping forward into their own political power.
“Hmong Women // Disrupt is an invitation to Hmong women and gender non-conforming people to step boldly and unapologetically into our power together,” said LyLy.
It’s different from coordinating and cooking a large meal for your family. But the end goal is the same. Everyone fed. Everyone cared for. And a seat at the table for all of us.
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- Join LyLy and Cindy on Sunday, October 6 to kickoff Hmong Women // Disrupt. The event will include a brief political education and grounding, followed by building power by knocking doors and text banking for TakeAction Minnesota endorsed Hmong American City Council candidate Nelsie Yang.
- Unable to join on October 6? Make a meaningful contribution to help them continue this work.
- Let’s make history. Sign up for a door knocking shift between now and election day to elect Nelsie Yang to St. Paul City Council.
