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New
videos promote cultural understanding
Living
in one of the nation’s most diverse states allows
Californians to learn about people from different
countries without leaving home. But finding information on
some cultures isn’t always easy. Luckily, California has
two new video projects that offer glimpses into two newer
Californian peoples – Hmong and Somali refugees. The
videos were produced under California Cultural Crossroads,
a library-based program which promotes ethnic cultural
programming through library and community collaborations.
Who
Are the Hmong? The Brave People, a
collaborative effort of the Hmong International Culture
Institute and the Stockton-San
Joaquin County Public Library, tells of the Hmong
journey through several continents for thousands of years.
The Hmong way of life, the video shows, has flourished
despite tremendous hardship for the Hmong people in China,
Southeast Asia, Laos, Thailand, the United States and
other countries. The video runs approximately 58 minutes
and is available for interlibrary loan from the
Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library.
The
Refugee Voices postcard includes photos of Somali youth
.
[Photo courtesy Karen Evenson]
Produced
by teens, and designed to raise awareness about the
African refugee experience, the digital stories in Refugee
Voices: Somali Stories record and preserve the
experiences of East African refugees living in the San
Diego area. Refugee Voices, which includes the
shorts Where is Home? and Girls Working for a
Better Tomorrow was made possible through a
partnership between the San
Diego Central Public Library and the Media
Arts Center San Diego.
Since
1960, Somali people have struggled for unity and control
of their destiny. Where is Home? illustrates that
struggle as two Somali refugees describe growing up in the
United States, and dreaming of returning to their homeland
to help those still in need.
In
Girls Working for a Better Tomorrow, Yasmin Hamud,
a community leader who mentors San Diego’s young Somali
girls, shares her vision of a more united San Diego. She
states in the video, “I would like to see a community
that is more united and that works with one another so we
can solve our own issues. It does not matter if you are an
African American, Hispanic, or a Somali American, what
matters is the community and the need for leaders and the
potential of these children and their want to succeed.”
For
more information on Who Are the Hmong? The Brave
People, contact Alex Bailey, Stockton-San Joaquin
County Public Library at alex.bailey@ci.stockton.ca.us
or by phone at (209) 937-7701. For more information about Refugee
Voices: Somali Stories, contact Lynn Whitehouse, San
Diego Public Library at lwhitehouse@sandiego.gov
or by phone at (619) 236-5821, or Ethan Van Thillo, Media
Arts Center San Diego at ethan@mediaartscenter.org.
Both
videos were supported in whole, or in part, by the federal
Institute of Museum and
Library Services under the provisions of the Library
Services and Technology Act grant funds administered in
California by the State Librarian. However, the opinions
expressed in the videos do not necessarily reflect the
position or policy of the U.S. Institute of Museum and
Library Services, or the California State Library, and no
official endorsement should be inferred.
For
additional information about this project, contact Library
Programs Consultant Kathy Low at (916) 653-6822 or
email klow@library.ca.gov.
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