Julie McConnell sits down with Julia Ha and Tammy Tran from Project Yellow Dress (PYD) to talk about how underrepresented communities are gaining visibility through self-expressed artistic mediums. We start the podcast getting to know the two PYD founders who talk about their family history (fun fact: they are second cousins). Their family experienced a double diaspora having to escape China and Vietnam because of warfare, and as a result, have traveled to many different countries in search of a new place to call home.
We move on to hear about the lightbulb moment when a children's book on the Holocaust inspired them to start PYD. Recognizing how taking ownership of one's history is so crucial for communities who are often overlooked in history textbooks and mainstream media, they created PYD as a platform to encourage silenced individuals to share their stories through whatever medium they desire. This is a community of people who are flipping the script as they do advocacy in their own way. Yes, Asians can be artists. They can be whoever they want to be. It is so important for them to be able to feel like the protagonist of their story, to celebrate the fact that they are a refugee or a child of a refugee, especially in today's political climate.
We close out the podcast with takeaways that touch upon an increasing need for ethnic studies courses. Because learning about people’s history helps us understand one another and ourselves, it is so important to recognize how and where ethnic studies is being taught and improve on that. "Know history, know self. No history, no self."
Project Yellow Dress is a storytelling platform that is dedicated to sharing and highlighting the histories, experiences, and voices of the Southeast Asian diaspora.
Website: www.projectyellowdress.com
Facebook: @projectyellowdress
Instagram: @projectyellowdress
Twitter: @projyellowdress
JULIA HA is a Chinese-Vietnamese American from the San Francisco Bay Area, the daughter of Vietnamese Boat People refugees who immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1980s. She received her B.A. from University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where she majored in History: War, Revolution, and Social Change with a special emphasis in Genocide Studies, and graduated with a M.A. Ed. degree in Equity and Social Justice in Education with a focus on Genocide Education from San Francisco State University (SFSU). She currently works as an EOP Advisor at San Francisco State University.
Facebook: @juliathucha
Instagram: @jbwahaha
TAMMY TRAN, one of the co-founders of Project Yellow Dress, is a Chinese-Vietnamese American whose parents are Vietnamese Boat Refugees. Through Project Yellow Dress, she’s been able to reconnect with her family's history and get to know more about her parents and community. Aside from Project Yellow Dress, she studied Fine Arts & Art History during both her undergraduate and graduate careers and is currently getting an MILIS in Cultural Heritage Management. She truly enjoys seeking out new narratives that inanimate objects can tell us and believes that it's so important to find ways to preserve people's voices through visual representations.
Summary by Joanne NguyenEpisode 68: Civic Advocacy and Politics with Lacy Lew Nguyen Wright of Ballot Breakers, State Rep. Padma Kuppa of MI, State Rep. Patty Kim of PA
Episode 67: Overcoming Barriers while Pursuing a Career in Academia as an Asian American with the SEAAster Scholars
Episode 66: Learning about Life Coaching, Holistic Healing, Spirituality, and Self-Improvement with Seo Kelleher
Episode 65: Starting Passion Projects and Dealing with Burnout with Tiffany Huang of Spill Stories
Episode 63: Healing your Relationship with Your Parents with Ivy Kwong
Episode 62: Discussing the Importance of Political Participation within Asian-American Households with Helena Berbano
Episode 61.5: Loveboat, Taipei with Abigail Hing Wen (+Giveaway!)
Episode 61: An Introduction to the Intersection of Identity and Product Design for the Asian-American Consumers with COVRY
Episode 60: A Casual Chat on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Living with CeCe Horbat
Episode 59: On Intergenerational Trauma with SEARAC
Episode 58: Quitting Your 9-to-5 job to Pursue a Creative/Entrepreneurial Path with Wonton in a Million and Simply Gilded
Episode 57: Last Words - Season 4 Finale
Episode 56: Collaborations through Love Intersections
Episode 55: Healing as a Survivor
Episode 54: An Earnest Fight Against Anti-Blackness
Episode 53: SEARAC: Affirmative Action and Data Disaggregation
Episode 52: NAPAWF: Reclaiming Our Bodies and Minds through Political Advocacy and #BodyLove
Episode 51: Bharat Babies: The Power of Storytelling
Episode 50: AAPI Women Lead: #ImReady
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