Knowing Our Joy Book by The SEAD Project
“From the very beginning, SEAD has worked to collect and amplify the stories of our Southeast Asian diaspora community. When outside sources, however, ask us for our stories, they continually center our trauma, focusing on the war and the struggles we’ve experienced instead of our holistic personhood. With this collection, our elders will be sharing their strength, their inner peace, and what brings them joy. This collection isn’t based in academia or high art. Rather, we are community members that simply want to preserve and honor our elders’ voices for generations to come.
This book brings together eighteen distinct voices from our Hmong, Lao, Viet, and Khmer elder communities. Each of the stories they share represents their families and the thousands of individuals who’ve been displaced from their homelands along the Mekong River. This collection is for you. Whether you’re third generation or first, whether you speak your heritage language or want to learn we celebrate your identity and the resiliency of our people. We hope these stories of joy make you feel seen, heard, recognized, and held. Thank you to our story collection cohort, our artists, and our elders! Your words matter.”
10.25” x 8.25”
*Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.
The SEAD Project (Southeast Asian Diaspora) is a community organization on a mission to be an accessible creative hub that provides streamlined workshops and tools to engage and share knowledge in Khmer, Hmong, Lao and Viet diaspora communities. Through safe and welcoming spaces, we hope to grow empowerment to plant the seeds of hope and possibility, locally and globally.
TheSEADProject.org | Instagram: @TheSEADProject
