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Description
Scope/Content: Oral history with Ms. Ngô Mỹ Dung, who also goes by Mary as her “American” name. She was born on December 23, 1966, in Đồng Nai, Việt Nam. She fled Việt Nam in 1989 by boat with her older brother, Cậu Hải, and was at sea for 19 days before reaching the Philippines. She stayed there for three years before finally receiving approval to move to the United States in 1993. She has moved around Orange County with her family but is now settled in Stanton. She graduated high school in Việt Nam and considered pursuing college momentarily. She married my father in the Philippines, and she now has three children: her oldest son who is 25 years old, her only daughter being 20 years old, and her younger son who is 15 years old. She has been working as a nail technician for the past 14 years at ProfessioNail in Fullerton. In the interview, she talked mostly about her own family--her parents and siblings--as well as her family that she’s raised here in America. Material restricted until 2069-02-11. Scope/Content: At what point in time can one pinpoint the beginning of Vietnamese America? Does it begin with the Fall of Saigon? Does it begin with the creation of Little Saigons throughout America? In looking to define Vietnamese American experiences, do we limit what it has been and what it could be? Whatever the entry point, experiences of Vietnamese Americans are inextricably tangled with the political, economic, and social structures of racial, class, and gender hierarchy in the United States and notions of authenticity and nationalism. Thus, to begin learning what the Vietnamese American experience entails, is to also begin unlearning. This course seeks to understand, unravel and complicate what Vietnamese America is through a critical refugee and critical race lens. By analyzing various issues, we are able to see how Vietnamese Americans are affected by larger societal forces such as capitalism and imperialism. This course aims to: 1. To introduce the student to the history, culture, and contemporary experiences of Vietnamese Americans, highlighting how power and privilege entangles them all together. 2. Expand current discourse around social issues that affect Vietnamese Americans by using both scientific literature, creative works and scholarly articles. 3. Expose students to the multitude of historical, contemporary and local Vietnamese American narratives, taking advantage of the proximity to one of the largest Little Saigons. Scope/Content: Mary Ngo (the interviewee) and her daughter, Van, photographer Don Bui, 2019.
Type
sound
Format
1 mp3 audio file; 1 pdf transcription English; 1 pdf time log; 1 pdf life map; 3 jpg image files
Boat people | Business | Church | Catholicism | Children | Communism | Communist | Death | Education | Employment | Family | Farming | High school | Identity | Language barrier | Manicurist | Nail technician | Marriage | Nail salons | Poverty | Refugee camp (Philippines) | Sponsorship | Student | Vietnam War | University of California, Irvine | Albany, New York | Anaheim, California | Garden Grove, California | Stanton, California | Orange County, California | Australia | Đồng Nai, Việt Nam.
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