You Don't Need to Be the Next Sunisa

Photo courtesy of Andrew L. Xiong

As our newsfeed, hearts, and minds have been filled with happiness from Sunisa’s win, she ignites a fire of hope and inspiration in us all. But at the same time, I know it can cause many of us to feel a sense of pressure, rush or confusion on what role we can play in our people’s greatness, or what next big thing we can achieve too. Some of us resent our dreams that were cut before they could even blossom. And some, heartbroken that it is too late for us to start. 

But I hope to remind you today, that you don’t need to be the next Sunisa.

You don’t even need a title, a medal, or a role.

Because even if you might not be the first to do something, you just need to be the first you, and the greatest you. Starting now.

Sunisa, truly just started as a little girl wanting to do what she loved--with no end goal promised, and more struggle than benefits. But yet here she is, impacting us all--the Hmong community, Asians, America and the world.

And marking the turning point in our people’s painful history, birthing the generation that can now finally start dreaming instead of surviving. 

As members of this community, your only job is to keep your own fire alive. A fire that was specifically planted in you in this lifetime. And that alone, lights a fire in everyone who crosses paths with you. 

And to nurture the flames of each other, because there are so many outsiders wishing for the downfall of our people. Hate within our own community is the last thing we need.

There is room for all of us to shine. And the more we each shine individually, the brighter we shine collectively.

And that is how we will keep our name and identity alive; by becoming our own light when the world has buried us in the dark, time and time again. 

We are now here to stay, and we are louder than ever for all the generations that have been silenced. Every step forward is an ancestor’s tear wiped away. And our hearts and bodies know that. The unexplainable tears when we see our people thrive, prove that.

We are all the writers of the next chapters to our people’s history. And it can now truly be whatever we dream it to be.

Because when one of us win, we all win. And especially when women win. Who bring our people with them, whether it be through their achievements, or the clothing on their back--the keepers of our culture. And may all of us rise. As I know we will.

I hope the hearts of our ancestors and elders may truly rest, knowing their fears of us becoming extinct or forgotten will never happen.

Because although our language, traditions and practices will change over time, as many have stated, our love will not.

Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the negativity of any community--because we are flawed humans. But as my Laotian uncle said to me, “Lao people may have a country, but we do not have the love and support the Hmong community has for each other, that has allowed you to progress so far, even surpassing us. That is something far more valuable than a country.”

And that healed and broke me in so many ways.

For how long we’ve been yearning for a country, and not realizing we built something even stronger than what physical borders could protect: we built a community, a sense of belonging and unity, with shared pain and happiness, that has completely shattered the ideals of what makes a strong nation. Hmong people, we are strong, even without the nation. And we become an asset to wherever we are, because of our skills, our adaptability, and resiliency. 

I used to envy those with a country and wish I could experience being a different ethnicity, but now more than ever, I realized that I was so utterly blessed to be Hmong in this lifetime. To be part of a people that has learned to navigate and thrive in life in ways others could never imagine. To be people that have truly built life on their own terms, and proved themselves time and time again.

If I could be anything, I would choose to be Hmong again in my next lifetime. And I know, there is so much more to come for us, that we can’t even yet fathom. 

We don’t need to worry about our people, just focus on showing up as our best selves, and that already moves us forward, together.