Hmong Excellence: First Hmong-American Kpop Star

Our hearts are so full today. And if we had a country, I know the streets would be filled with cheering. And even without one, we are celebrating collectively. Your chest brimming with an ache of happiness just as much as mine. A head-to-toe experience that only we seem to understand. 

I didn’t expect to cry as much as I did. More than the other wins we’ve seen, probably because this was such a personal one. Being a kpop star was my biggest teenage dream. Something I fell in love with, never because I wanted to be Korean, but because mainstream media didn’t have anyone that looked like me. And kpop was the closest thing to imagining what a world with mainstream industries all being Hmong would look like. I even auditioned for kpop agencies,  and I trained by myself through YouTube because that’s all I knew how to do. But it didn’t seem like a reachable dream to me, and I guess somewhere along the way I just accepted that it was just something like make-believe. Something I wish Hmong people had, along with all the other many things. 

And that’s what makes Lexus, along with all the other wins trailing before her, and now after her, so special.

Because they are making all the things we’ve dreamed and never dared to dream, become reality. With every new milestone and success, are doors opening to a completely new reality, a new future of not only possibilities, but opportunities. And time and time again, even when I think we can’t get any higher than this, someone always pushes the bar. 

And now, I really just have no more reason to not believe. No reason to not believe that I can’t do all the things I want to do. And I truly, cannot believe to be experiencing so many unimaginable wins in my lifetime, knowing this is really only the beginning. 

And I cannot even imagine the reality of our children; who will no longer feel the gap between them and other societies as much as we did. To be the generation that is now so far removed from war, and that success, abundance, and opportunities would be so normalized for them. 

There was a reason to fear us, to fear Hmong people all along. Because the most powerful people are the ones who have recognized, stepped into, and fully embodied their full potential. 

So, whatever is that you’re doing, whatever it is that you’ve always wanted to do, keep doing it. Keep going until you’ve reached your light. Because your light will show us the way.

And for Lexus, you have our whole hearts. Know that your feat was not a small one. One that healed us, brought us hope, and light, just as fittingly, the light that you are. A leader, a dreamer, and an absolute executor. Thank you, for letting me be able to share this moment with my dad, a war survivor, be in awe on YouTube, watching a Hmong girl reach heights beyond his wildest dreams. 

Today we celebrate, Hmong People, and a Hmong girl, shining in her excellence.