05/26/2026
At the Grammys this year, Bad Bunny dedicated his award to people who had to leave their homelands to follow their dreams. His speech resonated strongly with me because it reminded me of my parents’ own journey as immigrants to America and the sacrifices they made to leave Vietnam, start over, and raise children in a very different country.
For me and my parents, Vietnam is a complicated subject. Vietnam is their homeland, where half of their siblings still live, yet it is also governed by a communist regime they do not support. The date April 30, 1975, is remembered in the words of my father as “the day the Republic of Vietnam fell 50 years ago, beginning Ba and Me’s days in exile, like so many other Vietnamese. It was a dark day in the history of Vietnam. We commemorate the millions of Vietnamese who died, were injured for life, and suffered during the war and its aftermath, as well as the hundreds of thousands who died at sea while escaping Vietnam.”
My mother and her sister’s family fled Vietnam 50 years ago with unfathomable fear and uncertainty. As a teenager, she had to begin a new life in a completely different country. Because of my mother’s refugee journey and sacrifices, I was born in America — the land of opportunity — and became the strong Vietnamese American woman I am today.
In honor of , I am grateful for my heritage as a Vietnamese American and for the diversity that makes America beautiful and powerful. Now more than ever, it is important to remember history — including devastating international conflicts like the Vietnam War — so we can learn from the past, cherish the present, and promote humanity.
We can be critical of a political group, government, or country, but there is no room for racism or hate in our dialogue or solidarity. We must continue speaking up against hate toward our Asian, Black, Jewish, Muslim, LGBTQ+, and all minority communities, because racism and hate are both viruses.
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