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The HOME Refugee Steering Committee continues its virtual HOME Conversations series in 2022 with HOME: Conversations on Forced Displacement. Each year we gather input from past participants as we plan the next series. At their request, our new format emphasizes both active dialogue and actionable steps. Each conversation will take place in two parts, with a virtual panel discussion on an aspect of forced displacement followed, a month later, by a small-group discussion about taking action. The series is moderated by HOME Refugee Steering Committee member Paul Vang.
HOME: Conversations on Forced Displacement will examine relevant issues in contemporary refugee resettlement at the local level and across the globe. We hope to engage community members in understanding specific refugee resettlement crises as well as the larger issues of forced displacement, including its various contexts, while also providing an opportunity for participants to learn how they can get involved in local, on-the-ground efforts to aid refugee families and communities as they resettle among us. As with all HOME Conversations, artists will be integral to our discussions and action plans, and we will be seeking ways to bring together diverse voices to forge solutions that extend beyond a specific refugee population.
About the Moderator | Paul Vang serves as the Civic Engagement Director at HAWA, the Hmong American Women’s Association. He is a former science educator and is passionate about helping to build power within the Southeast Asian community by engaging in conversations with people at their doors, hosting educational events that are open to the public, and educating elected officials on the Southeast Asian population here in Milwaukee.
Saturday, March 19, 2022 – 11 am-12:30 pm
Saturday, April 16, 2022 – 11 am-12:30 pm
Myanmar One Year After the Coup
The second installment of the HOME Conversations series dives into the Myanmar democracy movement and Myanmar/Burmese refugee resettlement in the US. This panel will bring together community leaders, thinkers, and artists from Myanmar. In March we will highlight and analyze key moments in Myanmar’s history, including the recent Spring Revolution, that led to multiple internal conflicts that greatly impacted ethnic minorities and the continuing refugee crises in the region. The conversation continues in April as we actively involve participants in action plans to address and assist in refugee resettlement with input from Milwaukee-based leaders and representatives from Myanmar and Southeast Asian communities.
About the Participants
Biak Tha Hlawn, known as Hlawn Hlawn, is an undergraduate student attending Stanford University with an intended major in international relations. Hlawn Hlawn was born and raised in Thantlang, Chin State, and briefly relocated to Malaysia from 2008 to 2010 before immigrating to the United States. She has served in many leadership roles throughout her years in high school at Ronald Reagan and graduated with distinction. Hlawn Hlawn continues her passion for advocacy and activism to this day. In response to the February 1st military coup in 2021, she co-founded Chin Leaders, a Chin youth-led organization, and serves as the Executive Director. At the United States Advocacy Coalition for Myanmar (USACM), she serves as the social media manager and lobbyist. At Stanford, she serves as a fellow for the Asian Women’s Alliance’s Service and Advocacy Committee. Hlawn Hlawn is a Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) Scholar, Elks Scholar, and Horatio Alger National Scholar. In addition, she has been named the 2019 Youth of the Year by Carson Chin Baptist Church and Senior of the Year by the Milwaukee Public Schools district. Hlawn Hlawn aspires to be the change she seeks in the world.
May Sabe Phyu is a women’s human rights defender, Director of Gender Equality Network, and coordinator of the Women’s Advocacy Coalition Myanmar. She is co-founder of the Kachin Peace Network and Kachin Women Peace Network. She is the recipient of the 2015 International Women of Courage Award, Global Trailblazer Award in 2017, and N-Peace award in 2019. She moved to the United States of America since the military coup in 2021 but continues working with women's rights organizations (WROs) and women's rights activists on the ground to further advance evidence-based advocacy especially towards the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.
Sharifah Shakirah was born in in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State of Burma/Myanmar. She is the founder and director of the Rohingya Women Development Network (RWDN). RWDN, the first Rohingya women’s group in Malaysia, was founded in December 2016. It is self-funded and aims to empower women by harnessing their abilities and by providing them with opportunities to be leaders. This is done by organising classes for women consisting of general education, education on sexual reproductive health as well as Quran-reading, amongst others. In 2019, she was nominated as Malaysia's candidate for the US Department of State's International Women of Courage award. The award is presented by the US Department of State to acknowledge women around the world who have shown courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment. Currently she is also working as Program Associate at Burma Task Force, to continue to empower the Rohingya community worldwide and advocate for justice for the Rohingya community.
Moe Aung (Maung Phay Thaung) is an activist from the 8888 Uprising started by students in Myanmar on 8 August 1988. He also founded the very first mobile library in Myeik. After the 8888 protests, he moved to Thailand, and from 1993 to 2001, he worked with the publisher Kyay Mone U Thaung producing the revolutionary newspaper Khit Pyaing (New Era). When he left to the United States after the Thai government abolished political refugee camps and safe centers, Moe Aung began dedicating his time and resources to assisting fellow student activists who had also fled their homeland. Now residing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he has since continued to affect change from afar and to garner support for Myanmar student activists. In 2011, he started publishing Nay Yar Ta Kar (Everywhere Media) whose main motivation is to serve and support the movement of democracy for Myanmar. In 2017, he was permitted the distribution license of publishing and broadcasting his newsletter in Myanmar, which became the very first non-commercial independent publication for free distribution across the country, disseminated on a monthly to bi-monthly basis. After the 2021 Myanmar coup d’état, local journalists including Nay Yar Ta Kar’s were detained by the military and the newsletter's physical production was put to a halt, forcing it to indefinitely run on social media to ensure the continuation of its free and independent broadcast. Urged by the coup, he actively participates in fundraising events and peaceful protests against the military alongside local Burmese multiethnic groups in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Nay Yar Ta Kar can be read here: https://www.facebook.com/nayyartakarjournal/