Dorchester community organizations commemorate “Black April”

Cityline: Dorchester community organizations commemorate “Black April”

Local groups mark the end of the Vietnam War.

MANY VIETNAMESE AMERICANS REFER TO THE TIME AT THE END OF THE VIETNAM WAR AS BLACK APRIL. LAST WEEKEND, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE GATHERED TO HONOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A MULTI-DAY, MULTIMEDIA COMMEMORATION. A COALITION OF ORGANIZATIONS IN DORCHESTER ARE USING THIS MOMENT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT AND HEAL. DECADES AFTER THE VIOLENCE AND TRAUMA OF WAR AND THE MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES. JOINING US NOW IS TRAN VU, LEAD ARTIST AND PROJECT DIRECTOR OF 1975, A VIETNAMESE DIASPORA COMMEMORATION INITIATIVE AND LINH VU, PROJECT DIRECTOR OF THE INITIATIVE. WELCOME TO YOU BOTH. LINH, LET’S START WITH YOU. MANY WHO ATTENDED THE 50 YEAR COMMEMORATION LIVED THROUGH BLACK APRIL AND STILL HAVE VERY VIVID MEMORIES OF THAT TIME, BUT YOU FOCUSED ON MAKING THIS A. MULTIGENERATIONAL, GENERATIONAL EVENT AND AND COMMEMORATION. HOW DID YOU DO THAT? WITH THE INVOLVEMENT OF A LOT OF YOUTH. SO THROUGH MY TEACHING AT UMASS BOSTON, WHERE I CURRENTLY ALSO AM PURSUING MY PHD, THE CLASS THAT WE’RE TEACHING IS ACTUALLY THE FIRST OF ITS KIND TO BE TO BE TAUGHT IN THE COMMUNITY. AND THROUGH THE WHOLE SEMESTER, WE’VE BEEN TEACHING THE STUDENTS OF THE CLASS A-ADVANCED UMASS BOSTON ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES STUDENTS WHO ARE ALL VIETNAMESE AMERICAN, TO PUT FORTH THIS EXHIBITION. NOW IT SEEMS, AND IT SOUNDS VERY EASY, BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ACTUALLY PUT FORTH AND CREATE, CURATE, CREATE? EXECUTE IMMERSIVE MULTIMEDIA SENSORIES LIKE SMELL, TOUCH, FEEL, LOOK, ALL OF THAT. HOW LONG HAS THE PROJECT BEEN IN FORMATION? FOR A WHOLE SEMESTER. A WHOLE SEMESTER? WOW. WELL, IT’S BEEN CONCEIVED CONCEIVED BEFORE THAT, BUT ACTUALLY CURATING CREATED THE WHOLE SEMESTER. AND SO THE STUDENTS ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON IT. AND THEN FROM THE STUDENTS INVOLVEMENT, THEY FEEL THIS IS LIKE THEIR PERSONAL STORIES ACTUALLY BEING SITUATED IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THAT’S GREAT. TRAN, DO YOU FEEL THAT THE STORIES OF THE VIETNAMESE DIASPORA ARE WELL KNOWN? AND IS THE GOAL OF YOUR WORK TO SHARE THE STORIES OUTSIDE OF THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY, OR TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE OF US OUTSIDE OF THE COMMUNITY ARE AWARE OF THE HERITAGE? YEAH. SO TO ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION, I DON’T THINK THE THE NARRATIVE AND STORIES FROM THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY IS IS WELL KNOWN. I THINK THERE’S DOMINANT NARRATIVE. AND WHEN PEOPLE THINK ABOUT VIETNAM, THEY THINK ABOUT THE WAR AUTOMATICALLY. AND PART OF OUR WORK IS REALLY TRYING TO MAKE IT INTERGENERATIONAL AND IS SHARED WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY AND TO THE GREATER PUBLIC. AND THAT’S PART OF OUR OUR WORK IN BEING ABLE TO EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY TO SHARE OUR STORIES FROM A FRONTLINE POINT OF VIEW. AND SO OFTENTIMES, YOU KNOW, WAR’S LEGACY, YOU HEAR IT OFTENTIMES FROM FROM THOSE WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, THE GATEKEEPER, THE DECISION, THE WINNERS OF WAR. BUT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO HEAR IT FIRSTHAND, THE IMPACT FROM FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY IS SO CRUCIAL. NOW, YOU WERE BORN IN VIETNAMESE ON VIETNAM, AND YOU SAID IT WITH YOUR FAMILY IN IN BOSTON. WHAT ARE YOUR FAMILY’S MEMORIES OF THE FALL OF SAIGON AND ULTIMATELY COMING HERE TO THE US? WELL, I’M DAUGHTER OF POLITICAL REFUGEE. MY DAD WAS A SOUTH VIETNAMESE VETERAN. AND SO FOR MY PARENTS, HAVING LIVED THROUGH THE WAR, THE FALL OF SAIGON, AND THEN COMING TO THE US AS POLITICAL REFUGEE, THE MEMORIES ARE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, FULL, COMPLEX AND SO MANY LAYERED. AND FOR ME, GROWING UP, HEARING ABOUT THEIR STORIES, THEIR MEMORIES AND BEING ABLE TO TO REALLY UNDERSTAND FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE AS WELL AS BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PART OF THE VIETNAMESE DIASPORA IS SO CRITICAL. LYNN HOW DOES THE STORY OF THE LAST 50 YEARS FIT INTO THE LARGER NARRATIVE OF THE CITY OF BOSTON? WELL, THE CITY OF BOSTON ESPECIALLY 02122 IS ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE ZIP CODES. AND THAT’S ACTUALLY WHERE FIELDS CORNER, MASSACHUSETTS. FIELDS CORNER, DORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS IS WHERE BOSTON, LITTLE SAIGON CULTURAL DISTRICT IS. AND SO THEREFORE, WHEN WE UPLIFT THE STORIES OF THE VIETNAMESE DIASPORA, BLACK APRIL, WE ARE ALSO INCLUDING AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE DIVERSE FABRIC OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, WHICH CLAIM, YOU KNOW, WHICH WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO UPLIFT ALL THE DIVERSE EXPERIENCES AND STORIES OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. NOW, LET ME ASK YOU, YOUR ORGANIZATION AND OTHERS HAVE BEEN ADVOCATING FOR A PERMANENT WAR MEMORIAL THAT INCLUDES VIETNAMESE PERSPECTIVES IN DORCHESTER. WHAT’S THE STATUS OF THAT INITIATIVE, AND WHY IS A MEMORIAL IMPORTANT FOR THE DIASPORA AND MEMORIAL IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, PARTICULARLY DORCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, IS VERY CRUCIAL BECAUSE RIGHT NOW WE ONLY HAVE ONE MEMORIAL, AND THAT’S THE DORCHESTER, VIETNAM VET MEMORIAL THAT’S IN MORRISSEY BOULEVARD. AND THAT ONLY THE NAMES THERE ARE ALL AMERICAN, ALL ENGLISH NAMES. BUT YET WE HAVE A FLOURISHING, THRIVING VIETNAMESE DIASPORA. AND A LOT OF THEM ARE WAR VETS AND FAMILIES OF WAR VETS. AND NONE OF THEIR NAMES ARE ACTUALLY. AND NONE OF THE VIETNAMESE NAMES ARE ACTUALLY ON THIS MEMORIAL. SO THEREFORE, WE WANT TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT OUR PEOPLE ARE PROUD, PERMANENT, AND PEOPLE CAN WALK UP AND SEE IT AND BE PROUD OF IT AND BE PROUD OF IT. YEAH. THANK YOU BOTH FOR

Cityline: Dorchester community organizations commemorate “Black April”

Local groups mark the end of the Vietnam War.

“The 1975: A Vietnamese Diaspora Commemoration Initiative” hosted an interactive multimedia weekend of events to commemorate what is known as Black April to the Vietnamese community. Project Directors Linh-Phương Vũ and Ngọc-Trân Vũ share the importance of intergenerational storytelling and their efforts to bring a permanent memorial to the Little Saigon Cultural District in Dorchester.

BOSTON —

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