====== connecting international issues to local youths ======

August 23, 2007: Viet Youth Leader Potluck: A New Start; Connecting Homeland Issues to Local Youths

The purpose of these weekly potlucks is to connect leaders together and to really delve into the heart of important issues facing our youth community.

One thing that I must make clear is that the people I invite are not necessarily part of UVSA. Everyone is part of their own organization or act as individuals. It just so happens that the organizer is part of UVSA, but these potlucks do not and should not serve to absorb anyone into UVSA unless they so choose. I do not believe in imposing affiliation on someone if they are only acting as part of another organization. The point is to create a neutral space for all individuals to find common ground. But, we hope that UVSA becomes the guardian of that neutral space to foster dialogue.

This week's focus was on politics in Vietnam. How this pertains to local youths is simply the question of why local youths are not very savvy on homeland affairs. The answer has to do with lack of general and pervasive dialogue among youths. Another point might be a lack of relevance; youths who are born and grew up here might not have the same connection that their parents do. The idea that "it is our homeland" might not be enough to garner support from youths with Vietnamese ancestry. There has to be a fostered connection between youths in Vietnam and youths here, a connection that is real, not just philosophical.

The adult leaders do organize around these issues, and dialogue does happen, but youths do not attend these sort of rallies. It might have to do with language barriers, or that these events do not appeal to youths. I tried to bring up the notion of a "youth culture" that differs from our parents' culture and has a different appeal altogether. Or, as stated earlier, there might not be a real connection to anything in Vietnam.

What we do agree is this: we need a group of youths to be the catalyst. What actions we need to take is up for debate. But as an overview we will need to:

  - Have materials ready to educate a young person about developments in Vietnam (or really, any topic worth fighting for), assuming that the person doesn't know anything about the topic. For example, there should be 10 to 15 minute visual and narrated presentations giving an overview of the topic, as well as a reason why this is relevant to youths (our target audience). These materials should be ready to be presented at meetings and workshops at conferences and summits.
  - Create an appealing youth culture with messages that the youth can identify with. Youths are a very participatory audience; they prefer experience over lectures, creative personal expression over homogeneous messages, and require a space designated for their growth, as well as the acceptance of emergent and identifiable subcultures.

At the next potluck, there are several possible topics to bring up:
  - The state of Vietnamese-American youth entertainment and its ability to rally the youths.
  - The politics of cultural identity: who gets to decide what is Vietnamese and what isn't?
  - The diverging interests of first and second generation Vietnamese-Americans, and trying to find a common vision.
  - Creating the bridges between Vietnamese youths locally and... everywhere else.

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