 Okay, and can everybody see the screen? So to open up today, I would ask that we all take a moment of silence. My, our hearts, I'm sure we're already heavy from the local events that happened with the car accidents and the six seniors from Amherst Regional, but yesterday we had a candlelight vigil for them and to come home to find out that there was another mass shooting was pretty hard. And just created even more of a heartache. And so what the sound of the singing bell I'm going to ask for everyone just to go ahead and take that moment. And I will ask that we all come back together. So, this is the second year that the town council has approved a pro an AAPI proclamation and so I'm very honored and the proclamation was sponsored by counselors Mandy Joe Hanneke and Michelle Miller and community sponsors are the Human Rights Commission Professor Richard Dr. Leo Wang, Yasmin, Patty Meesey Forbes, Denise Minakashi, Baroff and Milan King, and Michelle and Mandy, do you guys want to go ahead and read that. Absolutely. Are you. Oh, I have it actually. Hey everyone. I have it on my computer so I'll just read it off of there because it was a little small for me on the. Okay, here we go. Wait, Michelle before you start. Anika and Anna here. Do we want to just split it 2222 then. That sounds fantastic. Yes. And start and then if Anika. Do you want to jump in for the second to do you have it pulled up. Do you have it pulled up. No I was just having a small moment of panic because I'm sorry. Thank you. Okay, perfect. Okay. Here we go. Whereas Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage in the United States was celebrated beginning in 1978 and was made into a month long event in 1992. And whereas Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month seeks to honor and recognize the contributions of us residents and communities originating from Asia and the native and indigenous peoples from the Pacific islands and whereas today more than 20 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders live in the United States and through their actions make the United States of America a more vibrant diverse prosperous welcoming inclusive and peaceful nation. And whereas Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have distinguished themselves as leading researchers in science medicine and technology as innovative farmers and ranchers as distinguished lawyers judges and leaders as prominent prominent contributors to the arts literature and sports as restaurant workers. And in addition I'm sorry the screen is blocking farm workers and other service and workforce industries as war heroes who define our country who defended our country from fascism and as peacetime healthcare heroes currently on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and as Amherst population is more than 18% Asian American and Pacific Islander and includes devoted community members and whereas as we celebrate the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that enrich our history, society and culture. We must also acknowledge the additional determination hard work and perseverance a API individuals must put forth to be heard and seen, and that these additional efforts are a response to inequitable institution of all institutional excuse me, and systemic injustices fueled by xenophobia misogyny ableism classism and other forms of discrimination, such as those most recently manifested and racist attacks on Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic and and whereas despite their contributions and leadership, the role of API individuals in the United States has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the teaching and study of American history. Therefore, we the Amherst town council do hereby proclaim the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month, and we ask you to join us in the town's Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month celebration going on right now. Thank you very much. And so I'm just going to back up a little bit because for some reason I do these all the time and I just always get so nervous. I'm not sure why, but we're, I would like to do some introductions, if that's okay with everybody I think that part is very important and I and I'm just going to use go in the order that might that people are showing up in the zoom so I'm going to start with Dr. Leo Wang. Oh, you're muted. Oh, my name is Leo Huang and I'm the assistant academic dean at UMass Amherst for the College of Natural Sciences and I'm also on the Asian American Pacific Islander Commission for Massachusetts. I'm off to the next person next to me. Sure. Okay. Right next to me is Annika. Annika. Hi, I'm Annika Loops artist creative consultant and I'm a town council for Amherst representing District four. And let's see so I will see you next. Richard Chu. Hello, good afternoon, everyone. I'm Richard Chu. I'm a faculty at the history department at UMass. And I'm also a commissioner of the Asian American Pacific Islander Commission of Massachusetts. And I'll pass it on to Anna. Hi, I'm Anna Devlin got here. I am a district five town counselor and thrilled to be here I do apologize I have to leave you a little early but I'm excited to be here and I will pass it to Mandy Jeff. Thank you. I'm Mandy Joe Hanicky and I am one of the at large counselors on the town council. And I am also thrilled to be here but I also have to apologize I have a concert to attend tonight to benefit the Ukraine to raise money for the Ukrainians there so I will be leaving early to head to play that concert in Springfield, but I'm excited to be here for now. I need to pass it on to Phila Sun. Hey, I'm Pila Sun. I'm a Amherst group counselor. And I'm also a resident or was a resident I've been living in the area for most of my life. I'll pass it off to Michelle Miller. Hi everyone, I'm Michelle Miller and I am a town counselor representing District one. I'm really happy to be here and glad we were able to get this and organize this and pull it together so thank you. And I am going to pass it on to Philip Avila Avila. Hi everyone I'm a co chair for the Human Rights Commission, also live in town and we're got the Amherst survival center. I will pass it on to Richard. I've done my part so maybe. Yep. Yeah. Is it my turn. Yes. Hi, good afternoon everyone. I'm waiting for my son to come back at the strainer hospital. He had his cast on his arm so good afternoon everyone and my name is okay now I use the former Amherst public school teachers Cambodian teacher from 91 until 2003. I have been here since 1982 and I basically know almost every family in Amherst Northampton and in some kind of areas. And so I am and nice meeting you all. Thank you. And I'll let Liz. Okay, I'm unmuted yay. I'm Liz Hey good and I'm a member of the Human Rights Commission of Amherst, and a former teacher at Amherst regional high school. Thank you. And I'm now going to pass it over to Professor Richard just to give us a brief explanation of how maybe came the month for a API to be celebrated in. Hello everyone so thank you again, especially to the sponsors, the Town Council of Amherst and the Human Rights Commission. So, I'm honored to be part of this celebration of API month. So, some people are asking why has may been designated as the the month to celebrate this. According to to history. There are two significant events in May. One was in May of 1843, which was the beginning of the immigration of Japanese to the United States. No one was in May of 1869. When the transcontinental railroad was completed in which many Chinese American or Chinese workers helped build. So because of these two significant events may was considered as the API heritage month. And so here we are. And Jennifer I don't know if you want me to talk about the. The oral history project before we show the video or. Yes, please. We just also had one more human rights commissioner hop on and so I just wanted him to go ahead and and introduce himself Cedric are you there. Yes, I am. I'm just setting up my phone. You see me well. Hello everyone how y'all doing. I am Cedric and I am of the human rights family members. And very nice and thank you for having me here and thank you for the celebration. Everybody. Thank you. And yes, professor, she would you like to go ahead and explain the oral history project please. Thank you. So I teach history at the UMass and the five colleges. And one of the courses that I teach is Asian American history. And the courses has a civic engagement component in which the students. They complete a final project at the end of the semester in which they interview a member of the different Asian American communities in Western Massachusetts. So for the last about last seven years. My students have been recording these oral histories and these oral histories have been uploaded on to the UMass special collections and archives division. And the goal of this oral history project is to help preserve the voices of oftentimes unrecognized Asian American community members within, you know, in our midst. And we are fortunate to have one of the interviewees pilason here, and soon we will be viewing the, the interview that was conducted by my students on pilason's life. Thank you so much so I'm going to go ahead. Is there any words that you would like to say to open up or are you. I think this is Jordan. Okay. Oh, excuse me. Maybe we can ask so Ken or to say something about the Cambodian American community in Amherst. Do you have a brief history of. Of your community. Thank you so much. I love you fella. So, again, the first Cambodian came to Amherst was February 1981. My brother, an oldest brother was a second family came to Amherst. And that was sometime in May of 1981. And most of us came through a sponsor through the local churches. So every church know us by the last name. So, and, and then after the bank family arrive each family also start to sponsor extended family from the refugee camps and to the MS area. The people in Amherst, North Hampton, East Hampton, and Holyoke are all sponsored by the church. And these are the people originally came from a refugee camps in Cambodian Thailand border. And the fortunate people who sponsored by the local churches also were baptized as a Christian before all the local churches be able to sponsor us. That's how we end up to the MS area for the first time. And since then our family will cruise the Cambodian cruise and the East Hampton and North Hampton area. Amherst is the only found the only school in the United States that have Cambodian all the Cambodian like myself to go back to get education. I sat school in in September 1982, and I came here on April 1982, and I was 18 years old. And our guidance counselor, which is Lauren Kavanaugh was living and working in Cambodia for more than 10 years. And when we want to go to school, see basically ask the school superintendent and the town give us a chance to attend school so when we created it. Most of us most of my friends, we created like 20 years old, 22 years old, and we were good at sports, all of us are good at soccer and volleyball. The other school was so jealous at us that why we're so good at sport and they want to see the positive get, because we look older than we supposed to be, but we are the most fortunate community in this area that's a school in our areas. North Hampton Amherst accept us to attend school again give us a second chance. And not only that most of the local churches, who sponsor the families, help to raise money, and help us also to build the Cambodian Buddhist temple which is next to the Peace Pagoda. So that's how our community start growing, not only help us to sponsor extended families member, but also help the fund to do fundraising to help us to build the Cambodian Buddhist temple in Leveret. And beside it, the most most important of all, Amherst school is the only school that help us to create Cambodian to create a course that teach only Cambodian language and culture to the Cambodian students beside allow them to take academic to create it from Amherst high school Cambodians to allow to take a learn Cambodian class, language and culture. So we are the oldest school in the United States, and Amherst town is an old town that help us create about just everything to have Cambodian lifestyle new again. And that is how we end up here. And that's why I never leave Amherst since then. And, you know, I think my story picks up where that left off because I'm my family the transplant. Okay, so I'm going to go ahead and start. Can everybody see the screen. Yes. You're. How do I say. Wow, I really hope we can cut this off because now we're really here. Thank you for coming to our interview. I'm really glad to have you here. A couple quick general questions. Can you please take your full name. Yeah, my name is Pilla son. And I am a community member Cambodian community member in Amherst. And I was born in the Philippines in a refugee camp. And shortly afterwards, I immigrated to the US, where we first settled in Camden, New Jersey before coming to Amherst. And that's where you've been since I was six. I know we've already started recording but just to have your verbal consent. Do we have permission to record this interview. Yes. So just a few questions so we have a general idea of what happened in the refugee camps before you came to the US. What was your family like before living in the refugee camps. Well, I can't. I don't have any personal experience on that but hearing from my, my parents and my brothers. Before leaving for the refugee camp. It was a difficult one they dealt with like extreme poverty. My dad told me that at my age. He was really just looking for work to be able to feed himself and be able to just like live. So, their life in back in Vietnam where they're from was. It was really challenging. And they live in like an extreme poverty. And, you know, is where everyday central things that we take for granted sometimes it's, it was like a everyday struggle to try to secure food. And secure food and water and. Yeah, shelter and stuff so. Yeah. I know you said you were rather young when you were in the refugee camps. Did the experience of living in the refugee camps affect your parents, or yourself differently you feel from versus when they were living before the, before the refugee. I mean, so, like the refugee camp itself was, it was almost like a holding place for them where they went to just basically where they escaped Vietnam, and they went there to learn English and also to wait for sponsorship to go to the US. And the way that they got there. They had to walk about three or 400 miles through Vietnam and Cambodia to get to Thailand. And when they made it to Thailand. They had to wait there for some time before being transferred over to the Philippines. And their journey to get to the refugee camp in Thailand. It was filled with a lot of times where they didn't think that they were going to make it. They left with a group, they left Vietnam with the group. And my brother told me that he can remember people in that group, like they had to leave behind, because they just were too weak. And they just couldn't carry on. And so they had to leave people behind on their way to the refugee camp. So, I think it was a relief once they got to the refugee camp. Because they've, they had to, they had to travel at night, because if they were to travel during the day and they were to be spotted by Khmer Rouge or anybody else, there was a potential for them to get captured or killed or whatnot. So, the life in the refugee camp, their experience in there. I think it was, you know, they were happy to be there, they were happy to make it and pass their journey but, you know, it was essentially like a camp where people just are trying to survive. There was, there was like a lot of people with them, like, I don't know the exact numbers. But it was, you know, it was a camp where people were just trying to survive. They had, I believe it was missionaries and other organizations that were there to try to help them with getting sponsorship to their different countries. Like, first world countries and also to teach them English and just to teach them about what life will be like for when they immigrated. And actually in the refugee camps, my, my mom contracted hepatitis B and I was actually born with that. And as a kid, I don't know if I was born with it, but I caught it as a kid. And I recovered. And so now I'm immune to it but, you know, the conditions in a refugee camp weren't the best, you know, I believe there's like open sewage and just, you know, it was, it was a camp with thousands of people in there. Just trying to survive and trying to and holding on to hope to be able to leave at some point and get to a different country. Some people in that refugee camp weren't were sent back home if they like failed to interview or, you know, like the countries that were there that were doing interviews and screenings. They didn't see them as fit or didn't see them meeting certain criteria they were just sent home, or just sent in just basically their fates were to stay there, or go back home. But my family was able to get sponsored by relatives and friends that we had in New Jersey. It was like quite a journey that they had to go through and definitely a struggle. So it must have been a relief to them to have to have traveled out of the refugee camps. Do you mind telling me who did you immigrate with and when did your family immigrate to the United States. We immigrated in the 1990, and it was, it was just our family, and we immigrated to New Jersey, Camden, New Jersey first. And that's, you know, they have a large population of micro, which is Cambodians of the South, that's what it translates to. And that's, that's my cultural heritage in our, our cultural heritage. And so we immigrated to Camden, New Jersey, and also Philly as well. And, yeah, it was just us and we joined up with our friends and relatives from our home, the hometown in Vietnam. Yeah, yeah, so we, we first we lived with them. My earliest memories was living. I believe we live like up on top of a. I think it was like an Asian market like an Asian convenience store lived on the top apartment with some, some friends and some relatives up there. Afterwards, we moved to a house with some more friends and relatives and that was kind of like my earliest memories. You mentioned that a lot of people were turned away because they weren't able to pass the interview process. What was that process like for you and your family, the whole immigration process in general, and when you did finally get to the US. What was it like growing up in the US like that transition from living in the refugee camp to being in the US. Again, I can't really speak about the refugee camp and what that was like, but from my parents hearing stories about it like they everybody was pretty much like on edge, going into those interviews, because they didn't want to say the wrong thing because if they said the wrong thing, then there's a chance that they might not be able to to leave and go to a different country. My, my experience growing up. We, we came to this country with like no money at all, except like all we had was our clothes on our backs and like no money. And so my experience growing up was like we I just remember us not having that many things. What we did have was my parents always made sure that we had some food and we had a roof over our heads. And pretty much other than that it was like, you know, we were poor and so it wasn't much many, much things to do at home. And so me and my brothers I have two older brothers. We really just just grew up playing outside with the neighborhood kids and just playing a lot of sports, being really active, because we really didn't we really didn't have anything besides that to entertain ourselves. But growing up it was just, you know, I, I got I had a lot of hand me downs from my older brothers. And it was just, you know, it was a time like I remember us. I remember, like us being poor, you know, whenever we went to the markets or whenever we went to the stores. We were distinctly not asking my mom for anything, because I know what the answer was going to be. And I, you know, there was a chance that she was just going to yell at me. So I just, I just wouldn't even ask. And that's just kind of like how I grew up. And things started to get better as we moved to Amherst, and my parents got more stable jobs. They were able to get health insurance and and other benefits that were provided to them by their job. And so things started to get better for us more stable. And we were able to eventually move up. As I got older, we were able to move from an apartment renting to getting a condo and eventually owning that. And so like the just what it was like for me growing up like I just remember just starting off really, really poor. We really didn't have anything. There would be some times where all I would have to eat was like rice and soy sauce and some eggs. And if I was lucky, like some noodles, some like ramen noodles. And then as I got older, things just started to get better for us financially. And as we moved from Kandyn to Amherst, things slowly started to get better for us. So yeah, you know, but life for me growing up was just like a lot of sports, a lot of time outside, a lot of time just over friends friends house and just playing, you know, tag and sports with them outside. It sounds like your parents definitely worked really hard to progress in life financially for themselves and for their kids. And it also sounds like you also use the best of your opportunity to make friends with the neighborhood kids and invest yourself in sports. So was there a difference that you notice growing up whether that was your preteen or during your teenage years. Did you notice a difference in transition between you yourself, or your siblings, or your parents like transitioning to the US and whether that's economically or cultural wise or language wise. Did you notice a difference in the generations and did you notice anyone struggling the most to transition. There was definitely differences in our transition. I remember me and my brothers having to go with my parents to like banks or other places where they would have to talk or speak English and read some stuff or fill out some forms. So my older brothers and me sometimes we would go with them to help them out so that they'd be able to fill out forms correctly because they didn't know how to read my. I would say I, my transition and my upbringing was a little bit different than my parents and my older brothers, because my parents, they're adults but in time to get here. So having very little education in like job skills like their job skills like farming and manual labor. And so the opportunities that they had was limited to those things. So they would have to, they would have to work either on farms or factories or doing diet like dining, dishwashing or like doing custodial work and my older brothers who are about four and six years older than me. And their transition was slightly different than mine and that I think like they remembered what it was like growing up in Vietnam. Even, even though that they were young coming over here they were about like four and six when it came over here to the US. They were Vietnam. And so I think in a sense, their transition was a bit different than mine's because of that. For me, I mean I feel like I, even though I was born in a refugee camp, I don't remember anything like from that all I remember like my first memories with living in New Jersey, like, when I was four, and an older like that was my first memories and so, you know for me, I just felt like I was like I'm living in, you know, this is all I know. And so this is the culture that I know and grown up for me it was kind of difficult to be able to navigate sometimes, because my the culture at home is different than the culture at school and outside with my friends. And so I, I, there would be some times where I wish, you know, my name was different, or I wish that I was white, or I was just, I just wish that I was more like Western and like, even like I grew up with like a lot of Cambodian friends and Amherst and a lot of them had American names. And I remember distinctly like saying like to myself, I wish that I had a different name I wish I had a more English name or more American name, because of that, just feeling out of place and just wanting to fit in. And so my, in a sense that is, is the differences between my, the transition that my parents had and the transition number of brothers and the experience that I had. And my brothers, my oldest brother, he was able to get accepted to college but he wasn't able to go because he had a child right towards the end of high school, and then my, my middle brother. I think he could have gone to college but that, you know, he just, he, I don't think that was what he wanted. And so he ended up working for a couple years after he got out of high school. He went to Job Corps for a little bit, finished up that program. And then after he was done with Job Corps, he enrolled into the Navy, and he did, I think four or five years in a Navy, and then came back to the US and he was working in, I think a power plant for some time. And then ever since he's kind of been bouncing around from like different careers and different jobs. And for me as a, as an adult. I went to college right after high school I went to UMass. And then after UMass, I ended up working with my brother and in his restaurant for a couple of years. And then afterwards, I made a transition to work into education. All of us, me and my brothers, when we were teenagers we ended up getting jobs really early. My brother's got their first jobs around like 13 or 14 working in the summers on like tobacco farms. And for me, I got my first job at 15 or 16, working as a pot washer at UMass, and pretty much ever since I've been working part time in some form or capacity. And so as my brother so you know we were able like we were there was a lot of emphasis on working and making money to support ourselves and also to help support the family and pay for rent and help pay for like food and whatnot. I'm just going to pause for a second to see if anyone has any questions from the audience or from individuals. Because I recognize that a lot of folks have a hard stop at 630 so I'm trying and this is there's a lot of information impact in here. So I would like to be able to kind of break it up a little bit. So I just wanted to see if anyone had any questions about anything that we've heard so far. And I don't see any hands raised in the audience. And so I'm going to ask the panelists, do they have any questions. Bella, that's a good job explaining about the culture about live in our refugee camps about the life struggle in the US and and also the life in Amherst. Exactly. Bella, you're doing good job. So impressed with you. You did and I honestly, I think pre pandemic was at a Western mass API meeting where a short oral history was shown. And I specifically remembered that and I just because it was so impactful so I definitely want to say yes you did a fantastic job and that's how I kind of came up with the framework for this because it was, I just remember, and the conversations that we had as a group afterwards were so impactful as well. And so, I just wanted to ask, do you, is there anything else or so can anything that you either one of you wanted to add to this, or he did a pretty good job of covering everything. He does everything as I agree with him that's perfect. Our culture, our life among the chemical community have not been changed much. Most of our elders are still working at the farms, especially in the wakefield farm, and they have strawberries and tobaccos and the same thing fella I used to work at the farms, right after school, almost every single day and weekend full time pick up cucumbers and pickles, especially strawberry in wake real. Yeah, so there's a lot have not changed. And for the elders and the children of course get a better job, just like fella, and a few other my former students became very successful. But in terms of parents are still very much working in the fight trees and farming. You know, then also to add to what was saying, you know, I think there's a, just a cultural, you know, misconception that all Asians come here and it's successful and you know they get rich and they're able to work the system. And you know that might be true for some of us, but you know for others it's, it's a struggle. And, you know, there's, there's generations that have been here. Here, you know, the earliest generations that have been here, I've really, what I've noticed have had like the most difficult time adjusting to everything and you know I see. The, their social economic status and, and their, their lives and you know how they're living and stuff that, you know, it's like, they've been given this opportunity to come to this country but because it was back in those times they're really going to really understand how to fully support people and help them in all aspects to be able to flourish. So they just kind of been plopped here and like go to, you know, and so, like, my experience and I don't know if I haven't seen this video and like such but like, I remember my experience being that similar as well where my parents, they were able to offer me and provide me with a roof and food, but beyond that it was like you're on your own. You know so when you leave this house, you're on your own, whatever you want to do with school, you're on your own you got to figure that out because we don't know. You know, we can't help you. And so it's just like, you know, the story of minorities in this country is you're on your own, you know, in groups, successful groups have been able to band together and be able to navigate and be able to be successful working the system within this other groups in particular Cambodian groups and I think in Amherst and Lowell also like Long Beach and Cali like where that's been more difficult for us. And to add on to that, if the Amherst public school have not given me the, and my friends opportunity to start school at 18, I wouldn't be at this, you know, at Lowell either, otherwise I would be working in the factory with my mom still, with my brother still, and then I wouldn't have the opportunity to get higher education and my family, my oldest brother in Cambodia was a doctor and my father was a soldier. And both of them were killed in the Khmer Rouge and all of us supposed to be killed in the Khmer Rouge in 1925, but we came here. I thought I never had a chance to get education because I'm too old, but a school, an Amherst public school just doesn't matter what age, my friends started 21 years old, and when I graduated in 85 or 21 years old, so holding high school diploma. So, otherwise, I wouldn't know, I wouldn't imagine what my life would be like these days. But again, because the community in Amherst is so supportive in terms of helping students and in academic support and then help parents adjusting to life when kids in trouble. They are absolutely behind the Cambodian family until late 80, and until the Cambodian American Association developed until the last Cambodian who working for the Amherst Health Department left like five years ago. And now we have only one or two Cambodian who are working for the school system and be able to still continue to reach out to the Cambodian families. Did anyone hear me at all before? Okay. So, again, most of the Cambodian families are very successful stories. We have a bad story, but our kids are really struggle, but at the end, very successful. Yeah, and without without me going to Amherst for since I was six, I wouldn't have learned the history of Cambodia and just, you know, from the ancient times to modern times like I want to learn that I wouldn't know anything about it and I remember being a young kid and learning about it and like all of the classes learning about it. And it was like, wow, you know, it just really made me feel proud about my heritage and my culture and also explained a lot of things to my peers. And it was like, also given them a piece of my culture as well. So, you know, Amherst definitely growing up was really supportive in that way and really supportive of promoting the cultural identity and just celebrating us. Thank you both. I'm just, I'm going to go ahead and offer again and see if anybody has any comments or questions before I continue to move on. And I'll say I believe we're getting ready to go into the portion of your as a teen when you were a teenager, a little bit more here so working and making money to support ourselves and also to help support the family and pay for rent and help pay for like food and whatnot. Just to backtrack a little bit to what you said, you mentioned that you wish that you had a more westernized name, you wish that you were white. Growing up, did you or anyone in your family ever feel welcomed by others in the United States or communities outside of the Cambodian community where these are, this was at school or at the jobs that you and your brothers had when you were teenagers. I'll say yes, we had a, in Camden, there's a big, there's a big Michael on community there. And so, you know that that felt like home and so we had like a lot of friends a lot of relatives there. And that felt that felt like a community for us. But I remember that there was like a lot of racial tension there. And so, you know, they, they, they told us like, parents told us, like, don't go over to those certain neighborhoods because that's where like black people live in. At that time, there was like a lot of racial tension between the two groups. And so, you know, they would stay, we would stay in our own neighborhood and they'd stay in our own neighborhood and we wouldn't, we wouldn't like mix or whatnot. But I remember being at school in kindergarten in Camden, and that's where I made friends. I made one of my best friends. He was a black kid there. And so, but then outside of school, it was like, no, like, you're not, you know, you don't go to his neighborhoods and actually my brother's My middle brother used to tell me stories about what it was like going to school. He said every day he would have to run to school because he would they would have to pass these certain neighborhoods to get to school. And if they were caught, they were just like jumped and beat up. And actually my brother told me about a story when he was coming home from from school one day, and kids were like chasing after him and his friends, and he ran just like with his friends and he ended up tripping and falling. And then the person caught up to him, and then they saw that he was a kid. And then they just like kind of just let him go they didn't like do anything to him but they just like let him go but there was like a lot of It was like a lot of violence there and like a lot of racial tension there. But when we got to Amherst, it was, it was almost like it was completely flipped where we didn't really have any of those issues. I felt really welcome that school by my teachers by other kids and I, I didn't really have it like nobody was really picking on me or anything as a new kid. And I was in first grade so I don't think at that at that age is really anybody really doing that but I remember. There was a Cambodian program in the elementary level and I was a part of that as when I started going to school here in Amherst and that that program taught us my taught us how to read and write and speak it as well. And yeah, and so I would say in Amherst I felt really accepted by everybody. I don't think there was like anybody that was really mean towards us. And you know it was just like it was just completely different so like an example of would be in Camden. Everybody locks the doors at night when you leave and when you're home doors are locked. And when we got to Amherst, my parents still had that mentality. But as I grew up, they still had that mentality but I just was like, we don't really need to do that around here. And so, I would say in Amherst it's like safer. And then it was in Camden. And also, I felt as an individual I felt accepted in, you know, by by all groups and as a kid, growing up in elementary school and high in middle school and high school, I really felt like I was able to connect with and create a lot of relationships with pretty much every single group in elementary school in middle school is kind of like different just because I think just groups and friendships and relationships gets more formed at that time and so it can be hard to get into those groups like certain groups. Because I felt like any group that I was that I wanted to be a part of I was able to, you know, really blend in and be a part of so. I can't imagine what it was like to have grown up in such an environment where racial tension was so strong and experience and violence towards you as a child, simply because if you're raised in ethnicity. Did your family ever connect with others in the Cambodian communities in the US, and with throw like two questions at you. Did that give you a sense of belonging and that that allow you to accept your ethnic name, and being part of those communities. And then realize how important the Asian American community is specifically Cambodian community and that that reaffirm who you are as a person and make you feel comfortable for being Asian American. I would say, you know, it definitely being a part of the Cambodian community here in Amherst, it definitely made me feel connected and definitely gave me a sense of pride and you know, it was just really, really good to have that as an elementary school as an elementary school or particularly because not only did I learn about the history, but also my peers who aren't Cambodian learned about it as well. I remember them doing like, it might have been like a week long thing like every year where we would learn about the history and learn about just kind of like the greatness of Cambodian civilization, the ancient Cambodian civilization. And so that definitely gave me a pride within that identity. And yeah, it just, it was able, like looking back, I didn't realize it back then but looking back now, it definitely helped me to feel more connected and more pride about my heritage and being Asian American. Just to learn about it and just to hear about it and just to know that that's where I come from and that's, that's, you know, my history and that's my people and so yeah, it was definitely helpful to be able to form a positive self identity, knowing those things and having grown up, knowing those things and also my peers knowing about that. You know, like a lot of the kids would be like, cool, like that's so cool, you know. And just like here, learning about the Angkor Wat and the, you know, the, the, just how amazing that structure and that, that, that civilization was was really as a kid. It was just really cool. It was really, really cool and it gave me a sense of pride to be Asian and be Cambodian. Watching you answer that you could definitely see that you've grown in yourself and you accepted that you're Cambodian, Asian American and you definitely seem you've reached a stage in life where you're comfortable being who you are. Coming up, the emotional turmoil that must have brought on you, the violence that you have to go through the racial tension. Now as an adult, can you talk a bit about how important mental health is, especially for Asian Americans and Cambodians and the struggles that they have to go through. Can you just talk about, talk a bit about how important mental mental health is in combating all of that violence and negativity. Well, I think, well, I'm a counselor. I'm a school counselor and for me mental health, because of that is really important. I find it as to be extremely, extremely important, especially for Asian Americans, but most, but like, more specifically Cambodian Americans, because the history of Cambodia. There was genocide in 1975 to 1979 that killed over like three million people. And a lot of the population in the city, Phnom Penh, and all in other cities as well, like those individuals were forced to go to, to internment camps, and to work the work fields and they were subjected to incredibly harsh conditions and torture and violence. Committed to them by, you know, the police and like the authorities and the state government. And so, hearing from older generations, they like there's a strong sense that I have that a lot of them are struggling with PTSD, anxiety, depression. And a whole host of other mental health issues because of having experienced that. But it's just been, like they just haven't dealt with it, because in the Asian culture and the Cambodian culture, like mental health isn't isn't really emphasized. And so, if you're thinking about it from like an epidemial approach or view, they, because this generate like the older generation dealt with that the younger, it gets passed down to the younger generations. Just by their interactions and living in the home. And so, I see like a lot from myself, I struggled a lot with anxiety and depression. As a teenager, and as a young adult. That was that those are like two really big things that I had to struggle with and I had to deal with. And for a long time in my life. And that it was like unbeknownst to me, you know, it was just like, I didn't know what this was it like, it was like I know I get nervous around people I know I get nervous in new situations. I, you know, I stress out a lot about these things. And I didn't know what it was I had no idea I had I had no language I had no verbiage for it. Until I got older and started going to grad school as in learning about this stuff as a counselor, learning about mental health and learning about this, it just, it just made me realize kind of the importance and just how big this issue is within the community, and it's not being addressed that well I believe, because there's not that many mental health professionals that are Cambodian in general. And, and, you know, it's just not spoken about it. It's just not like people don't talk about it if it's not like a physical ailment. Then it, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't really matter right and unless it gets to a point where like, people are having really severe mental health issues. It doesn't get addressed and it doesn't even get talked about. And even in those cases where it's like really severe. It becomes taboo, because, you know, it's just, they're looked at as crazy. There's people dealing with that. And, and, yeah, like they just look at his, people look at him as crazy. And also I think what, what I think is like a potential solution is also something that is within a culture. It's there, but it's like I just don't think that it's being utilized enough in that, you know, a lot of the stuff that Cambodians are dealing with in terms of mental health can be addressed through religion and Buddhism and monks helping out with that. And the issue with that is that during a Khmer Rouge genocide, monks were targeted for torture, like death and imprisonment because they were the most educated, and they had like the most kind of power within the country. And I think it really took a big toll because they were also the ones that were working on this, you know, it's like if somebody's having an issue. There's no mental health facilities, there's no doctors, there's no shrink, you know, there's no psychiatrist, psychologist or anything like that. It's the monks, they go to the temples to pray or to talk with the monks to, you know, kind of work on this stuff and to, to help heal themselves and so with the Khmer Rouge genocide that was completely taken away and then also during the. I think that I also need to mention that the Vietnam War as well had a had a big influence on what happened in Cambodia. And it was, and during the Vietnam War, when there was the North and the South battling monks were, you know, it was the same thing. It was the same thing because they were calling for peace and they were doing a lot of peace activists and work around that. And they were targeted as well because, you know, it's just that it just completely spoke against the two parties that were warning against each other and so I think all of those variables and all those factors really, really has affected the mental health of all individuals who are from there and I think what I'm seeing and what I'm noticing over the generations is that now we have more and more young people who are Cambodian who are Vietnamese who have anxiety, who have depression who have substance and drug addiction and all of that stuff and it's just not being addressed to the to the level that I think it should be all of those things I dealt with that as a young adult as a teenager dealing with anxiety dealing with depression, drug and substances. And that was, you know, it's, I feel like it's, they all kind of feed into each other, and it's like with anxiety and depression drugs and substances are a way out, or just kind of like a coping mechanism. Within it just kind of like, there's this cycle with that. And what I noticed in the younger Cambodian generations is that their stories much like mines where they're using drugs and substances to help cope with all of this. And then also, there's that self image and that self, having a positive self image and creating a positive self image is just, there's not that many mainstream figures is not that many people that we can look up to. To help us kind of figure it out and to form our own identity and it's all of those things I think is problematic but you know the mental health aspect is, is such a big piece to it. And I just, like, I wish that there was, there was more that we can do but I just, at this point, it's hard, it's hard because it's so taboo in Asian culture to talk about this stuff. So I was just going to break from there because that was a lot to unpack as well. And Pila, you did a fantastic job of explaining. I also would like to acknowledge that may is mental health on awareness month and so it just all kind of ties in well. And I also realized that that we're getting late upon time and folks have to go so I wanted to give us a chance to again to open up for questions or comments that anybody has. We can all give Pila a nice round of applause for his work. You feel that you did a fantastic job there. So, I don't see anyone's hands raised and I just want to check with our panelists if anybody has any comments or questions to add. Oh, sorry, please go ahead Leo. One of the things Pila, it was great to hear your story and it made me think about all the commonalities are different cultures have, you know, and I think a lot about my parents generation. And, you know, a lot of Americans don't realize that Asian exclusion laws were in effect until 1965 and so it's really just my parents generation that started to come to this country and they're coming here after experiencing war, whether they were adults or children and carrying with them those sort of traumas and, and, you know, people wonder about what drives people to go to a new country and start over again and oftentimes it's, it's a lot of challenging things that that drives that and those issues with mental health and sense of belonging are very common to the Asian experience in America. I remember talking with someone, a Korean nurse and she was saying that there's this disease that affects only Korean she was saying. And when she described it it was like this melancholy this sadness this, this sense of loss and, and you know, I respect her but I also think maybe it's not just Koreans that feel that but you know lots of people can feel that kind of sense of loss and that melancholy and that need for some kind of belonging and I feel thank you for sharing your story and, and it definitely resonates with the experiences of multiple generations and different ethnicities and yeah thank you. I just want to share my gratitude to you for sharing so vulnerably and also with so much clarity. Your story really came through very strongly and clearly. And thank you, I just want to share appreciation. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. And Richard. I know that these are in the archives at the library is there's a specific place where people can find them. I have a link if people want to reach out to me but if they would like on their own. Yes, if you go to the special collections and archives division and their website. You just type in credo CREDO because that's, I think that's the program where all forms of oral histories, not just involving the Asian American communities but also other communities are stored or, or, or kept. So it's the credo program. And this is just searchable you see searchable just make sure you go to the special collections and archives division that the voice library website. And so so far we have collected around 15 oral histories from different communities. Chinese, Cambodian, Filipino, Chinese, Bhutanese, we're hoping of course to expand it to include other Asian communities in the, in the valley. So, yeah, and I do have a question for Pila. If I may ask it now I mean, you know after the pandemic I mean it's two years. What do you think, what are the issues that face now the Asian American youth, or young people or even older people. There's not just a pandemic but also this rise of anti Asian racism that we see not only around the nation but also even in our communities. Has anything changed or what has changed given these developments when you're talking about the pressing issues that face the Cambodian American community. That's the hard one to answer. I kind of almost feel like it's, everything's kind of been exacerbated right now, and also at the same time put in the back burner. If that makes sense, like things have gotten worse but also because of so many other things going on that are issues. I feel like aren't seen as this pressing but it continues to be, you know, the all of the ailments that society will be as a society have in general where there's not, there's not enough opportunities, education, mental health. You know, and, and representation. I'm curious to hear from other people on this, like Leo. You know, for myself, I think, you know, the, particularly the issues about Asian anti Asian violence and hate have accentuated some of the, and resurface some of those childhood feelings of not belonging and and it's strange in this world, because everyone was wearing masks and you couldn't smile at people, and you wouldn't know if someone standing next to you is smiling back at you, or is angry. It was really hard to tell, and, and I remember my father who likes to go fishing he lives near the Boston area. He talked about waiting for someone to leave a parking space so that he could park and go fishing and the person started yelling at him. And my father started to feel frightened and said, you know, he didn't know if he was going to become the next victim because some person have lost their temper and didn't like this Asian guy trying to park. And that feels like that feels like a new level of uncertainty for, you know, do I belong in this country or not, you know, and for for my parents who have been here for, you know, 60 plus years now and to have that sort of sense of feeling is really disappointing and, and concerning. And of course, you know, I don't want to minimize that feeling with with all people of color in this country, you know, I think it's a, it's something that we're all dealing with and, and, you know, all of our BIPOC folks are you know, have faced those kinds of questions on a regular basis and, and so it's when we talk about Asian hate we're not minimizing that and but recognizing that we're in some experiencing similar kinds of things. Well, I also just want to add to that, that when I went to New York on April 13 and 15, we are celebrating New Year, but my family was in New York. And we heard so many bad story that Asian being attacked very often these days because they still remember the when they had COVID-19, the former administration always say that it's Asian is the Chinese that brought the COVID-19 to this country. It doesn't matter whether Chinese or any other Asian, it seemed to have that affects in life because some people just look at us and say that you're the one who brought the COVID-19 to this country. So there's a little, again, a little hate, especially in the big city and among the Chinese American. And when I went to visit New York, I told my family please just watch your bike and we afraid to ride in subway and stuff like that. Mostly just take the Uber from place to place. So they're feeling come back now temporary during the COVID-19, the bigger COVID-19. And so I just want to say thank you all for for that conversation there and you know there's a part of our history where you know everything is done so purposefully to instead of letting the minority groups work together, we are forced to be separated. And so it causes that tension. And, you know, I think now that people are more conscious of that perhaps we can work to move forward as a larger group together and not have it be so singulated. Because the more and more I learned about different histories, the more and more I learned about just how purposefully everything, some things have been done, right, like, just very specifically and for a reason. So I know it's getting late and I know so many of you have a hard stop at 630. So I just want to say thank you all very much for coming out and thank you all for being a part of our first AAPI heritage celebration. I'm hoping like one day we can do something in person. And, you know, I'm a big fan on food brings everybody together, right, and, and dance and music and really enjoy the time spent with each other, you know, face to face. And Pila, again, I just, I have to give you just so many so much. That's what I'm looking for props, I guess, because that was so fantastic and you did such a great job. I'm just explaining and I just really encourage folks to continue to listen to the oral history that you created, and also to listen to so Ken's and then there's several other as Richard said there's about 15 of them on there it looks like and so again, and you know and I really appreciate this because from the local government side and try and say this is eloquently as possible that we, the Asian and Pacific Island community, we don't necessarily have representation we don't necessarily hear from that community person. And I just feel very strong about how it's needed to be included because we can't continue to make decisions without having everyone's voice at the table because the decisions that we make affect everyone, and they affect everybody in a different way and that it's very important that we are all working together to make the right decisions at the right time. So, I, I'm sorry. No, go ahead please. I had to go and pick up my son from the hospital here right here he's just finished his cast. And, but I just want for the record for everyone I just want to thank Richard to for starting all of this without him exposing interviewing students and parents and educators about different cultures. Otherwise, this one happened at all so because of him. I thank you for his times and reach out to the other communities beside the Philippines. And so I really greatly appreciate Richard for you approaching us and it's possible community to again to maintain community again because since I left Amos public school in 2003. I basically just travel so much that I depends on a few of my former students and also friends who stay in Amos continue reach out to Cameron family. And I still stay around but I have not done that might have the impact. And when I was teaching and also working for the Amos public school. I used to give workshops and to the Amos Police Department is Hampton North Hampton Police Department. I also give workshop to the GCC HCC about the history and cultures, but I left it and then so now this is absolutely like fellow interviews. If I have that I probably use your interview in my presentation all the time, but thank you Richard for exposing again the Cambodian culture to our larger communities. And I thank you everyone for, again, celebrate Cambodian American and South Asian American Asian specific culture and history. And so thank you for giving me opportunity to share the culture with with everyone and have a good night. Just quickly, thank you also to to you so can and to the Cambodian American community and to everyone, you know, was shared so much of themselves to, to us to my students to the communities to us here tonight. And I'm also heartened by, you know, Jennifer, Michelle, human rights commissioners coming in together and participating in in in getting involved in the lives of the API community so I hope that this will continue. The town of Amherst has really done really great things. Absolutely. And, and hope this continues. After this. Thank you. Good night. Hey. I'm going to bring us to our conclusion and I was just wondering if Richard Pila. So Ken has already got it. Oh, no, he's still here in Leo could just stay for a second. Other folks are welcome to stand if they want, but I just wanted to follow up with him quickly with something so I would say good night to everyone else. Good night. Good night.