That win made him the second Hmong person elected to the city council in Fresno, California\u2019s fifth-largest city, following Blong Xiong\u2019s trailblazing\u00a0victory<\/a>\u00a0in 2007.<\/p>\n \u201cThey understood that representation counts, and that having a voice at City Hall matters,\u201d Vang said.<\/p>\n For Vang, the seat carries history. It marks how far the Hmong community has traveled in 50 years, from refugee camps to elected office.<\/p>\n Vang\u2019s election is also indicative of how Hmong are increasingly rising to prominent leadership roles throughout the Valley. Just under an hour northwest of Fresno, the city of Merced now boasts two Hmong members of its city council \u2013 District 6 City Councilman Fue Xiong and Yang Pao Thao, who was\u00a0recently appointed to represent District 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Hmong story in the Central Valley, Vang said, no longer centers only on survival. It is now about power, equity, and the fight to be included at every level of American society. Young leaders are stepping into politics, education, and business. Elders watch with pride and caution.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the other big piece \u2026 is you\u2019re starting to see more Hmong staff, Hmong teachers,\u201d Blong Xiong said. \u201cOur young leaders have more opportunities to be educated.\u201d<\/p>\n But visibility comes with questions about identity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge for the next generation is how to maintain part of our Hmong identity, but also be extremely proud of where we are as Hmong Americans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For Fresno advocate Lue Yang, greater civic participation, such as the trend being observed in the Valley, is a sign of growth.<\/p>\n \u201cThey learn to recognize who is on the city council,\u201d he said. \u201cThey recognize who the mayor is. They learn to engage in civic engagement. They can contribute to the community. They can have their voice out loud\u2026 for the community to recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n As more Hmong leaders step into public life, they are asking cities to make space for the history that brought the community here.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A Park to Carry Memories Into the Future<\/p>\n In Merced, on an empty stretch of land in the growing northwest area of the city, plans for\u00a0General Vang Pao<\/a>\u00a0Park are moving forward.<\/p>\n The space is expected to honor the Hmong leader who helped thousands of families reach safety in the U.S.<\/p>\n City officials see the park as both a cultural landmark and a public gathering place, shaped by history, community values, and even ideas about reuse and sustainability.<\/p>\n \u201cThese themes \u2026 will give our community and visitors a chance to learn about world history, the impact of the Hmong community locally, the importance of inclusion and cohesion,\u201d Merced Parks and Recreation Director Chris Jensen said.<\/p>\n Plans shared in a\u00a0March presentation<\/a>\u00a0to the Merced City Council include a $10 million, 15-acre park that will feature a monument to Pao, sports fields and courts, a playground, walking paths, shaded areas for families, and areas for festivals and cultural gatherings.<\/p>\n Plans include an ADA-accessible playground named for advocate\u00a0Aletha June<\/a>, who worked to improve lives in Merced and abroad before she died in 2015.<\/p>\n The project is part of a broader city effort to honor community leaders. Two more parks are planned to be named in memory of\u00a0\u00a0Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree Jr.<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0city councilmember Lester Yoshida<\/a>, though all three sites remain unbuilt due to funding shortages.<\/p>\n The shortages stem from the city\u2019s recent history of collecting minimal developer fees, Jensen said.<\/p>\n City officials did not provide updates on the project\u2019s progress before publication of this series, despite repeated requests from The FOCUS.<\/p>\n But for the community, the park\u2019s meaning has never depended on a timeline.<\/p>\n For\u00a0Judge Paul Lo,<\/a>\u00a0the park\u2019s importance goes beyond amenities. It becomes a touchstone for families.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have a unique identity, a unique culture, a unique language that we can turn to as a source of pride,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n General Pao\u2019s Complicated Legacy\u00a0<\/p>\n Few names carry more weight in Hmong history than\u00a0General Vang Pao<\/a>. He rose to prominence in the 1960s as the leader of the\u00a0CIA-backed<\/a>\u00a0Secret Army in Laos.<\/p>\n His legacy is the subject of debate. According to research by\u00a0Ryan Dutter<\/a>\u00a0at the University of Wisconsin, some scholars and reporters have criticized Pao for alleged abuses during the Secret War, arguing that his leadership came at great cost to his own people.<\/p>\n Others, Dutter notes, reject those claims and defend Pao as a wartime leader navigating impossible circumstances.<\/p>\n For Lo, the general\u2019s story is both central and complicated.<\/p>\n \u201cVang Pao is definitely a controversial figure,\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cBut he played a huge role in the Vietnam War. He was 100% with the Hmong community here.\u201d<\/p>\n Blong Xiong is among the few who worked directly with Pao.<\/p>\n \u201cI found the times that I had to work with the old leadership were very impactful,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gave me a much better understanding of what was important to how they see our community.\u201d<\/p>\n For younger generations, the connection to Pao is often secondhand. Many know him through family stories, not personal memory. Still, Xiong hopes the meaning of his leadership endures.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that they look at the general\u2019s legacy as one that\u2019s like a positive figure,\u201d he said. \u201cHe fought hard for his community when we had to be in the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n Xiong points to a simple truth about the diaspora.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout his thought and support, and without his leadership, many of us, including our parents, would not be able to be in this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n As the community debates legacy and memory, others are pushing for change inside homes and traditions.<\/p>\n If political representation is one sign of progress, another shift is happening in daily life. It is driven mainly by Hmong women.<\/p>\n Bouasvanh Lor, executive director of\u00a0Hmong Culture Camps<\/a>, spoke about the cultural expectations placed on Hmong women and how those same pressures have also shaped their resilience and accomplishments.<\/p>\n Hmong men, Lor said, sometimes follow old philosophies that view women below them.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen don\u2019t hold the same value as they do,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re missing in our Hmong men is social and emotional skills. Women are the busy bees who are the people behind it, doing all the great work. At the end of the day, we get no credit.\u201d<\/p>\n Behind closed doors, the pressures grow heavier, shaping marriage, safety, and control in the home. Lor talked about older Hmong men taking\u00a0younger brides<\/a>\u00a0and the practice of polygamy in some families.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes (the new wife is) underage,\u201d Lor said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that needs to stop, and it needs to shift in our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Once in the U.S., Lor said, some women end up trapped.<\/p>\n \u201cThey start beating her or excluding her and keeping her at the house, not teaching her any English, not giving her any job,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is something that our generation is still fighting against \u2013 for them to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n Growing up, Lor saw the burdens placed on women.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re taught to do all the work, and the men just sit there,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have to be on guard all the time, doing 50 things at once. It is expected of us.\u201d<\/p>\n That expectation, she said, is also part of why Hmong women succeed.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why Hmong women are accelerating in education and other skills,\u201d she said. \u201cThe men are falling behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Women, Lor said, are already leading many of the organizations that serve the community.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s mostly women who are doing this work,\u201d she said. \u201cLeadership is there. I want our future Hmong women and men to feel that we all can do it together. You know, we all can be successful together, not be pitted against one another.\u201d<\/p>\n For younger women coming up, doors that once felt closed are starting to open.<\/p>\n \u201cNow they can have mentors and professors that are Hmong women, doctors that are Hmong women, nurses that are Hmong women,\u201d Lor said. \u201cThey can have mentors now that we didn\u2019t have before.\u201d<\/p>\n Local advocate See Lee identified the strength she sees in the women around her.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have this deep power within us that\u2019s probably confined and restricted by current systems,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery woman knows that you have a powerful presence, regardless of where you are, whether in your silent physical appearance or in the way you talk, but how we understand and utilize that can be so powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n Lor\u2019s vision goes beyond the present. Lor wants a community where families are safer, and men lead with care.<\/p>\n \u201cI would want to see the Hmong young men have more father figures who are compassionate toward their wives,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanna see healthy children and less\u00a0murder-suicides<\/a>\u00a0in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n As gender roles shift, another responsibility rises to the surface.<\/p>\n Across every part of the community \u2014 politics, gender, culture, memory \u2014 one message echoes. The future depends on the youth.<\/p>\n For Vang, preparation is the key.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must invest in our youth,\u201d he said. \u201cMany of them will become contributing members of society, while others will be in leadership positions. Having skill sets will make them competitive in the job market.\u201d<\/p>\n Blong Xiong sees representation as the path forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that we have the opportunity to engage in those areas,\u201d Xiong said. \u201cWe want people to keep pressure on leaders to be able to understand and participate in the decision-making process that impacts our families, that impacts our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Rendering](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/General-Vang-Pao-Park.webp.webp\")
Renderings of the park\u2019s amenities, as well as the monument to honor General Vang Pao in a park in Merced. (Merced Parks and Recreation Department)<\/p>\n![\"mage](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-62.webp.webp\")
Image of Bouasvanh Lor with Hmong women wearing traditional regalia. (Bouasvanh Lor)
\nWomen Leading Change<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Playing-Hmong-Ball-Toss.webp.webp\")
A group of Hmong children play Pov Pob, a ball-tossing game, during the 2023 Hmong New Year Celebration. (The Merced FOCUS\/Christian De Jesus Betancourt)
\nLearning, Language and the Next Generation<\/p>\n