These past few months, I’ve been deeply occupied with legislative session, trainings, workshop facilitation, community responsibilities, and quiet grassroots work.
Although the Metro Surge has faded from mainstream attention, the impact has not faded for the families and community members most harmed. People are still carrying grief, fear, loss, pain, and the indignity of being made vulnerable in public view. Community members are still aiding those left to pick up the pieces after everyone else has moved on. Then, another personal tragedy happened and nearly broke me.
I kept going because that is what many of us have been taught to do. We show up, produce results, hold the line, and convince ourselves that because the work matters, we should be able to keep carrying it. But my body reminded me that I am human. I needed to slow the fuck down, rest, and be okay with needing care too.
These months changed me. Some parts hardened. Other parts softened. I am clearer about what I refuse to lose myself for. This work cannot be sustained by self-abandonment. It has to be sustained by integrity, rest, community, and a stubborn love that refuses to go numb.
I am deeply grateful for my people, my loved ones, and the support system that continues to hold me with care. Healing is powerful when the right people are beside you.
As summer fills with gatherings and community life, there is much to celebrate, honor, and protect. And still, we cannot romanticize survival.
Our basic human rights are still being threatened by people in power who treat human lives like an auction ring. Our communities are still facing violence, poverty, mental health crises, displacement, and systems that ask people to survive what they should have been protected from.
So yes, we celebrate, but we do not look away. We do not let cultural pride become performance while neglecting our pain. We honor our people by facing what still needs to change.
Happy Hmong American Day (5/14). We celebrate all month long to honor our arrival, contributions, growth, and continued presence in this country.
May we celebrate with joy, remember how far we’ve come, and keep building what our community deserves.
Thank you @goloubee for always thinking of me and my love for matcha. I used your wonderful gift from Japan today to make some lazy matcha cookies and some with drizzled lavender icing. It was a perfect matcha! 🙌🏼
Missing you and your lovely family; and we can't wait to see you all back in the states again! 🥰💓
What we offer to the world may not always find its way back to us, but it will always reveal the truth of who we are.
Even when others walk away, may you never be the one who abandons yourself.
I do not think people fully understand how powerful cycle-breakers are. And I am not saying that in a way that glorifies the suffering and pain so many have had to endure, and often alone. I am saying it because cycle-breakers are the quake that moves and shakes the normalized beliefs and systemic conditions that have upheld violence, oppression, silence, and trauma for far too long.
Cycle-breakers are the ones who say no to perpetual harm and abuse, and who know that accountability is non-negotiable. They are often the ones who advocate hardest for justice because they understand, in deeply personal ways, what it costs when no one does. They are also the ones who feel most deeply, who carry immense empathy for the pain and suffering of others, because they know what it means to survive it.
Cycle-breakers are often the gentlest, kindest, and most tender people in the room, and at the very same time, they are also the boldest and fiercest, even when their voice shakes and their heart trembles.
Cycle-breakers are my people. My heart. My community. My inspiration. My hope for justice and change.
I am so proud to know and walk alongside so many powerful cycle-breakers, and to learn, grow, and fight with those who turn pain into power, truth into action, and survival into change.
Thinking of and channeling my love to all the cycle-breakers out there. It may feel lonely a lot of times, but know you're never alone. 💓
#spring #awakening
#reflections
Grateful to spend a spontaneous day with @kbl0ve over nourishing food, drinks, and little detours around town. Thank you for the healing laughter, the gentle vulnerability, the grounding lessons, and a real sisterhood that has stayed nurturing through many seasons and growth.
Choose the people who love you well while you still can. If you’re celebrating anything, celebrate the people who are still here.
I came out of recovery early to join Unrestricted for Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day at the Capitol, and I’m so grateful I did.
🙌🏼 Belinda joined me and got to shadow how I prepare for and talk with legislators, engage with other advocates, and stay grounded in a fast-paced, high-stimulus environment. She learned more about how to support and advance appropriations and policy pathways around reproductive coercion in the broader landscape of GBV legislation, and how we can lift the CUES framework as a cross-systems training and implementation effort.
We also practiced the very real skill of not panicking when you get turned around in a maze of buildings, hallways, and rooms. 😅
😍 We got to witness Rae from Paper Lantern Project share their powerful story and lived experiences around reproductive justice, alongside so many inspiring and empowering speakers.
And, we even brought home extra goodies and resources to keep building our advocacy at the intersections of IPV, sexual violence, and reproductive and gender justice. 💝
🔥 It was a meaningful and productive lobby day for both of us! Thanks for joining me again! 🙏🏻
#mybodymybusiness
We are beyond proud of our dear Mia and Shayla confidently gracing the stage for their first dance solo in front of a full auditorium! They worked so hard with their mamas preparing for this moment, and they slayed! 🔥
I also got a bonus treat spending a wonderful play-date with my sweet Lo-kids and their mamas at a Bluey play-immersion experience. Thanks for inviting me to join you all! 🤗
Liaj and I are so lucky to be uncle and auntie to these bright, magical little stars. It's a blessing to witness and experience their growth and happiness under the gentle, loving guidance of their remarkable parents. Even more joyous that we get to also be a part of their fun adventures and making wholesome memories together! Thanks for bringing us along your journey. 🥰💞
This week has moved painfully slow, each day heavy in its own quiet, torturous way. Carrying grief is not unfamiliar to me, but moments like this remind me how precious it is to be surrounded by people who are not afraid to sit with you in it.
A simple call, an encouraging message, a tight hug are the kind of care that does not rush you out of sorrow, but meets you there with tender love.
Thank you to my husband and sisters for always showing up for me in the depth of my vulnerability. Your consistent presence reminds me that even in grief, I am deeply held and seen.
Shout out to my sis, @kbl0ve , for the thoughtful care package. I will carry it with me through this phase of recovery and healing.
Some days move so fast they feel like a sprint. Today is one of them, and I’m tearfully thankful for my husband for packing me the protein I needed to keep going on the road.
This simple Hmong boiled chicken is hitting the spot while I sit in the car wrapping up an executive board meeting. Next, I’m off to check in on our families and communities, then one last grocery stop for the home before this weekend’s much needed gathering with my sisters.
Grateful for my loving family and nurturing community. 💝
MN friends and fellow advocates:
The 2026 Minnesota Legislative Session starts today (Tue, 2/17). If you care about housing stability, survivor safety, mental health access, culturally responsive services, and systems that actually work for people, now is the moment to pay attention and show up.
Key dates:
📍 Tue, 2/17: Session convenes (noon).
📍 Thu, 3/19: Eid break begins (resumes Fri, 3/20).
📍 Fri, 3/27 at 5:00 pm: 1st and 2nd committee deadlines + Easter and Passover break begins (resumes Tue, 4/7).
📍 Fri, 4/17 at 5:00 pm: Major finance and appropriations deadline.
Skip guessing bill numbers and follow committee pages and bill tracking tools. I’ll drop links in the comments, including How to Follow a Bill, MyBills, and House committees: Children and Families, Health Finance, Housing Finance).
Capitol Days to consider:
Housing Day at the Capitol: Thu, 4/30
Action Day 2026 (SA, DV, survivor justice): Wed, 3/11, 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm
Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day: Mon, 3/23, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Mental Health Day on the Hill: Thu, 3/26
Asian Minnesotans at the Capitol (CAAL): date not posted yet, follow updates
📍 To plug in without getting overwhelmed:
Pick 1–2 issues.
Attend 1 Capitol Day, then schedule 1 follow up meeting within two weeks.
Bring 1 clear ask + 1 real world example. Short and specific wins.
These are simply a few issue areas and Capitol Days I’m tracking this session. If you have a “Day at the Capitol” or policy priority others should know about, drop it in the comments so folks can plug in.
Some of the strongest people I know aren’t the loudest. They’re the ones quietly moving groceries, rides, funds, childcare, translation, housing leads, check-ins, and protection to our most vulnerable communities, often without any recognized credit.
In the middle of ongoing ICE raids, and the wider statewide violence and intimidation we’re living through, mutual aid has become a profound lifeline. It’s how people stay connected and families stay supported.
I want everyone doing this work right now to know WE SEE YOU, and we are GRATEFUL FOR YOU.
Give these folks grace, too, because frontline care is heavy, urgent, and deeply human.
For those who want to help, if you can’t volunteer, donate. If you can’t donate, share. If you can’t share, check on someone.
You can use these centralized MN-led mutual aid resources as support and ways to plug in:
standwithminnesota.com
aapiunited.net
Right now in Minnesota, people are still being unjustly detained. Families are being retraumatized. Communities are being destabilized in real time.
Yet people keep asking for evidence and proof of this violence, as if suffering only matters once it is made visible for public consumption, and only if they want to believe it.
So I am going to be very clear: I will never post photos or videos of the people and communities I work with directly, especially survivors and victims of violence.
SURVIVORS DO NOT OWE YOU PROOF. Their stories are theirs to disclose, on their timeline, in their safety, at their choice.
Demanding proof is a gross denial of basic human decency.
What I can share is what I am witnessing. This surge of fear and systemic violence is not only happening “out there.” It is reaching directly into the home.
For people trying to escape domestic abuse right now, this climate has created an even deeper trap. Some are stuck, more isolated, and now facing harm both from an abusive partner and from the very systems that claim to protect them.
When government terror escalates, abusers gain even more power. Control tightens, help becomes harder to reach, and survivors become more afraid to leave.
This is why mutual aid, advocates, and grassroots safety networks exist. However, community advocates and resource networks are being targeted, too. And when the people doing the work of safety are intimidated or removed, survivors lose their last lifelines.
Violence does not disappear just because you personally do not see it. Ignoring it does not make anyone safer. It makes harm easier to commit.
I’m sharing an article I wrote earlier this month in grief and anger, because what is happening is violent, unjust, and intolerable, and our communities need urgent collective action, not spectators.
If you are watching this unfold, you have a responsibility. Support mutual aid. Protect immigrant families. Fund survivor advocacy. Stop demanding proof and start practicing solidarity.
Violence in our communities becomes violence in our homes. We end it together, or it will keep killing us.
🖇Article link under comments.
