Yee Yang
Yee Yang straddles multiple worlds. He is enrolled as a student at the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), where he is majoring in business and marketing. As a child, Yang used to roam the streets of Washington Park with other Hmong kids who were his neighbors. Yang narrated his childhood memories, "…we were like rebels ... We would just do whatever, go into peoples’ backyards ... we would play with other peoples’ toys!" He remembered a close knit community where living was fun and life was carefree.
Today, he has moved out to the East Side in order to pursue his dreams. He hopes that one day he will be able to go to bigger cities such as New York. As a young adult, Yang wishes to break out from the ties of traditional Hmong practices and explore his life on his own terms. He believes that the newer generation can choose what they desire and craft their lives in an independent manner. Even when I was living with my parents," he explains, "I had grown to a mature state ... I really didn’t need my parents only for financial support...At the end it is just you fighting for yourself." Despite his dreams, Yang continues to remain part of the Hmong community. He visits Washington Park regularly and helps out in his parent’s C&S Supermarket. He hopes to update the family business with new business practices. "My parents ... always wants to be inside of their own little box," Yang explained. "I’m a marketing major, and I’ve always wanted to go do ... online marketing. ... but my parents are more traditional and they want to do advertisement on paper and do word [of] mouth." Although Yang may not agree with his parent’s perspectives in marketing and handling the store, he still tries his best to care for the business and help his family. He has big dreams for the supermarket and he hopes to cater to the greater Hmong community and expand this business in order to fulfill his mother’s dream. Yang explains, "there’s more to the store than just coming here to grab grocery for the house." Yee Yang, interview by Tommy Yang, Jia Jun Yin, HongYan Yang, June 2015 |
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