Embedded Files
Channelle Meix Wuonh is an Iu Mien Filipinx educator from the East Bay Area in California. She was raised in a close-knit Iu Mien family, where she absorbed the rich traditions, culture, and language of her heritage. Maintaining a strong connection to her roots, she also actively engages in the religious practices of her community.
As a half-Mien person who presents in name and face as “other”, Channelle Meix Wuonh uses her evolving artistic expressions to explore her identity and interpretation of Mien culture. She has a passion for traveling to diverse countries and immersing herself in new cultural experiences.
With a Master of Science in Special Education, Channelle Meix Wuonh has dedicated her career to serving as an Education Specialist. She firmly believes in the right to quality education for all children, empowering them to shape their own futures. Both in her professional role and personal endeavors, she strives to inspire youth and like-minded individuals with her knowledge and experiences. In her free time, she volunteers as a co-chair of the Iu Mien Scholarship Fund and participates in various Iu Mien community events in Northern California.
She pays tribute to her late grandmother, a significant figure in her life, by continuing to uphold the values passed down through generations.
What is your personal definition of home?
Home is not just one place for me. Home is the area where I bring my friends who come from out of town. I introduce them to different restaurants and tell them about my childhood growing up in the neighborhood as we drive by. It is where I can drive by some houses and talk about how those houses did not exist when I was growing up. Home is where my heart smiles, where I am reminded of my grandmother and the struggles my family overcame as immigrants. This specific area is between San Pablo, El Sobrante, Pinole, and Hercules.
What parts of your personal/family/collective histories help you feel grounded in (or disconnected to) your idea and understanding of home? When/if you feel disconnected to your cultural community, where do you go and/or what do you do to feel safe and accepted?
From all the stories my aunts tell me of when I was a toddler or even before my dad’s family came to America, they have instilled in me that home is our family. It doesn’t have to be a particular place as long as we are in proximity with each other.
What aspects of your identity do you feel most connected to? What parts feel the most challenging to feel connected to and how does this impact your understanding of home and belonging?
Growing up with my Iu Mien family, I identify 95% Iu Mien and only 5% Filipinx because I am culturally Mien. I know the language, I know the customs, I know the religion. I feel most connected to my Mien identity, but sometimes that is challenged when I am around other Mien people who don’t know me. This impacts my understanding of belonging because I feel outcasted and don’t know if it really is my community.
Time isn’t linear–spiritually speaking, we carry our ancestors and descendants with us everyday. How do you hope to contribute to the healing, growth, and transformation of your people’s collective understanding of home, place, and belonging? Through your art, how do you hope to help your ancestors and descendants find home and feel + know safety?
I hope that my ancestors and descendants see me in my work and see that I felt safe and found my home. I hope that the comfort they find seeing me in my work feel this way lead them to the same.
What role does art/creativity play in your life? Is this connected to your journey of belonging? If yes, how?
I have never believed myself to be an artist or creative at all. I’m still exploring it. Art and creativity is new to me. Even in my classrooms, I have my classroom support people run art because I don’t feel I have any creative juices in me.
What is one dream you have for your community?
One dream is for my community to find the power within community, to know that we don’t need validation from yt people and to stop with the yt saviorism. I want my community to celebrate ourselves, not others. I want my community to be a community that is no longer divided.
How has this project influenced your understanding of community, belonging, home and/or safety?
I have spent a lot of this project time to research and find inspiration for whatever piece I will do. After my trip to Laos knowing that I was going there with another motive (to learn about community in the village), I understood community, belonging, and home so much more. Although I was a foreigner, I felt like I belonged to the Iu Mien village even though everyone saw I did not look like them. Once I was introduced, I was a part of the community and I belonged there. It was almost like I was home.
Is there anything on your horizon or forthcoming for you as an artist/storyteller?
Not yet. I have to see what my capacity is like after this project.
How can people learn more about you and keep up with your work?
People can reach out and follow me on Instagram! @channellemai
Nyanc Hnaangx Caux Janx, 2024
plastic filament, cardboard, glue, 3D pen
Being othered by your own, yet feeling so much more community with another. Eating dinner with Other.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse