A Village Called Versailles

One of my professors in college described my generation like this: "You've got 9/11 in one pocket and Katrina in the other." You get it, yeah? Each generation builds a corporate identity around shared experiences. The key word being shared. In order for a corporate identity to work, the narrative around shared experiences has to be a narrative that everyone accepts.

The narrative for Katrina goes something like this: a hurricane named Katrina swept through New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast, exposing the horrific poverty that the black community lived in. George Bush hates black people, so the hurricane destroyed communities and the government didn't really try to help that much. White people salvaged supplies from the wreckage and black people looted. People were transformed into refugees in their own country by the media, but an outpouring of help and support from colleges, churches, and celebrities like Bradd Pitt proved that the American public really did care about their countrymen.

Among the things missing in the narrative is an acknowledgement that the US isn't just black and white. That the Vietnamese community of New Orleans got no love in the aftermath of Katrina. In fact, even as they rebuilt their community, the city decided to place a toxic waste dump next to it.

A group of filmmakers has made a documentary about the Vietnamese community's experiences, "A Village Called Versailles".

For those of you in the Boston area, there will be two screenings of the film next week. Check it out!

UMass Boston Screening, Fri 11/20 @ 1pm

WHAT: UMass Boston Screening sponsored by Asian Am Studies Program
WHEN: Fri 11/20 @ 1 – 3:15pm
WHERE: Snowden Auditorium, Wheatley Bldg., 1st Flr, Rm 088, UMass Boston
TICKETS: No admission fee. Open to public.

Boston Community Screening, Sun 11/22 @ 11:30 am

WHAT: Boston Community Screening in Fields Corner
WHEN: Sun 11/22 @ 11:30 am
WHERE: Vietnamese American Community Center • 42 Charles St., Boston, MA 02122
TICKETS: No admission fee. Open to public.

Free screening at the heart of Boston’s Vietnamese American community in Fields Corner. The film will be screened with Vietnamese subtitles. Director S. Leo Chiang in attendance.