Winston Churchill said that history is written by the victors. In this video, Nguyen says that he learned the history of his people mostly through American media, but eventually learned that that depiction lacked and this spurned him to become a writer and scholar and add his voice to these stories. Why is it important to hear from many sources about historical events like the Vietnam War and the refugee crisis that followed?
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Brief But Spectacular take on writing and memory 
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Brief But Spectacular take on writing and memory 
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Brief But Spectacular take on writing and memory 
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Brief But Spectacular take on writing and memory 
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Brief But Spectacular take on writing and memory
One of the first media lessons I taught, back in 2016 when I moved to Las Vegas, was “Documenting Your Journey.” The point was, If you don’t learn how to tell your own story, someone else will and they will get it wrong. You either figure this out for yourself or you end up being told who you are by others who may well be just repeating what they heard from someone else. [You can find that lesson posted here] (https://joebustillos.com/project/unit02-documenting-your-journey/)
I updated the lesson when I started teaching media at Cashman. I added three different family stories to the lesson. [You can find the three stories here] (https://joebustillos.com/2021/10/documenting-your-journey-assignment-three-tales-from-yours-truly/)
It’s interesting that in the video Nguyen says that memories need to fade and the old guard pass away so that they can move past the conflict that might otherwise define them. I get that, some distance is needed before healing and understanding can take root. But too often tragedies of the past are never “overcome” because they remain hidden with no possibility of healing to happen, just some broken bit of family lore haunting the past. I don’t think he’s advocating silencing the past as much as letting there be enough distance so that some reconciliation and healing can happen. For me, a part of exercising my appreciation of my life is trying to understand the efforts of those who came before me and thus had some part in both my successes and challenges that will some day be passed on to my granddaughters and their offspring. Have you found a way to document your journey?
Source: PBS Newshour Brief But Spectacular, Viet Thank Nguyen take on writing and memory, https://youtu.be/ojfedeKYJ6s
One of the first media lessons I taught, back in 2016 when I moved to Las Vegas, was “Documenting Your Journey.” The point was, If you don’t learn how to tell your own story, someone else will and they will get it wrong. You either figure this out for yourself or you end up being told who you are by others who may well be just repeating what they heard from someone else. [You can find that lesson posted here] (https://joebustillos.com/project/unit02-documenting-your-journey/)
I updated the lesson when I started teaching media at Cashman. I added three different family stories to the lesson. [You can find the three stories here] (https://joebustillos.com/2021/10/documenting-your-journey-assignment-three-tales-from-yours-truly/)
It’s interesting that in the video Nguyen says that memories need to fade and the old guard pass away so that they can move past the conflict that might otherwise define them. I get that, some distance is needed before healing and understanding can take root. But too often tragedies of the past are never “overcome” because they remain hidden with no possibility of healing to happen, just some broken bit of family lore haunting the past. I don’t think he’s advocating silencing the past as much as letting there be enough distance so that some reconciliation and healing can happen. For me, a part of exercising my appreciation of my life is trying to understand the efforts of those who came before me and thus had some part in both my successes and challenges that will some day be passed on to my granddaughters and their offspring. Have you found a way to document your journey?