Exhibit Introduction

This exhibit documents the history of the Bumz, a b-boy crew founded in Fresno, California who helped lay the foundation for a thriving local b-boy/b-girl scene. However, none of this would have been possible without a broader and more complex history of Hmong people in the Central Valley. That history includes the relationship between the Hmong and the US nation state during the Vietnam War, the susequent waves of Hmong migration, predominantly as refugees, to the United States, and Hmong settlements in working class sections of cities like Fresno, California and Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota. In this case, the Bumz are most directly products of their expereinces in and around Fresno, California. The history of the Bumz crew, then, hilights how youth of color carve out local identities as they juggle the complex legacies of migration, adaptation to new environments, and building community with other youth of color all while trying to look fly!